The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Online Consumer Behavior: Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior

The present study applied the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to examine consumers' intention to shop online during the COVID-19 pandemic and its influence on purchasing behavior. The fear of shopping in a physical store due to COVID-19 was added to the model's key factors, which included attitudes towards e-shopping, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. The study involved 406 participants aged over 18, who were all residents of the Regional Unit of Thessaloniki. The findings indicated that during the pandemic, the factors that influenced online purchase intention differed from those that would affect future purchase intention, with the fear of shopping in a physical store being the most influential. In particular, the results revealed that attitudes towards e-shopping, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and fear of shopping at a physical store positively affected the intention to make online purchases during the pandemic. In contrast, only attitudes toward e-shopping and perceived behavioral control affect future purchase intention. Furthermore, as expected, the intention to shop online influences actual online purchase behavior.