JRFM 15 00257 v2

Journal of
Risk and Financial

Management
Article
Influence of the Emotion of Fear on Patterns of Consumer
Behavior toward Dietary Supplements during the
COVID-19 Pandemic
Dijana Vuković 1, *, Boris Jurič 2 and Iva Krnjak 3
1 Business Economics Department, University North, Trg dr. Žarka Dolinara 1, 42000 Varazdin, Croatia
2 Department of Tourism and Sports Management, Polytechnic of Med̄imurje in Čakovec,
Bana Josipa Jelačića 22a, 40000 Čakovec, Croatia; [email protected]
3 Marketing and Communications Department, Zagreb School of Business, Ulica grada Vukovara 68,
10000 Zagreb, Croatia; [email protected]
* Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +385-42-493-376
Abstract: The focus of this paper is placed on the role of emotions in consumer behavior, specifically
in the process of purchasing dietary supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical
part is based on current knowledge from relevant Croatian and foreign scientific and professional
literature on dietary supplements, the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer behavior, decision-making and
the impact of emotions on it, while the empirical research portion of this paper details the attitudes of
consumers who buy food supplements, the role and importance of different emotions that have a
greater or a lesser impact on the purchase of food supplements, with special reference to the timing of
the COVID-19 pandemic, and the factors that make consumers decide to purchase food supplements.
This research was conducted in the form of a survey that included 257 respondents who were actual
users of dietary supplements. It showed that the main drive for buying dietary supplements during
Citation: Vuković, Dijana, Boris Jurič, the COVID-19 pandemic is the emotion of fear, as the consumers perceived this new disease as a
and Iva Krnjak. 2022. Influence of the threat to their health and life.
Emotion of Fear on Patterns of
Consumer Behavior toward Dietary
Keywords: dietary supplements; COVID-19 pandemic; consumer behavior; behavioral economics;
Supplements during the COVID-19
emotions
Pandemic. Journal of Risk and
Financial Management 15: 257.
https://doi.org/10.3390/
jrfm15060257
1. Introduction
Academic Editor: Wing-Keung Wong On a global level, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused numerous changes to people’s
Received: 22 February 2022
day-to-day lives. To protect the health of the population, various measures were put
Accepted: 14 May 2022
in place, most of them to ensure compliance with this new regulation. These measures,
Published: 8 June 2022
brought on by the relevant institutions, have forced people to isolate themselves, to conduct
business and to partake in education from their own homes, and, in some cases, they have
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
halted businesses and travel completely. One might even say these measures have caused
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
people to cease living their lives to the fullest. But these challenges have also brought
published maps and institutional affil-
on some positive changes—people have started seriously contemplating their health and
iations.
taking targeted actions to ensure its preservation. The importance of one’s relationship
with oneself and one’s own health has never been more prominent than in the times of the
pandemic. Dietary supplements typically enter this picture by way of answering the “How
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
to best preserve your health?” question. Dietary supplements are to be added to the regular
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. diet to enrich it, given that they contain various vitamins, minerals and similar substances
This article is an open access article important for the preservation of the immune system and human health in general. The
distributed under the terms and lives of people around the world have changed significantly during the pandemic. In
conditions of the Creative Commons addition to the milder or more severe consequences for people’s physical health, their
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// mental health is also strongly influenced by the current pandemic. In this regard, many
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ people have experienced depression, loneliness, anxiety, fear, panic, stress, trauma (Fiorillo
4.0/). and Gorwood 2020) and suicidal tendencies (Sher 2020), and there is evidence of abuse of
J. Risk Financial Manag. 2022, 15, 257. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15060257 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jrfm

J. Risk Financial Manag. 2022, 15, 257 2 of 24
children and women in the family (Bradbury-Jones and Isham 2020; Lawson et al. 2020),
etc. In addition to the negative consequences for human health, the COVID-19 pandemic
has led to a huge decline in economic activity and the global economy (Praščević 2020),
changes in mobility flows (Bonaccorsi et al. 2020), losses in tourism (Gössling Stefan and
Hall 2020) and others.
