The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Perception of Globalization and Consumer Behavior

The main purpose of this article was to identify the impacts of globalization and information and communication technologies on the consumer behavior of a young population aged 18-34 before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was conducted using the CAWI (computer-assisted web interview) method using convenient sampling involving students of the University of Warsaw. The survey was carried out in three stages: in March 2020, December 2020 and November 2021. The last cycle of research enabled the authors to examine the changes in consumer behavior trends nearly two years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland and compare them with the tendencies that could be observed in March 2020 and December 2020. The findings from all survey questionnaires indicate that the behavior of respondents is generally consistent with consumer trends established and described in several reports concerning the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people's perception of globalization and consumer behavior. The main observation in terms of online purchases was that the growth itself was not very significant, but the frequency of purchases over the Internet increased. A similar trend could be observed in the case of using social media. Research of this scope was carried out in Poland for the first time, which proves the originality and value of this paper.