Stop It! Consumer Resilience as a Buffer Against Daily Stressors Accompanying COVID-19

Alena Bermes
Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf Lehrstuhl Für Betriebswirtschaftslehre, Insb. Marketing Ms. Alena Bermes Universitätsstr. 1 D-40225 Düsseldorf

Abstract

In the time of COVID-19, consumers are not only experiencing a global health emergency, but also an extraordinary influence on every aspect of their daily lives. Numerous (daily) stressors induced by the pandemic endanger consumers’ well-being and incite them to alter their behaviors, generally drawing attention to the multidisciplinary concept of resilience. While some of these stressors seem rather apparent (e.g., financial burdens), others have been overlooked by researchers and policy makers. Moreover, although resilience has long been identified as an effective buffer against adversity in adjacent fields of research, surprisingly, research in the consumer realm is scarce. Therefore, next to identifying overlooked stressors, this research seeks to examine the mitigating power of resilience in consumption-related stress processes amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. An empirical study was conducted in Germany in April 2020. First, drawing on the transactional stress theory, we show that social media fuels perceived information and social overload (i.e., perception of too many demands from online contacts), which in turn foster psychological distress and, ultimately, decrease consumers’ well-being. This is particularly remarkable since it is widely recommended to turn to social media to stay in touch with friends despite social distancing. Second, drawing on the psychological resilience theory, we demonstrate that consumers’ resilience intervenes within the social media-induced stress process at various points and serves as a shield against information and social overload. In addition, it directly inhibits the associated distress and decrease in well-being. The empirical results provide crucial insights and beneficial implications for researchers and practitioners.


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