The awareness of dietary supplements and their importance to health preservation
has increased in the last couple of years, simultaneously with the appearance of the general
healthy nutrition trend. This trend has greatly affected the general public, as people nowa-
days have endless means and sources of information, research and education; furthermore,
marketing activities are typically lurking around every corner, striving to redirect our
attention toward the newest thing on the market. The modern-day consumers are more
educated than ever before. They are characterized by a more prominent attitude; they know
what they want and they are convinced they are able to make a logical and, therefore, the
best possible decision after taking into consideration all the information and influences they
have been exposed to. However, when it comes to decision-making, the cognitive portion
of the consumer’s brain is not the only part that is engaging. Apart from the cognitive part,
which includes understanding, evaluation, thinking and planning, the affective portion
also plays a significant role in decision-making. Humans are complex beings that, often
subconsciously, rely on their emotions. This mechanism is a part of the human heritage,
passed down to us from our ancestors who lived tens of thousands of years ago, which
enabled their survival in the difficult conditions they lived in. One might say that the
human emotional system plays the same role today as well—it helps people face different
obstacles and helps them make the best possible decisions to make their increasingly taxing
day-to-day lives a little bit easier. Emotions are often the initiators and the triggers for many
human actions, such as the decision to make a purchase. Accordingly, this paper explains
the correlation between the three main factors: the pandemic, dietary supplements and
human emotions, i.e., the influence of emotions on the purchase of dietary supplements
during the pandemic. Dietary supplements are considered to be preparations made from
concentrated sources of nutrients or other substances with a nutritional or physiological
effect that have the purpose of further enriching the usual diet to maintain health. Nutrients
are vitamins and minerals; other substances are amino acids, essential fatty acids, fiber,
organs and extracts of plant species, microorganisms, edible fungi, algae, bee products and
other substances with nutritional or physiological effects. We find them on the market in
dosage form, i.e., forms such as capsules, lozenges, tablets, pills and the like, powder bags,
ampoules of liquid, dropper bottles and other similar forms of liquid and powder.
The subject of this paper is the analysis of the purchase of food supplements dur-
ing the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e., after the end of the first “lockdown” in May, 2020 in
pharmacies in Zagreb. The paper explores the extent to which the emotion of fear is
present in the purchase of dietary supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper
focuses on the following research questions: (1) How do emotions of fear affect consumer
behavior? (2) To what extent does it have an impact on changing the estab-lished pattern
of consumer behavior? (3) To what extent is the fear for one’s own health the cause of
additional consumption of food supplements in the form of miner-als, vitamins and the
like? This paper fills a research gap in the literature that analyzes consumer behavior during
a pandemic and analyzes the emotion of fear. The most important contribution of the paper
is to identify the emotion of fear during the COVID-19 pandemic as a motivator for the
consumption of dietary supplements in order to preserve health. Based on the analysis
of the previous literature, a conceptual research model was defined, which describes
the influence of demographic variables, propensity to compulsive actions that arose as a
reaction to obsessive thoughts with the aim of reducing anxiety. The COVID-19 pandemic
has greatly changed the experi-ence of the world, where consumers perceive the world
around them as a source of in-fection during the “lockdown”, while developing a fear of
getting a contagious disease and the tension associated with the possibility of infection. The
paper investigates how and to what extent the analyzed factors such as the fear of infection,
and social phobi-as affect the purchase of dietary supplements, which leads to new insights
into insuffi-ciently researched links between these factors, the fear of infection and the
purchase of dietary supplements. The coronavirus pandemic has caused many changes
in people’s lives, and suddenly there are many challenges that need to be answered, both
in pro-fessional life and in personal life. Uncertainty, inability to plan and forecast, public
health and restriction measures, financial losses, and job losses, changes in life circum-
stances such as online teaching and work from home are just some of the stressors that
have increased risk and need to control life, taking responsibilities and healthy behav-ior
that does not endanger the environment. The increase in the need for active shap-ing
of everyday life instead of continuous negative thinking has also increased the need for
dietary supplements that are intended to enrich the usual diet in order to maintain health.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused many changes in people’s lives, and suddenly there
are many challenges that need to be answered, both in pro-fessional life and in personal
life. Uncertainty, inability to plan and forecast, public health and restriction measures,
financial losses, and job losses, changes in life circum-stances such as online teaching and
work from home are just some of the stressors that have increased risk and need to control
life, taking responsibilities and healthy behav-ior that does not endanger the environment.
The increase in the need for active shap-ing of everyday life instead of continuous negative
thinking has also increased the need for dietary supplements that are intended to enrich
the usual diet in order to maintain health.
Levels of stress and anxiety and perceived risk of infection have been shown to be
associated with the adoption of precautionary measures and increased consumption of
dietary supplements, as consumers perceive them as helping to boost immunity. Therefore,
the basic goal of this paper is to determine the impact of fear as an emotion that causes
an increase in the consumption of dietary supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dietary supplements are a concentrated source of nutrients or other ingredients with nu-
tritional or physiological functions, alone or in combination, marketed in dosage form, to
support nutrient uptake in the normal diet and to supplement the diet with substances
normally ingested that the body does not receive in sufficient quantities, all for the purpose
of a beneficial effect on the health of consumers. Dietary supplements can be vitamins,
minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, enzymes, plant extracts and live cultures of microorgan-
isms. In this way, the general resistance of the organism to stressful external influences
is increased and it helps to maintain the proper physiological functions of the organism
and its parts. Based on numerous scientific studies, dietary supplements find their place in
the field of “preventive nutrition”, as well as in the field of “prevention of good health”.
