Explaining consumers’ channel-switching behavior in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era

Figures & data

Figure 1. Expectation confirmation theory.

Note: t₁ = pre-consumption variable; t₂ = post-consumption variable.

Figure 2. Planned and confirmation theory framework.

Note: t₁ = pre-used variable; t₂ = post-used variable.

Table 1. Factors and measurement items

Factors	Measurements Items
Behavioral variables
	Answer from 1 to 5 according to the agreement level with the following statement (1- strongly disagree, 2- disagree, 3- neutral, 4- agree, 5- strongly agree)
Convenience	“I feel convenient when purchasing goods/services via online/conventional market & supermarket channels.”
Abundant information for the selection	“I have enough information to make my purchasing decision when using online/conventional market & supermarket channels.”
Availability of goods/product	“I choose to use online/conventional market & supermarket channels to have more ranges of goods/services to choose from.”
Freshness of goods	“I choose to use online/conventional market & supermarket channels to have more fresh goods.”
Price level	“Overall, the price that I have to pay for goods/services via my online/conventional market & supermarket channels is increasing.”
Price level compared to other channels	“Overall, the price of goods/services in my online/conventional market & supermarket channels is lower than other channels.”
Product quality assessment	“I am able to conduct proper product quality assessment before purchasing from my online/conventional market & supermarket channels.”
Service quality	“In overall, the service quality of the online/conventional market & supermarket channels that I use to make purchases is excellent.”
Time spending	“It takes me a considerable amount of time to make purchases via online/conventional market & supermarket channels.”
Trust	“I trust my online/conventional market & supermarket channels when making most of my purchases of goods and services.”
Tech competency	“I am good at technology and have no issues when using it for purchasing goods/services if needed.”
Demographic variables
Gender	Dummy variable with “1” assigned to male and “0” assigned to female
Age	The age levels of respondents: From 15 to 22 From 22 to 35 From 35 to 50 Above 50
Married	Dummy variable with “1” assigned to those who are married and “0” otherwise
Education	The educational levels of respondents. 1.Secondary school or lower 2.Intermediate Professional degree or 3. College 4.Bachelor 5.Graduate or Post graduate
Income	The income levels of respondents Under 10 million VND 10–25 million VND 25–35 million VND 35–50 million VND Above 50 million VND

Table 2. Descriptive analysis

Variable	Obs	Mean	Std. dev.	Min	Max
Education	2,647	3.905176	0.375557	1	5
Age	2,647	2.575368	0.805948	1	4
Income	2,647	1.790329	1.497874	1	5
Gender	2,647	0.438119	0.473159	0	1
Married	2,647	0.480053	0.485491	0	1
Technology competency	2,647	3.934265	1.108028	1	5
Factors/barriers affecting purchasing channel choices after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out
Switching channel	2,647	0.467699	0.49905	0	1
Convenience	2,647	4.110314	1.001093	1	5
Price	2,647	3.127314	1.138566	1	5
Service quality	2,647	3.252361	1.017872	1	5
Product quality assessment	2,647	4.009445	1.064575	1	5
Trust	2,647	3.642236	1.070493	1	5
Time spending	2,647	3.718927	1.131705	1	5
Availability of goods	2,647	4.156781	1.1154	1	5
Abundance of information	2,647	3.401964	1.279277	1	5
Freshness of goods	2,647	2.647903	1.079221	1	5

Figure 3. Consumers’ choice of purchasing channel before and after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Table 3. Consumers’ channel-switching behavior after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out

