Consumer behavior during and post-COVID-19 in Indonesia and Malaysia

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have unprecedented long-term structural and transformational impacts on business and consumer behavior worldwide. This chapter features cases in Indonesia and Malaysia to illustrate the impact of COVID-19 on consumer behavior, and provide insights into marketing opportunities during the pandemic and beyond in the new normal. Through archival research using available and accessible published newspaper articles and research reports, the COVID-19 pandemic can be seen to have both short-term and long-term impacts on consumer behavior in Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesian and Malaysian consumers have displayed four specific behaviors during the pandemic: (1) reacting behavior, where consumers engaged in panic-buying of essential and health-related products; (2) resisting behavior, where some consumers refused to comply with government directives and regulations; (3) adapting behavior, where consumers switched to digitalized activities; and (4) entrepreneurial behavior, where some stay-at-home individuals identified and capitalized on business opportunities and served as “neighborhood resellers.” Our analysis of consumer behavior during the pandemic has provided some important insights into new marketing opportunities (hi-tech usage, health and safety, and helping others) that are presented in the 3Hs of Consumer Behavior Model.