By taking this special type of food, the consumer is given the additional opportunity to
help his own health on his own or with the help of a professional. The quality of food
supplements and their active ingredients affect overall health because the composition and
purpose are the purpose of placing such a product on the market. Therefore, it is necessary
to control the quality composition, especially active ingredients, in addition to the usual
health parameters for a particular category. Dietary supplements are divided into several
categories that are subject to (usually seasonal) changes, and as they are formed by several
different criteria, they are almost always intertwined and one product is in two or three
different categories. The process of managing categories of food supplements first divides
them into groups, and only then forms categories within each of the groups. Ultimately,
it also divides each category of dietary supplements into a larger or smaller number of
subcategories that are most susceptible to seasonal allocations.
The basic groups into which the entire range of dietary supplements is divided are
the group of essential nutrients, the group of non-essential nutrients and the group of
preparations within the first and third groups of the category that are formed by the type
of active substances contained in the products concerned. Within the group of essential nu-
trients there are the following categories and subcategories of food supplements: category
“Vitamins” (subcategories: multivitamin preparations, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E),
category “Minerals” (subcategories: calcium, magnesium) and category “Essential fatty
acids” (no subcategories are defined within this category). Within the group of nonessential
nutrients, no categories have been formed according to the criteria of active substances,
but the products of this group are entirely distributed according to the categories formed
according to the described criterion of “need”. These are products such as glucosamine,
creatinine, etc. Within the group of preparations, the following categories and subcategories
of food additives have been formed (it should be noted that these products are also incor-
porated into the categories described below): category “Herbal preparations and extracts”
(subcategory: ginkgo biloba), category “Bee products” (subcategories: honey, propolis,
royal jelly), category “Probiotics” (no subcategories are defined within this category).
2. Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumer Habits

Nielsen is a global data measurement and analysis company that has been providing
insight into consumer habits and markets all over the world for over 90 years. This company
has conducted a global study on consumer behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. The
global dietary supplement market was valued at around USD 101.38 billion in 2018 and
was expected to double that amount in 2020 (approx. USD 220.3 billion), with further
growth (Aysin and Urhan 2021, p. 9). Considering global and national data on the dietary
supplements market before pandemic, it was prognosed to rise by around 7% annually
through 2025 generally in the world, and 5% in Poland (World Health Organization 2020).
However, according to a report published in October 2020, the sales of dietary supplements
had increased dynamically in the wake of COVID-19 in most of the countries and also in
Croatia. At the beginning of the pandemic, some types of DSs recorded even triple-digit
growth rates (World Health Organization 2020). The industry’s growth was led by vitamin
sales, which spiked to 22.3% growth in 2020 amid the pandemic. Vitamins added USD
3.24 billion to total supplement sales, accounting for nearly half of total dollars added in
2020. This is in contrast to 10 years of fairly flat sales in the vitamin category (World Health
Organization 2020). The number of respondents in Croatia was 1017 (n = 1017) and the
survey was conducted from 25 March 2020 to 2 April 2020. The citizens of Croatia went
through the first four stages in the time from the first infection case on 25 February to
22 April 2020. When the data on global infection cases were first published, people were
faced with a health threat that was purported to be deadly by the media and governments
from all over the world. These types of global events affect people as individuals and
therefore influence their ways of consumption. This two-month period was split into five
stages. The fear of the unknown virus and ignorance of what was about to happen and
what measures the national civilian headquarters would introduce prompted residents to
make large purchases and stockpiles. The research has also shown that there were changes
in purchases. According to the data, the consumption of food and medicine compared to
the same period a year before the pandemic increased by 20%. As the pandemic spread,
the sales increased by 21.4% in February. In March, consumers were already quite worried
and, due to the fear of the quarantine, they started to collect stocks of products and there
were increasing crowds and queues in shops and malls. Sales peaked between 9 and 15
March, rising to a whopping 65.7%. After this phase of mass shopping and stockpiling, the
situation in stores calmed down as consumers filled their pantries and exits from houses
were reduced to a minimum. Due to this change, which occurred at the end of March,
sales fell to—2.2% compared to the same period of the previous year. Product quantities
were reduced until Easter week, when consumers again decided to replenish stocks and
equip themselves for the upcoming holiday. Nielsen compared the sales of food and drug
products. Prior to the creation of stocks, food and drugstore products had a similar trend
in sales. When we consider the total sales of food and drug products, the sales of drug
products were lower by 19.9%, but after food stocks were created, higher sales of drug
products began. Consumers began to build up inventories of products, and some products
recorded a large increase in sales. Among the food products, these were flour, rice, cake
powders, pasta and instant puree. Non-food products included soap, wet toilet paper, toilet
paper, toilet cleaners and baby wipes. The biggest increase in sales, of 410%, was recorded
for flour, followed by soap with an increase of 232%. Apart from the increase in sales of
food and drug products, the Nielsen agency also showed an increase in sales of cleaning
products, protective masks and skincare products. As much as 60% of consumers said they
consumed more hand-care products during the crisis, and 40% said they would continue to
use them after the crisis. Protective masks were a big topic during the coronavirus era with
51% of consumers using protective masks, and 46% of them saying they would continue
to use protective masks after the pandemic (Central Bureau of Statistics of the Republic
of Croatia 2020). Consumption at the time of the onset of the pandemic was conditioned
by preparation for quarantine life and a return to “normal, everyday life” and is defined
through six phases:
