INTRODUCTION

Consumer preferences when selecting a product have changed as a result of the pandemic. Accordingly, different suppliers have had to reformulate their strategies and develop new sales and distribution channels to adapt to the situation, for brand prestige does not guarantee the successful commercialization of a product.

Decision-making processes are regarded as valid in the consumer’s life, allowing people to reach achievements to strengthen their well-being. This context is based on en dos principios de información: a) la interna, enfocada con las preferencias, creencias u objetivos personales; y b) la externa, que es el entorno donde uno convive e influyen al momento de decidir y definir alternativas fáciles de elegir [two information principles: a) internal, focused on preferences, beliefs or personal objectives; and b) external, namely the environment where one lives and influences when deciding and defining easy-to-choose alternatives] (^{Muñeton et al.}, p. 1). These are part of a reasoning process in the selection of a product.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between cognitive and emotional aspects and the consumer’s behavior when deciding to make a purchase during pandemic times.

Upon reviewing the literature, it became evident that e-commerce had not had the expected success before the pandemic due to, among other reasons, distrust on the part of customers, who did not use it to perform exchanges.

All this changed when the Peruvian government imposed a strict quarantine, bringing about a cognitive and emotional change in consumer behavior, causing companies to learn to communicate with customers through this channel using various ways to attract them to their websites and social networks during the pandemic. A different way of developing and creating the exchange relationship between two or more parties emerged and, in turn, led to a growth in online purchases, as confirmed by the Cámara Peruana de Comercio Electrónico (Capece) reporting an increase up to 41.8% in 2020 and 55% in 2021 (as cited in ^{El Economista, 2022}); only 18.6% of customers made online purchases prior to the pandemic.

As a consequence of the new ways of acquiring goods or services, and because people have changed their behavior due to the covid-19 pandemic, companies have had to reinvent themselves to meet consumer demands through unconventional channels. Companies need to be aware that consumers, today and in the future, will increasingly prefer to exchange goods and services via this method.

Sellers have been forced to interact more in social networks and this has led to the emergence of different digital payment platforms, prompting the hiring of personnel for new positions. Due to the changes that have taken place in the last two years, the method of reaching out to customers has been redesigned to avoid losing sales.

This study is significant because it builds on global, regional, and local views regarding this issue. Early in the pandemic, the use of digital solutions to maintain the exchange of goods and services emerged as a consequence of various social constraints, which boosted a trend that was just beginning before covid-19. Regarding the development of e-commerce, companies that discovered and strengthened the digitalization of their sales channels survived the worst moment of this pandemic crisis with greater solvency, which allowed them to remain in business and be profitable during the crisis (^{Naciones Unidas et al., 2021}); businesses that migrated to these channels were able to stay in the market and offer their customers a purchasing alternative.

Digital transformation in Ecuador prior to the pandemic was regarded as yet another way to increase the prestige of organizations; today it is a condition for them to remain in business. According to ^{Rodríguez et al. (2020}), organizations that begin to use digital platforms and are able to manage different activities on them will have the power to place themselves in a new favorable situation and gain market share. These companies followed these recommendations and overcame the challenges in different sectors; ^{Rodríguez et al. (2020}) stated that small and micro enterprises demonstrated the ability to adapt, therefore, at present, they use some e-commerce tool to remain in the market in which they operate. In Ecuador, for example, e-commerce is expected to be used on a larger scale in the future, which means that their use will increase progressively.

In Peru, the pandemic has accelerated the development of online sales. At the beginning of the pandemic, the circulation of transactions reached 10 million soles, then 700 million soles, thus creating an important demand for the satisfaction of consumer needs expressed in goods and services, resulting in a significant and recurring demand for companies and for those who were starting in e-commerce (^{Soler, 2021}). Traditional businesses are confronted with new situations to exchange their products or services, and those that accept the challenge of evolving to digital will be able to expand their market at national and international level. This paper describes the above situation compared to other contexts.

The general hypothesis states that consumer preferences are related to the acquisition of products during the pandemic period in Metropolitan Lima. The specific hypotheses state that 1) there is a relationship between the cognitive aspect and the acquisition of products, and 2) there is a relationship between the emotional aspect and the acquisition of products.

METHODOLOGY

This is a quantitative, non-experimental (no deliberate manipulation of variables), cross-sectional (measured in a specific moment), descriptive-correlational (describing the events, it also allowed to analyze if the variables are related) research study on consumer preferences and product acquisition in the period of pandemic in Metropolitan Lima 2021. A Likert scale survey was used, and it was administered online for a period of 15 days. Cronbach’s alpha test was used to determine the reliability of the questions, all of which exceeded 0.994 on average.

