Mobile Shopping during COVID-19: The Effect of Hedonic Experience on Brand Conspicuousness, Brand Identity and Associated Behavior

COVID-19 has impacted economic and social conditions around the globe. In a post-pandemic world, the labor models have been shifting in favor of working from home and shopping toward online purchasing through mobile devices. The pandemic has, in addition to disrupting the world economy, triggered changes in consumer behavior that require a rethinking of marketing efforts from the consumer’s perspective and a fundamental shift in branding strategies and managerial thinking. This paper expanded the understanding of the mobile consumer behavior of Generation Z consumers in China by examining the changes in their behavior in response to the pandemic. We used a structural equation model (SEM) to show that, in mobile shopping, the hedonic experience has played an essential role in signaling brand conspicuousness and product aesthetics, in turn promoting brand identity and associated behavioral reactions. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these changes for branding identity and brand management.