1. Proactive purchasing with emphasis on health;
2. Reactive health management;
3. Stockpiling;
4. Preparation for life in quarantine;
5. Constrained living;
6. Life in the new normal.
In the period of only one month, from February 2020 to mid-March 2020, when the
pandemic was officially declared, the consumption in drugstores increased by 20.1%. Once
the lockdown was officially declared during mid-March of 2020, Croatian people began
stockpiling in preparation for the quarantine, which meant that grocery and drugstore
product sales increased by 65.7% in comparison to March 2019.
The most purchased grocery item was flour. Flour sales increased by 410% in one
week compared to the previous year. Furthermore, rice sales increased by 300%, followed
by various cake preparation powders and pasta with a 221% increase. When it comes to
personal hygiene and household supplies, soap sales increased by 232%, whereas moist
toilet tissue sales increased by 180% and generated more demand than regular toilet paper.
Regular toilet paper was the most stockpiled item, and its sales increased by 162% compared
to the previous year. The pandemic and the resulting crisis have caused a certain emergency
novelty when it comes to consumer behavior—an increase in internet shopping. Clothes
and electronic sales have noted the biggest increase in sales, followed by medical products.
This is highly logical, given that in the times of a health crisis, consumers often turn to
new healthy habits such as shopping for dietary supplements and other products aimed
at strengthening the immune system. The internet shopping trend still continues to grow
even after the initial coronavirus crisis stage.
The aforementioned research indicates that the pandemic and the ensuing uncertainty
have resulted in altered consumer behavior. The available information shows that the
first wave of the pandemic during the initial lockdown caused an increase in demand for
certain product categories. These products were typically stockpiled in preparation for the
upcoming inability to leave the house. The fear of the unknown, the uncertainty, the disease
and, in some cases, death have caused a major panic response and an impulsivity that
has altered the existing purchasing patterns. This fear was at its peak when the unknown
illness was first encountered. The initial fear and panic, as well as facing the decisions made
by the Civil Protection Headquarters, the lockdown and the implementation of the new
measures during the first year of the pandemic have caused panicky consumer behaviors
and impulse purchases that are now beginning to subside. Even though the pandemic is
still ongoing, it has already been around for over a year, forcing people to adapt to this ‘new
normal’ by way of questioning their values and habits, becoming aware of matters related
to their own health and facing their fear of the disease, as well as purchasing products they
consider important to their wellbeing and health. During these uncertain times, when faced
with a condition they cannot control, consumers often turn to behaviors that allow them
to restore a certain degree of control over their habits and behavioral patterns, creating a
sense of security.
2.1. Can Fear Change Consumer Behavior Patterns?

Babić and Babić (2020, p. 26) point out that “the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
is a very severe infectious disease caused by the severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2
(SARS-CoV-2) which spreads from person to person relentlessly and rapidly worldwide. It
was created in Wuhan, China, in early December 2019, and on 13 March 2020, the World
Health Organization (WHO) declared Europe the center of a pandemic”.
The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the world we know and live
in. Most people live differently, buy differently and also think differently. The consumer
goods industry is changing in real time, accelerating long-term underlying trends in just a
few weeks. The new habits that have now been created could be maintained even after the
coronavirus crisis, which indicates a permanent change in consumer buying habits, how
and where they buy, how they live and what they do. Consumers are more than concerned
about the impact of COVID-19, from both the health and economic perspectives. People
react in different ways and have different attitudes and behaviors and shopping habits. The
fear is heightened the moment individuals start thinking about what the coronavirus crisis
means to them and, more importantly, what it means to their families, friends and society
at large. Due to social distancing, according to the instructions of the Civil Protection
Headquarters, consumers have limited choice of locations for shopping. At the same time,
consumers have more flexibility because they do not have to follow planned schedules to
go to school or to shops.
Sheth (2020, p. 280) considers that the accumulation of certain products is a common
reaction to consumer uncertainty regarding the future supply of basic necessities. The
accumulation of products is a common reaction when the country is going through hy-
perinflation. In addition to the product accumulation, a gray market is emerging where
unauthorized intermediaries are accumulating their products and increasing prices. This is
exactly what happened to protective equipment and disinfectant products, including N95
masks. Improvisation occurs in most cases when there are restrictions. In the process of
improvisation, existing habits are rejected and new views of the world, product or services
are adopted, and new ways of consuming and procuring products appear. At the time
of the coronavirus crisis and uncertainty, there is a tendency to delay the purchase and
consumption of certain products or services. This is related to products such as cars or
buying a home. Such an approach results in a shift in demand toward the future, at a time
when one can start talking about the ending of the pandemic.
