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Fear Appeal favoring purchase behavior: Covid-19

 "COVID-19: fear appeal favoring purchase behavior towards personal protective equipment"

This article found a direct correlation between People's purchase behavior and public fear appeal during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Abstract: "With a serial mediated analysis, we established that fear appeal is associated with the sharp dynamics in the online purchase as related to the COVID-19. The results confirmed that fear appeal promotes social presence in anticipation of seeking affection, acceptance, and social information. This feeling is a precondition for developing e-loyalty, which promotes purchase behavior. Even though our variables might not be conclusive enough, we believe the findings are fundamental to understanding the swings in the purchase trend in this and any similar situations."

PPE stockpiling and it's negative effects: "Countries like Singapore (INSEAD, 2020) and Australia (BBC, 2020), among others, have been hit with panic buying and stockpiling of PPEs, food items and general household supplies, despite there being no indication of the impending shortage. Panic buying, in general, increases consumer anxiety about supply shortage and make panic buying even worse (Allon & Bassamboo, 2011). Frontline health workers, critical care nurses, and the vulnerable are particularly at risk of the scarcity of essential items and everyday consumables (BBC, 2020)."

-Fear appeals have been employed in advertising of products and services. It dominated areas such as life insurance, road accident campaigns, promoting political causes, drug-prevention commercials, and in the development of social awareness of serious concerns (Latour & Zahra, 1988), such as the COVID-19 and other public health-related issues.

"Products that are perceived to overcome a specific risk or dangers, fomenting fear, and more successful in reducing perceptions of danger, attract higher purchases (Mcdaniel & Zeithaml, 1984). We based on this to predict that, in the wake of the continuous spread of the deadly COVID-19; H1: Fear appeal will have a positive relationship with the purchase behavior of selected personal protective equipment.”

Addo, P. C., Jiaming, F., Kulbo, N. B., & Liangqiang, L. (2020). COVID-19: fear appeal favoring purchase behavior towards personal protective equipment. The Service Industries Journal, 40(7–8), 471–490. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2020.1751823

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