Online consumer behaviour during crises: Insights from Finnish SMEs' key website metrics amid covid-19
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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Business |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2024
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Information and Service Management (ISM)
Language
en
Pages
87
Series
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted daily life, leading to notable shifts in consumer behaviour, particularly online. This study investigates the impact of the pandemic on online consumer behaviour among Finnish SMEs by analysing key website metrics - traffic, engagements, and conversions - during this unprecedented period. Utilising descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, paired t-tests, and percentage change analysis, it examines a sample of 183 companies, comparing data from the three months preceding COVID-19 with two three month post-pandemic periods. The findings reveal that while on aver-age online traffic, engagements and conversions increased significantly during the pandemic, this increase was not uniform across all SMEs, and the median growth during the pandemic was much more modest. Notably, conversions failed to grow proportionately, indicating a disconnect between increased site visits and tangible business outcomes. This research contributes to the understanding of how crises influence online consumer behaviour, providing insights that can guide SMEs in optimising their digital strategies in future crises.Description
Thesis advisor
Penttinen, EskoKeywords
online consumer behaviour, consumer behaviour in crisis, pandemics and human behaviour, covid-19