Numerous consumers have been forced to adopt new technologies and master their
application. A good example is definitely the Zoom video service. Due to the growing
number of COVID-19 patients, most households were forced to learn to participate in
meetings via the Zoom platform. The influence of digital technology, especially social
media, is widespread in the daily lives of consumers. Limiting the number of consumers
who can be in a particular store at the same time led to the “online” stores. With the
growing number of people living with the COVID-19 virus, individuals were doing their
jobs from home. For consumers at the time of the “lockdown” so far, the same living space
becomes a cramped space in which they socialize with family members, perform work
tasks, study and shop online. It is analogous to matching too many needs and wants with
limited resources. As a result, there is a blurred line between private and professional life.
Given the more flexible time spent at home, many consumers have experimented with
recipes, discovered or practiced their talent, creatively shared learning and made their
purchases online. Now more than ever, the YouTube page is full of records that have the
potential for innovation and even business success (Sheth 2020).
The pandemic caused by COVID-19 led people to change their patterns of behavior.
The level of fear and anxiety among citizens, especially during the “first lockdown”, was
quite high. Measures to combat the spreading of the virus and the control measures resulted
in some people with a counter-effect and increased their fear and dissatisfaction. Changes in
shopping patterns, and thus shopping channels, that were due to the temporary closure of
shops, restaurants, fast food services and the limited movement of people affect consumer
behavior and their way of communicating and their way of life. People react to changes
and crises in different ways. Given the uncertainty of the situation, over which there is
no control, it seemed likely to try to do everything to make consumers feel as if they had
some control in their own hands. As news of COVID-19 spread even after it was officially
declared a pandemic, consumers responded by gathering supplies or stockpiles. They
bought large quantities of medical supplies such as hand sanitizers and face masks, as well
as household supplies such as toilet paper, flour and yeast. The fear of the unknown drives
people to dramatic behavior. Fear is an emotion that has the function of protection and is
activated in situations when the environment poses a threat to our health and safety. The
daily exposure to information in the media about the coronavirus, especially the video
material about people suffering from the coronavirus, certainly contributes to the fear. An
all-day media exposure increases the feeling of fear, which makes people read and hear
even more about news related to the coronavirus, creating a vicious circle of fear from
which it is very difficult to escape. The coronavirus epidemic is still one big unknown
and, as it is still not clear how long the epidemic will last, people become insecure and
this uncertainty makes them panic. Accordingly, it can be concluded that hoarding is a
natural human response to existing or potential shortages and is driven by people’s efforts
to minimize the impending risk. Such behavior is emotional, not rational. It is driven
by fear, panic and anxiety. It occurs more often and to a greater extent in those people
who find it harder to cope with insecurity and stress, and who are currently present. Such
behavior is spread by observing others. The coronavirus causes disruptions in all spheres
of life, so it has a pronounced impact on the economy and the functioning of the world
economy. Various economic experts believe that this is a crisis that came very quickly
and caused a sharp decline in economic activity. To slow the spread of COVID-19, the
world’s economies have largely used two approaches. The first approach is to identify and
exclusively quarantine infected people. This has been done by countries such as Singapore,
Taiwan, South Korea and the like whose governments have the ability to use developed
technology and information for monitoring and the ability to conduct population testing.
The second approach is used by countries such as the United States and those in Europe and
it is about the adoption of social distancing, the introduction of bans and closing borders,
but also facilities such as catering. Initially, the view was accepted that it would be a health
crisis, but as the authorities responded by introducing measures there were concerns in
various economic sectors and industries. Due to the travel ban, there are problems in the
transport sector, which cause a chain reaction to tourism, the import and export of goods,
the oil industry and the like.
By canceling various events, gatherings and sports activities, the entertainment and
sports industry found itself in trouble. The COVID-19 pandemic, as mentioned earlier,
affects people’s behavior; the usual routines of everyday life change and so do shopping
and shopping habits. Any economic crisis changes consumer habits at least temporarily,
depending on how labor market circumstances change, on credit conditions and on whether
concerns about financial security grow in these uncertain times. Apart from the fact that
consumption is affected by current income, it is also affected by expectations about future
income, i.e., whether there is a fear that the crisis will reduce wages or people will be fired.
Worldwide, more than 60% of consumers have changed their shopping behavior. When
consumers could not find the desired product at the desired retailer, they changed their
shopping behavior; for example, many consumers tried another brand during the crisis
or bought from another retailer. In the US and China, more than 75% of consumers have
tried a new method of buying, while in Japan, where lockdowns were less stringent, a
comparative number is 33%.
