Comportamento de compra relacionado a desastres e seus impactos na gestão de cadeia de suprimentos: o caso da pandemia da covid-19 no Brasil

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, tragic in terms of confirmed cases and deaths, impacted not only the health system, but also several other sectors of society. Given the measures of distancing and social isolation, the population's consumption patterns have changed. Empty retailers' shelves and full consumers' grocery carts brought focus to panic buying. Meanwhile, e commerce was showing a growth that has never been seen before in several countries, configuring itself as a type of commerce that increased the sanitary security of consumers and the financial security of store owners during the pandemic. In this sense, among other unforeseen changes in consumer behavior, the supply chain management of different businesses was exposed to the occurrence of possible disturbances and/or disruptions. Consequently, people's access to certain products, particularly basic supplies, was at risk of being limited during the crisis, potentially affecting the population's well-being. Given the above, this research aims to analyze the manifestations and influencing factors of disaster related buying behaviors in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the survey research method, a questionnaire was designed and applied throughout the country, being available from April 15th, 2020 to July 14th, 2020. Thus, 601 responses were obtained, which were duly treated using the Iterative Proportional Adjustment method to guarantee a sample that represented the Brazilian population at the most. The previous analysis of results shows that a considerable portion of respondents started to buy in greater quantities (40.8%) and online (36.8%) after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. These were the main changes identified in the sample's consumption pattern during this period. As a result of these changes, increases in the level of stock-days of basic supplies were identified, which, consequently, increased the respondents' perception of scarcity in relation to some basic supplies, such as alcohol gel and face masks. Finally, it was possible to observe that no country is able to represent Brazil in relation to the manifestations of disaster-related buying behaviors and this shows the importance of studies such as this thesis.