Title: A global study on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted sustainable consumer behaviour across the generations: a systematic approach to sustainable consumption

Authors: Juraj Chebeň; Drahoslav Lančarič; Raphael Lissillour; Lukasz Tomczyk

Addresses: Department of Management, Faculty of Management, Comenius University, Odbojarov 10, Bratislava, Slovakia ' Department of Management, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra (Slovakia), Nitra, Slovakia ' Department of Strategy and Management, IPAG Business School, Paris, Nice, France ' Institute of Educational Science, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland

Abstract: The authors explore three groups of antecedents of sustainable consumption (SC) and how different generations approached sustainable consumption during COVID-19. In this study, which includes 2202 respondents, the authors use Binary Logistic Regression to explain the behavioural change (the adoption of a more sustainable approach) during COVID-19. Analysis of Variance and PostHoc testing were used to fill the gap in generational theory by explaining the behavioural differences of diverse generations. The findings demonstrate that change adopters to a significant degree are Generation X females with an above average income, living with a partner in big cities. Education seems to have no significant effect. Worldwide comparison of three main SC dimensions of five generations according to gender, household type, education, and income during crisis makes this study highly valuable. The lack of cross-cultural behavioural comparison is the main research limitation. Managers should prioritise financial responsiveness over other dimensions of SC.

Keywords: sustainable consumer behaviour; crisis; COVID-19; financial responsiveness; environmentally friendly behaviour; social influence; cross-generational; income; gender; global study.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2025.146841

European Journal of International Management, 2025 Vol.26 No.2, pp.245 - 281

Received: 28 Mar 2021
Accepted: 07 Jul 2021
Published online: 23 Jun 2025 *

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