At the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world
had decided to introduce various measures and ultimately the introduction of a “lock
down”, which caused discomfort and panic among consumers. People began to accumulate
supplies; for example, in Croatia at one point there was a shortage of yeast. Panic is also
visible in the trends, in the week of 9 March, sales were as much as 66% higher than in
last year (World Health Organization 2020). Most people have turned to buying pasta and
frozen groceries, all on the principle of having a long lifespan to insure during quarantine.
Consumers spend more on food and drugstores than others. Trends in Croatian retail
compared to the same period last year show that the basket of food and drugstore products
increased by an average of as much as 20% (Croatian Chamber of Crafts 2021, Central
Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Croatia 2020). As the epidemic spread, so did sales,
so the first peak was at the end of February, with sales growth jumping by 21.4% (Croatian
Chamber of Crafts 2021, Central Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Croatia 2020). Due to
investments in exclusively food and drugstore products, retailers of non-food products such
as clothing, household appliances and furniture, beauty products and the like experienced
a significant decline in sales. This is best seen from the decline in sales during March and
April in the US, where there was a decline of about 40% in grocery stores and a decline
of about 60% in clothing, fashion accessories and cosmetics (World Health Organization
2020). To save business, most retailers are turning to online shopping and delivering their
products to the doors of consumers, not only non-food retailers but also food retailers.
During the period of the most severe epidemiological measures, markets were closed
and consumers who buy fresh vegetables and fruits were forced to look for alternatives.
This proved to be profitable for family farms that managed to adapt to serious changes
in the market in a short time. Family farms relatively quickly formed a rich offering of
fresh vegetables and delivered fruit directly to customers directly to the door. Consumers
recognize simplicity and ease as the main advantages of online shopping, at any time
of the day and without waiting in lines, all without the possibility of infection. As for
shopping in the stores themselves, they have become different due to the introduction
of various measures to prevent the spread of infection. Business FM (2020) (according to
Fairlie 2020 presented the results, conducted by the consulting and communication agency
EQUESTRI, on the impact of the coronavirus and changes in shopping habit, in the time
period from 10 to 14 April 2020 on a sample of 600 respondents in Croatia. They examined
what measures were taken by respondents to be the most important for a sense of security
when making physical purchases and these are the prescribed distance between people
who buy (77%), the possibility of hand disinfection (74%), the regulation of the number
of customers within the store (71%), the use of protective equipment (67%), pre-packaged
products such as fruit bread and the like (54%) and protective glass at the box office (42%).
The emergence of this pandemic has encouraged consumers to save and buy only what is
necessary for life. According to the above-mentioned research, compared to the time before
the coronavirus epidemic, Croatian consumers almost halved their daily purchase by up to
HRK 200 (from 36% of respondents before the epidemic to the current 18%) and doubled
it on a weekly basis (from 14 to 30% of respondents) (Croatian Chamber of Commerce
2021, Central Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Croatia 2020). For purchases above
HRK 200, the trend of weekly purchases strengthened. There was also a change in the
choice of store, with respondents most often citing the distance to the store and the crowds
as reasons. According to the results of the research, the respondents now make a large
purchase over HRK 200 once a week. For small purchases under HRK 200, they often do
it once a week, and a little less often every day or several times a week. Although there
are differences and specifics for the stores included in the research, the most important
elements for choosing which store at which to make small purchases are proximity, product
availability and prices, while for large purchases respondents emphasize proximity, range
and the price-quality ratio.
Economists are trying to measure people’s expectations with consumer confidence
surveys, a drastic drop in consumer confidence that is due to the crisis caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic in the world. For example, in Croatia it is higher than the European
Union average. Consumers feel extremely insecure about their future financial position
and economic future. When this happens, consumers temporarily change their consumer
habits by giving up buying durable goods and this mechanism is the same in every crisis,
regardless of its cause. Buying a car, furniture or TV is delayed. Purchases of goods and
services whose demand is very sensitive to changes in income, such as going to restaurants
or traveling, are also declining. According to the latest data from the CNB’s Consumer
Confidence Survey (conducted on a monthly basis to examine consumer opinions regarding
the current state of economic phenomena they face on a daily basis, as well as expectations
regarding future economic trends in their household and Croatia) for July, the index of
consumer confidence, expectations and mood, after recovering in June, in July there was
a decline on a monthly basis, while compared to the same month last year; for the fourth
month in a row it continued to decline in all three indices. The Consumer Confidence Index
(CPI) recorded a score of −18.0 points at the end of July. The Consumer Expectations Index
(IOP) was −18.4 points, while the Consumer Sentiment Index (IRP) was −27.6 points at
the end of July. These changes in the confidence index are still significantly lower than in
2019, thus maintaining increased caution, uncertainty and fear that the consequences of the
pandemic will have adverse effects on the real economy and labor markets.
