Title: Generation X consumer attitudes, habits and behaviours towards sustainability related to COVID-19: a systematic literature review

Authors: George Lăzăroiu; Octav Neguriță; Iulia Grecu; Gheorghe Grecu; Paula Cornelia Mitran

Addresses: Department of Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Constanța, Bucharest, Romania ' Department of Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Constanța, Bucharest, Romania ' Department of Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Constanța, Bucharest, Romania ' Department of Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Constanța, Bucharest, Romania ' Department of Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Constanța, Bucharest, Romania

Abstract: With increasing evidence of the role of the COVID-19 pandemic in determining the performance of sustainable business activities, the current research cumulates previous findings indicating that the COVID-19-related protective measures have positively impacted Generation X customers' safety, habits and behaviours, and contributes to the literature in the field by showing that the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to some behavioural changes by Generation X consumers. Throughout December 2020 and March 2021, a quantitative literature review of the Web of Science, Scopus and ProQuest databases was performed, with search terms including 'COVID-19 + sustainability + Generation X (by its specific traits)' + 'consumer behaviour', 'food', 'tourism', 'pollution' and 'fashion'. As research published between 2020 and 2021 was inspected, only 239 articles met the eligibility criteria. By removing controversial or unclear results (insufficient/inessential data), findings unsupported by replication, too general material, or with quite identical titles, 85, mainly empirical, sources were identified.

Keywords: Generation X; sustainability; COVID-19; consumer; attitude; habit; behaviour.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2025.147958

European Journal of International Management, 2025 Vol.27 No.1, pp.106 - 127

Received: 31 Mar 2021
Accepted: 22 Jul 2021
Published online: 12 Aug 2025 *

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