Title: How can fear impact economic decisions in pandemic contexts at the light of decision-making systems? An approach to the COVID-19 case

Authors: José Chavaglia Neto; António Bento Caleiro; José António Filipe; Manuel Pacheco Coelho; Gholamreza Askari

Addresses: Beta L Consulting Group, 838 Professor St., Ribeirão Preto 14020-280, São Paulo, Brazil ' Departamento de Economia, Universidade de Evora, Largo Dos Colegiais, 2, Evora, 7002-554, Portugal ' Departamento de Matemática, Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, ISTAR-Iscte, BRU-Iscte, 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal ' SOCIUS, ISEG, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal ' Department of Mathematics, Semnan University, P.O. Box 35195-363, Semnan, Iran

Abstract: Fear is an important emotion in contexts of uncertainty. With the spread of COVID-19 disease, the process of decision making in the day-to-day economic life is studied considering the way in which fear can impact these decisions in the pandemic context. Our study analyses the situation in Brazil, the way fear can emerge through a process of communication, particularly involving the media. It is possible to conclude about the importance of studying the impact of fear in this context of pandemic, by observing that fear is involved when individuals make non-optimal decisions in such a process of decision-making systems.

Keywords: fear; decision-making; COVID-19; pandemics; neuroeconomics; systems; Brazil.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBSR.2022.125497

International Journal of Business and Systems Research, 2022 Vol.16 No.5/6, pp.759 - 782

Received: 19 Aug 2020
Accepted: 27 Aug 2020

Published online: 12 Sep 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article