The pandemic has given consumers more time to think about sustainability due to slowing down during lockdown and focusing on their health (Nazir, 2020). A Mckinsey & Company survey found that consumers became more engaged in sustainability topics during Covid-19, with 88 percent of respondents believing that more attention should be paid to reducing pollution. Consumers were found to start changing their behaviours during lockdown with 60% going out of their way to recycle and purchase products in environmentally friendly packaging.

There is currently a paucity of academic consumer research literature on sustainability in pandemics. This research will need to be exploratory in nature to gain further insight by exploring how the Covid-19 has impacted on consumers’ sustainable behaviour and consumption and the reasons for this.

Participants will answer questions relating to their sustainable behaviour and consumption in Qualtrics. This will help to gain a further understanding about if the pandemic had an impact on consumers' sustainability and create more sustainable practice initiatives, which will contribute to benefiting the environment.

This is aligned to the University's sustainability theme.

In order to motivate participants to participate in this research, they can enter a free prize draw to win one of 5 voucher prizes of £10

Required age range of participants

18-69

What gender should the participants be?

Male, Female

Participant Characteristics

  • UK consumers aged 18 or over
  • The participant should have bought their groceries at least once during the lockdown period (between 23 March and  15 July 2020; up until the reopening of non-essential shops and some children returning to schools)

Project end date

31 December 2020

What ethics codes does the research project comply with?

BAL/2020/33/GORDON-WILSON

Take part in the survey