Indulge or Reduce? A cross-country investigation of consumption patterns following pandemic lockdowns

Pandemic lockdowns in early 2020 disrupted daily lifestyles worldwide and opened a window of opportunity for self-reflection and consumption paradigm shifts. However, consumption patterns might take different directions and opposing views exist about whether consumers (1) prolong consumption-oriented lifestyles post-lockdown, or (2) compensate for lockdown consumption restrictions through self-indulgence. Drawing from self-determination theory and individual-cultural values frameworks, this paper develops a conceptual model of post-lockdown consumption patterns related to three factors: consumers’ fulfilment of basic psychological needs during lockdowns, individual consumer values, and country-level cultural orientations. Consumer surveys conducted after the first lockdowns in three culturally different European countries (UK, Germany, Romania) show that both satisfaction and dissatisfaction of psychological needs during lockdown impact consumption patterns, at least at a short-term level. The direction of consumption patterns is driven by hedonism and universalism values at an individual level and differences in post-materialism and indulgence at a country-level. The results provide implications for international marketers and policymakers in post-pandemic marketplaces.