Project description:Since COVID-19 was confirmed in Bangladesh in March 2020, the government have enacted stringent measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has had a significant impact on people's lives. Food consumption habits of consumers have shifted as a result of declining grocery shopping frequency, negative income shock, and food prices shooting up. This paper aims to explore Bangladeshi consumers' buying behaviour in association with the stress generated from a food supply shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-outbreak perception of the food industry, using a dataset with 540 online samples collected between July and August 2021. A two-stage cluster sampling method and self-administrated questionnaire techniques were adopted for collecting the data during the third wave of COVID-19. Using partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM) and multivariate multiple ordered logit regression (MVORD) to reveal the pertinent structure between all the blocks, this study provides two key findings. First, a higher intensity of COVID-19 impact translates into higher food stress associated with income reduction and higher food prices. Second, food stress directly affects consumer buying and consumption behaviour. We strongly recommend connecting consumers with local producers and collective use of shared warehouses through institutions, policies, and reforms to prevent disruption in the food supply chain and to keep food prices stable. Additionally, food producers, distributors, stakeholders, and policy planners should strengthen the food supply chain to stabilize food security.
Project description:Digital health technologies offer significant opportunities to reshape current health care systems. From the adoption of electronic medical records to mobile health apps and other disruptive technologies, digital health solutions have promised a better quality of care at a more sustainable cost. However, the widescale adoption of these solutions is lagging behind. The most adverse scenarios often provide an opportunity to develop and test the capacity of digital health technologies to increase the efficiency of health care systems. Catalonia (Northeast Spain) is one of the most advanced regions in terms of digital health adoption across Europe. The region has a long tradition of health information exchange in the public health care sector and is currently implementing an ambitious digital health strategy. In this viewpoint, we discuss the crucial role digital health solutions play during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic to support public health policies. We also report on the strategies currently deployed at scale during the outbreak in Catalonia.
Project description:To provide ongoing support for vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, social care organizations had to shift abruptly to e-health solutions. Qualitative data from three cases illustrate that, more than a year into the pandemic, those adoptions of digital technologies developed differently; the current study aims to shed light on the processes that lead to such differences. Notably, the first organization resisted the large-scale use of digital technologies; the second faced intra-organizational disagreement about the role of digital technology for care provision; and the third organization struggled but managed a broader, more successful adoption of digital technology. The multiple case study findings contribute to extant literature, by (1) detailing the digital innovation process, focusing on the crucial adoption process for digital technology; (2) demonstrating that champions and a shared vision can both enable and constrain the adoption of digital technologies in crisis situations; (3) emphasizing the importance of individual members’ professional identities for determining adoption of digital technologies; and (4) reflecting on the conscious use of transformation practices, even in the ad hoc setting of adopting digital technology during a crisis.
Project description:This study examines how financial contagion occurs through financial and nonfinancial firms between China and G7 countries during the COVID-19 period. The empirical results show that listed firms across these countries, financial and non-financial firms alike, experience significant increase in conditional correlations between their stock returns. However, the magnitude of increase in these correlations is considerably higher for financial firms during the COVID-19 outbreak, indicating the importance of their role in financial contagion transmission. They also show that optimal hedge ratios increase significantly in most cases, implying higher hedging costs during the COVID-19 period.
Project description:Fiscal policy was more countercyclical during the Covid-19 crisis than in previous (crisis) episodes. This paper presents empirical evidence in favour of a "this time truly is different" moment based on analysing the cyclical behaviour of fiscal policy for 28 advanced economies over 1995-2021. Discretionary fiscal policy during the Covid-19 crisis (2020-2021) did more to counteract the downturn - especially in the Eurozone -, as we do not find comparable evidence for countercyclicality during the financial crisis or Euro crisis. Automatic fiscal stabilisers, the non-discretionary domain of fiscal policy, significantly contributed to countercyclical stabilisation during the pandemic.
Project description:How do democratic states induce citizens to comply with government directives during times of acute crisis? Focusing on the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in France, I argue that the tools states use to activate adherence to public health advice have predictable and variable effects on citizens' willingness to change their routine private behaviours, both because of variation in their levels of restrictiveness but also because of differences in people's political motivations to comply with them. Using data collected in March 2020, I show that people's reports of changes in their behavioural routines are affected by the signals governments send, how they send them and the level of enforcement. I find that a nationally televised speech by President Macron calling for cooperative behaviour and announcing new restrictions elevated people's willingness to comply. Moreover, while co-partisanship with the incumbent government increased compliance reports before the President's primetime television address, presidential approval boosted reports of compliance after.
Project description:As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis continues to worsen globally, there exists a widespread enthusiasm for buying utilitarian products in the retail market, irrespective of culture or nationality. However, the questions of whether and why being involved in a public health emergency like the COVID-19 crisis could modify consumer behaviors have been underexplored by previous literature. Drawing on the theory of awe that highlights the important role in influencing human behaviors when they are facing unexpected events that transcends the frame of existing references, the present research aims to clarify the relationship between COVID-19 involvement and consumer preference for utilitarian versus hedonic products. We collected data from 512 Chinese participants (319 women; average age 29.11 years; SD = 11.89) during the outbreak of COVID-19. The results of structural equation modeling showed that COVID-19 involvement was positively related to the preference for utilitarian products (vs. hedonic products). More importantly, this relationship could be explained via the mediated effects of awe, problem-focused coping, and social norm compliance. The present research emphasizes the non-negligible role of public health emergencies in modifying consumer behavior and the role of awe in explaining the psychological influence of public health emergencies.
Project description:Resilience is critical to the sustainability of the tourism industry, which was made particularly evident during the COVID-19 crisis. COVID-19 impacted all sectors of the tourism industry revealing previously unknown strengths and weaknesses. Through a longitudinal qualitative approach, we identified the evolving challenges and coping strategies of agritourism operations under the COVID-19 crisis in North Carolina, USA. The results indicate that agritourism operations not only withstood the health crisis but also advanced the management of their operation and customer satisfaction through diversification and reorganization strategies. We use chaos theory to show how agritourism operations took advantage of the context of uncertainty to employ practices that ultimately showcased their resilience.
Project description:The purpose of this research is to contribute to an understanding of the trends and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer buying behaviour. The results document changes in consumer behaviour patterns that came to dominate at the start of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of the Czech Republic. The questionnaire survey using an online panel in a selected country was conducted to identify how consumers from the Baby Boomers, X and Y generations changed their shopping behaviour and which needs they gave preference to during the pandemic crisis in relation to their fears. Using a multiple regression analysis, we demonstrated that fear appeal (fears for health and economic fears) are associated with the changes in customer behaviour and influence traditional and online shopping related to COVID-19. The findings demonstrate significant differences as well as similarities in consumer behaviour between generations. Through empirical investigation, this research supports and expands generation cohort theory in relation to changes in consumer behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic from a Central European perspective, and provides useful information for researchers and practitioners, particularly for retailers and marketers, to implement appropriate strategies. Graphical abstract Image 1
Project description:SummaryCOVID-19 puts health care providers at risk for infection with SARS-CoV-2. Personal protective equipment (PPE) can reduce viral transmission if used properly. We used simulation of an intraoperative crisis involving an infectious outbreak to assess PPE adherence and confidence in PPE use. Simulation of an intraoperative crisis with a patient with COVID-19 revealed gaps in PPE adherence; however, simulation training successfully increased confidence in PPE use and received positive feedback.