2.2. Changes in Consumer Habits Conditioned by COVID-19

The pandemic has contributed to building new shopping habits and new thinking in
the minds of consumers. The impact of the COVID-19 disease on the daily behavior of the
modern customer has aroused a sense of panic and fear in the minds of consumers. At the
beginning of the pandemic, empty shelves in stores and excessive accumulation of longer-
lasting food and hygiene items were caused by customers’ awareness of the instability of
life with the arrival of an unknown disease that they could not control themselves (Carranza
et al. 2020). Will the coronavirus make lasting changes to consumer psychology? Forbes
(Online) American psychologist at the Chadwick research agency Martin Bailey explained
that consumers are very complicated creatures who are guided by different motives at the
same time when shopping. The purchase made by the consumer is associated with his
values, habits and social norms. With the advent of the COVID-19 disease, the motives for
buying changed abruptly; once driven by a sense of control, they quickly became driven
by existential fear. He also states that consumers, despite the end of quarantine and major
travel bans, have created a new motive for shopping, namely that consumers have started
buying products that they have never had the habit of buying. Recognizing that health
is the most important thing, psychologists believe that consumers have become much
more aware and careful in buying and choosing stores. Of the 1000 respondents, 79% of
consumers said they were much less likely to go or not to go to restaurants, while 43% of
consumers admitted that they had acquired a greater habit of ordering food and drinks
outside. In addition, 32% of consumers want to spend lost time doing everything that was
forbidden because of the pandemic and various bans.
3. Dietary Supplements
During the last couple of years, the awareness of the importance of healthy nutrition
and its beneficial effects on human wellbeing has been rising; therefore, it is not surprising
that more and more consumers are turning to a new, healthier lifestyle. Moreover, the
modern consumers are growing more and more demanding and informed, and are therefore
drawn to dietary supplements in an effort to preserve and improve their health. These
supplements are aimed at enriching the regular diet to maintain and improve health; hence,
they fit perfectly into the healthy lifestyle trends of today. This was not always the case,
as the scientific breakthroughs proving their efficiency were not as common or effective
as they are currently. For example, 30 years ago, pregnant women did not take prenatal
supplements. Currently, consumption of such supplements is normal and encouraged, as it
has been scientifically proven that they are beneficial to both the mother’s and the child’s
health. Furthermore, it is common knowledge today that one is supposed to take probiotics
along with the antibiotic therapy. These types of medical breakthroughs, as well as their
acceptance among the general population, have contributed to a more positive attitude
toward dietary supplements and their increasingly common consumption (Kesić 2006).
4. Emotions
Emotions are experiences or states that have been triggered by certain events, situ-
ations, actions, other people, thoughts, expectations or plans. Emotions are a human’s
natural reaction to events happening on the inside or on the outside and are comprised of
several factors (Petz 2006):
1. Physiological changes caused by the autonomic nervous system (e.g., rapid breathing,
an increased heart rate),
2. Cognitive interpretation or evaluation,
3. External signs or expressions (e.g., shaky hands, paleness of skin, red spots), and
4. Behaviors or reactions to the experienced emotions.
Fear also stimulates greater brand attachment and, according to one study, people
remember better the ad that caused fear in them than the happy and optimistic ads
(Kaylene 2014). By studying various research of emotions in psychology, different points
of view can be found in defining, studying and explaining emotions. Psychologists have
offered different definitions, each of which focuses on different components of emotion.
Since it is not precisely defined which component of emotion is sufficient to measure
emotional experience, the following components have been identified:
• Behavioral reactions (eng approaching),
• Expressive reactions (eng smile),
• Physiological reactions (eng heart palpitations),
• Subjective feelings (eng a sense of fun).
All instruments for measuring emotions actually measure one of these components;
the only difference is in the approach to measurement—measurement through rating scales,
measuring eye movement, measuring brain waves, etc. In marketing practice, emotions
are measured to know the effectiveness of a particular ad and emotional triggers that most
affect consumer interest. First, stimuli that provoke emotional reactions and attract the
attention of consumers (“primary attention”) are tested and then strong emotional stimuli
that encourage consumers to pay more attention and take action (“secondary/permanent
attention”). No matter how often a person uses logic and how rationally he thinks, accord-
ing to various research by psychologists, he is primarily an emotional being who makes
decisions based on feelings. When a person is confronted with emotionally enriched infor-
mation, the emotional part of the brain processes data in one-fifth of the time required for
processing in the cognitive part of the brain (Van den Bergh and Behrer 2013). Customers
in Valden and Janevska (2011) often emphasize that they want to feel relaxed when buying;
this same emotion in later issues did not appear among those that allow an improvement
of business activities, which the authors attributed to a lack of the cognitive ability of
respondents. The subject of this research is primary emotions in service industries. Among
the 20 or so authors who offer representative examples of primary emotions, Ekman’s
(1992) model of primary emotions is used in the presented research. The main reason for
choosing six primary emotions according to Ekman (1992)—joy, sadness, anger, disgust,
fear and surprise—is that he participated in the actualization of Darwin’s (1998) idea of
universality in the 1970s: emotion. Namely, Charles Darwin was the first to advocate the
idea of the universality of ideas and the primary emotions are, in fact, universal emotions.
