“I got this!” A comprehensive framework for customer behaviour during a pandemic crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone’s lives in various ways. The current qualitative exploratory study is conducted to shed light on how the pandemic has impacted people’s lives. By analysing the results of fifteen in-depth interviews, we offer a coherent conceptual framework which explains the negative emotions that people are dealing with at the time of a pandemic crisis. Self-affirmation theory is used to show how individuals feel at the time of a crisis and how they make different behavioural and emotional decisions to sustain their perceived self-integrity. The framework also demonstrates the different routes people take to sail through those hardships and conquer negativities. Specifically, the presented model shows that people deal with negativities such as denial, uncertainty, anxiety, and concerns and try to overcome these through changes in priorities, hope, taking control and being in charge, and self-awareness.