Abstract:

In this paper, issues of dependency between consumer confidence and consumer behaviour are considered. The authors focused on consumer sentiment and its relationship with the volume of purchased and consumed products, reflection on consumption, and socially responsible consumer behaviour. An important determinant of consumer confidence is the Covid-19 pandemic situation. To obtain answers to the research questions and verify the hypotheses, an online survey of Polish consumers was conducted in November and December 2020. The survey was carried out on a sample of 750 respondents selected using quota sampling. The selection was based on the population distributions according to the Polish Statistics Office - Statistics Poland by gender, age (18-65 years), and education of the respondents. The research results show that in a pandemic, both the tendencies to reduce consumption and to postpone purchases depend on consumer confidence. There is also a certain dependency between consumer sentiment and reflecting on consumption. At the same time, regardless of how the respondents assess their current and future financial situation, it does not affect socially responsible consumer bahaviour.