Consumer coping via fashion shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic: a Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) approach

ABSTRACT

This study aims to understand consumers’ coping strategies associated with fashion shopping behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework. Specifically, the impacts of external stimuli (perceived risk and perceived uncertainty) on consumers’ internal affective states (fear, anxiety, and hope), and the subsequent behavioural coping responses, including emotion-focused and problem-focused coping reflected through fashion consumption were investigated. Additionally, the moderating effect of self-efficacy was tested. Data were collected via an online survey from 815 U.S. consumers and analyzed using structural equation modelling. The results showed that consumers’ cognitive appraisals on risks and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic induced distinct emotions, which had heterogeneous effects on consumers’ intention to engage in either emotion-focused or problem focused coping behaviours. This study provides a foundation for understanding evolving patterns of fashion shopping behaviours when coping with the stress associated with the pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• Covid-19
• emotion
• coping
• self-efficacy
• fashion consumption

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by NC State University under NSRP Grant [on the project ‘Coping with Covid-19: A Perspective of Consumers in the U.S. Marketplace’].