Variables

V₁: Consumer preferences.

Dimensions:

Cognitive

Emotional

V₂: Product acquisition.

Unit of Analysis

Districts of Metropolitan Lima.

Population

The population was comprised of all 121 respondents (47 men and 74 women).

Inclusion Criteria

Individuals over 18, of any sex and living in the study districts.

Exclusion Criteria

Individuals under 18. Visitors who were present at the time the survey was sent and who did not reside in the study districts.

RESULTS

For hypothesis testing, we first used the Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test for the 121 participants’ survey data; then, in accordance with the data obtained, we used Spearman’s Rho statistic.

General Hypothesis Testing

H_g : There is a relationship between consumer preferences and product acquisition during the pandemic period in Metropolitan Lima.

H₀ : There is no relationship between consumer preferences and product acquisition during the pandemic period in Metropolitan Lima.

The first step was testing for normality, as shown in Table 1, where the significance results of the variables were found to be below 0.05; Spearman’s Rho was then used as observed in Table 2.

Hypothesis testing results are shown in Table 2.

Validity Method

If p > 0.05, H₀ is accepted; whereas, if p < 0.05, H₀ is rejected and H₁ is accepted.

A high positive correlation of .722 with a significance level of .000 was found; therefore, the alternative hypothesis stating that there is a relationship between consumer preferences and the acquisition of products during the pandemic period in Metropolitan Lima is accepted.

Specific Hypothesis 1 Testing

H_g : There is a relationship between cognitive dimension and product acquisition.

H₀ : There is no relationship between cognitive dimension and product acquisition.

The results of the normality test, which made it possible to determine the statistic to be used to test the specific hypothesis, are shown in Table 3.

Hypothesis testing results are shown in Table 4.

A high positive correlation of .979 with a significance level of .000 was found; therefore, the alternative hypothesis stating that there is a relationship between cognitive dimension and products acquisition during the pandemic period in Metropolitan Lima is accepted.

Specific Hypothesis 2 Testing

H_g : There is a relationship between emotional dimension and product acquisition.

H₀ : There is no relationship between emotional dimension and product acquisition.

The results of the normality test, which made it possible to determine the statistic to be used to test the specific hypothesis, are shown in Table 5.

Hypothesis testing results are shown in Table 6.

A low positive correlation of .242 with a significance level of .000 was found; therefore, the alternative hypothesis stating that there is a relationship between emotional dimension and products acquisition is accepted.

DISCUSSION

This research study had a quantitative approach involving descriptive and inferential statistics. It was also a basic research study, consistent with ^{Ñaupa et al. (2018}) and ^{Hernández and Mendoza (2018}), making it possible to obtain the correlational results of the two study variables. In addition, it was cross-sectional.

Two variables were analyzed, “consumer preferences” and “product acquisition”, and for the former, dimensions “cognitive aspect” and “emotional aspect” were considered. The first dimension is more related to issues of rationality at the time of purchase and the second is linked to emotions, which are the desires and affections experienced by the consumer at the time of purchase. According to ^{Schnettler et al. (2015}) consumers base their choice on different qualities before choosing and purchasing an item. Goods are conceived as sets of attributes which influence consumer preferences.

In the research by ^{Moretti et al. (2021}), consumers were segmented into three groups, as follows: the first was the “skeptical”, who purchased their products as usual during the pandemic; the second group was the “concerned”, which represented half of them, who did change their purchasing habits; and finally, the “indifferent”, who did not listen to any recommendation.

Upon comparing the results obtained in the research, a relationship was established between the cognitive and emotional dimensions and the acquisition of products during the pandemic. In other words, people were concerned about the pandemic and changed their consumption habits, purchasing processes, as well as the delivery and payment of products.

CONCLUSIONS

A relationship was found between the cognitive dimension and consumer behavior at the time of purchase of products at the peak of the pandemic. Furthermore, there is a relationship between the emotional dimension and consumer behavior at the time of purchase of products at the time of the peak of the pandemic.

The pandemic phenomenon is affecting the macro-environment in people’s relationship with cognitive and affective processes.

As a result of the pandemic, technological solutions have been implemented to carry out business processes, prompting several companies to migrate to web-based and/or social media platforms.