UNAIR NEWS – The spread of Covid-19 in Indonesia has not only affected the health sector, but also has an impact on all aspects of life including the economy. One of them is on economic activities related to the buying and selling process.
The Work From Home (WFH) policy and the implementation of Large-Scale Social Distancing (PSBB) applied in a number of regions in Indonesia have caused patterns of consumption behavior in the community to change.
Lecturer in Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Airlangga (FEB UNAIR) Dr. Wisnu Wibowo said that Covid-19 had changed the pattern of consumption behavior of the community. This is largely influenced by the shifting of activities outside the network (offline) to online after the pandemic.
“When we worked from office, we spent a lot of time in the office. So our opportunity to see the online marketplace is relatively limited. Now, what is growing rapidly is digital economic activity that utilizes various online market platforms. Because we work a lot at home or WFH, the opportunity for that is big, ” Wisnu said.
Wisnu continued, there was a demonstration effect where people were psychologically affected because they saw many displays and transactions of products or goods that were widely available in various marketplaces or online shops. As a result, there is an interest in buying products that may not all be needed or indeed needed but not in excessive quantities.
According to him, in addition to the demonstration effect, the increase in consumption during the pandemic was also due to the fact that consumers as consumers were increasingly spoiled with various conveniences in terms of transactions from the payment and delivery process. Moreover, there is also the encouragement of saturated psychological situations because they have to limit the space for interaction with the outside world.
“The pattern has a psychological effect that makes consumers not only buy based on needs but many are also affected by the situation in the online markets. As a result they buy goods out of the ordinary and needs or driven more by desire, “said the lecturer who focused on Macroeconomics.
Thus, people’s consumption behavior tends to increase, especially for the middle class and above who have sufficient purchasing power and are not too affected by the existence of the pandemic. (*)
Author: Asthesia Dhea Cantika
Editor : Binti Q. Masruroh
