Dear Colleagues,

The pandemic had a profound impact on consumer behavior, creating the need to make adjustments to marketing theory and practice. Whether it comes to changes in consumer preferences, increased “insourcing” in a form of homeschooling, meal preparation, increased demand for in-home entertainment, being forced to find substitutes for favorite products and services, or dealing with inflation, all of these changes forced marketers to re-examine their value propositions. They also had profound sustainability implications, both socially and environmentally. Some broad questions are yet to be answered. For example:

• Which of these changes are transient and which ones are here to stay? What is the expected environmental and social impact of these shifts?
• Can marketers offer their expertise in promoting vaccinations or other socially desirable behaviors that could help reduce the impact of future pandemics? What strategies work and which ones backfire in polically charged environments?
• What kind of long-term sustainability challenges and consequences should we expect from the pandemic-induced shocks to consumption patterns?
• What are the long-term personal or societal consequences of specific shifts in consumer behavior? For example, increased consumer reliance on third-party app providers for food delivery, an explosion in remote service delivery (online education, telehealth, etc.), or an increase in virtual-experience consumption?
• What are the effective means of communication with prospective consumers in a pandemic environment?
• Are there particular brand-building and reputational effects that become more vs. less important during pandemics?

Consumers are also faced with shortages that were all but forgotten in the Western world, whereas the research prior to the pandemic focused on consumers’ inability to deal with product and service option overload and the need for simplified or even heuristic evaluation due to overabundance.

• How did decision making change under the conditions of scarcity and increasing prices? What long vs. short-term response to product scarcity (Hamilton 2021) should firms and policymakers expect after the pandemic?

The pandemic also had consequences for social sustainability, and the emerging literature is starting to address the connection between marketplace actors and social inequity during the pandemic, including widening racial inequality (Crockett and Grier 2021). At the same time, the pandemic coincided with the racial equity awakening in the US and the movement to reduce the racial economic gaps. We saw the emrgence of consumer movements away from big businesses and toward supporting local, especially BIPOC-owned, enterprises.

• Will this support persist into the future and will it make a difference in narrowing the economic gaps?
• How can these businesses successfully market their products and services?

In this Special Issue, we welcome cross-disciplinary scholarly contributions in all of these areas and other areas relevant to the theme of marketing in a pandemic.

Crockett D, Grier SA. Race in the Marketplace and COVID-19. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. 2021;40(1):89-91. doi:10.1177/0743915620931448

Hamilton R. Scarcity and Coronavirus. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. 2021;40(1):99-100. doi:10.1177/0743915620928110

Prof. Dr. Ekaterina Karniouchina
Guest Editor

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• marketing during the pandemic
• social impact of marketing
• long-term impact of COVID-19 shifts in consumer behavior
• consumer psychology and identity during pandemic
• marketing communication during pandemic
• sustainable consumption and anti-consumption and practices
• support for local businesses
• support for BIPOC businesses