Primary purchasing channel before Covid-19	Purchasing channel during the pandemic	Frequency	percentage
Conventional market (including traditional market and small market)	Market (including traditional market and small market)	572	44%
	Supermarket	206	16%
	Store (Grocery and convenience store)	133	10%
	Online	385	30%
	Subtotal	1296	100%
Supermarket	Market (including traditional market and small market)	59	9%
	Supermarket	249	39%
	Store (Grocery and convenience store)	53	8%
	Online	276	43%
	Subtotal	637	100%
Store (Grocery and convenience store)	Market (including traditional market and small market)	113	31%
	Supermarket	36	10%
	Store (Grocery and convenience store)	136	37%
	Online	85	23%
	Subtotal	370	100%
Online	Market (including traditional market and small market)	120	35%
	Supermarket	31	9%
	Store (Grocery and convenience store)	33	10%
	Online	160	47%
	Subtotal	344	100%

Table 4. Factors driving the consumers’ channel-switching behavior in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era

	(1)	(2)
	Switching behaviors
	Regression coefficients	Marginal effects
Service quality	0.250***	0.050***
	(0.088)	(0.017)
Convenience	0.305***	0.060***
	(0.059)	(0.011)
Price level	−0.225***	−0.045***
	(0.086)	(0.017)
Safety	−0.048	−0.010
	(0.066)	(0.013)
Product quality assessment	−0.099	−0.020
	(0.080)	(0.016)
Overall Satisfaction	0.948***	0.188***
	(0.081)	(0.015)
Tech competencies	0.098***	0.019***
	(0.029)	(0.006)
Gender	0.045	0.009
	(0.093)	(0.018)
Education level	0.182	0.036
	(0.120)	(0.024)
Married	0.196**	0.039**
	(0.091)	(0.018)
Income	0.028	0.006
	(0.030)	(0.006)
_cons	1.965***
	(0.574)
N	2647	2647
Pseudo R2	0.158

Standard errors in parentheses, * p < 0.10, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01

Table 5. Drivers of the consumers’ decisions on purchasing channels in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era

	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
	Online channel		Conventional market & supermarket channels
	Regression coefficients	Marginal effects	Regression coefficients	Marginal effects
Convenience	0.215***	0.043***	−0.082**	−0.018**
	(0.054)	(0.011)	(0.040)	(0.009)
Service quality	0.157***	0.031***	0.171***	0.038***
	(0.057)	(0.011)	(0.061)	(0.013)
Trust	0.007	0.001	−0.006	−0.001
	(0.048)	(0.010)	(0.040)	(0.009)
Product quality assessment	−0.259***	−0.051***	0.010	0.002
	(0.049)	(0.010)	(0.044)	(0.010)
Time spending	−0.038	−0.008	−0.155***	−0.035***
	(0.047)	(0.009)	(0.047)	(0.010)
Availability of goods/product	−0.042	−0.008	−0.071*	−0.016*
	(0.040)	(0.008)	(0.042)	(0.009)
Price level	−0.316***	−0.063***	−0.196***	−0.044***
	(0.041)	(0.008)	(0.041)	(0.009)
Price level compared to other channels	0.246***	0.049***	0.126***	0.028***
	(0.050)	(0.010)	(0.048)	(0.011)
Abundant information for selection	0.123***	0.024***	0.029	0.006
	(0.040)	(0.008)	(0.045)	(0.010)
Freshness of goods	0.089*	0.018*	0.109**	0.024**
	(0.048)	(0.009)	(0.047)	(0.010)
Tech competency	0.108**	0.021**	0.029	0.006
	(0.048)	(0.010)	(0.039)	(0.009)
Gender	−0.114	−0.023	0.085	0.019
	(0.093)	(0.018)	(0.087)	(0.019)
Education level	0.225*	0.045*	0.105	0.023
	(0.119)	(0.024)	(0.114)	(0.025)
Married	−0.131	−0.026	−0.141	−0.031*
	(0.092)	(0.018)	(0.086)	(0.019)
Income	0.074**	0.015**	0.033	0.007
	(0.031)	(0.006)	(0.028)	(0.006)
_cons	−0.342		−0.744
	(0.561)		(0.513)
N	2647	2647	2647	2647
Pseudo R^2	0.158		0.115

Standard errors in parentheses, * p < 0.10, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01