In addition to the term’s primary, the terms basic or fundamental emotions are also in use,
and they reflect the idea that these emotions form the core from which all other emotions
are derived (Turner and Stets 2011, p. 32). Ekman and his collaborators established the
universality of these six emotions from 1971 to 1975, while a little later, in 1986, they added
the emotion of contempt to that list, and in 1992 listed nine features of the universality of
primary emotions from their list. The number of primary emotions varies from author to
author, but everyone agrees that happiness, fear, anger and sadness are universal emotions,
and that emotions of a negative sign predominate.
Physiological changes caused by emotions are well-known to every man as they are
the results of the evolutionary process. For example, when human beings experience fear,
their heart rates increase, when they experience anger, their faces turn red, when they are
disappointed, their skin typically pales; they experience the so-called ‘cold sweat’ when
faced with uncertainty and a loss of appetite when faced with sorrow. The basic function of
these physical changes is to supply the organism with enough energy for it to be able to
face a certain danger or to run away (Milas 2007). Cognitive evaluation is an act whereby
the stimulus that triggered a certain emotion is interpreted, i.e., it answers the question
whether the stimulus was useful or harmful. The external expression of emotion includes
facial expressions, which are recognizable and the same in all cultures. Their main purpose
is communication, i.e., expression of one’s emotional state to others. Emotions also act
as motivators, directing our behaviors with the goal of achieving pleasant states of joy
and contentment while avoiding the opposite. Low-intensity emotions typically activate
people, increasing their interest in their current situations. High-intensity emotions, on the
other hand, influence a person’s experience and behavior in an unfavorable way. Excessive
emotional activation narrows the perceptive field, lowers concentration, hinders memory
and reduces the ability to make logical conclusions. Cultural behavioral norms usually
determine when it is acceptable (and to what degree) to show your emotions, as well as
when it is required to control your emotional expression (Petz 2006). The fundamental
factor that hinders any kind of dominant or final classification of emotions is the fact that
there are nearly infinite possible combinations of two or more emotions. For example,
the combination of surprise and sorrow creates the emotion known as disappointment.
Each emotion is connected to a certain feeling, perception or thought, which furthermore
contributes to more possible combinations and a heightened quality of the initial emotion.
According to some theorists, emotions can be divided into two main categories:
pleasant and unpleasant emotions. This encourages individuals to direct their behavior
toward sources of pleasure and avoid sources of discomfort. Some psychologists have
split emotions into primary and secondary. Primary emotions are the ones that can be
expressed by special facial expressions recognizable in all cultures all over the world. These
expressions have been evolutionarily developed specifically to communicate this emotion.
Some scientists claim that there are four basic emotions: joy, sadness, fear and anger;
yet, it is widely accepted that the basic emotion classification includes six fundamental
emotions: joy, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust (Petz 2006). When it comes to facial
expressions and appearance alterations in accordance with certain emotions, evolution
ensures that we keep the same things our ancestors used to survive and face their everyday
challenges. For example, if human beings experience anger, their blood rushes to their arm
muscles, making it easier to grab weapons or strike the enemy; the heart rate increases,
and the rush of hormones such as the adrenaline causes the energy to spike and pulse in
preparation for determined action. When faced with a surprise, raised eyebrows enable the
reception of a wider visual impression, and provide more light for the retina. This enables
the brain to receive more data on the unexpected event, making it, therefore, easier to figure
out what is going on and what to do about it. The facial expression that displays disgust
is the same all over the world and sends a universal message: something either tastes
or smells bad (in the literal or metaphorical sense). According to Darwin, a raised and
curled upper lip and a wrinkled nose indicate a primordial attempt at closing one’s nostrils
before a disgusting smell or spitting out poisonous food. These natural reactions are further
formed by personal life experiences and culture. For example, the loss of a loved one
generally causes sorrow and pain. But the way people express their sorrow—the way they
either show their emotions freely or conceal them until they are left alone—is determined
by culture. Furthermore, culture determines which people are considered ‘loved ones’
and are to be mourned (Goleman 1997). When trying to determine why evolution gave
such an important role in the human psyche to emotions, sociobiologists point out the
leading role of emotions in facing troubles and tasks too great to be left to mere intellect
only, such as danger, painful loss, determination to reach personal goals despite failure and
obstacles, achieving intimacy with one’s partner, starting a family, etc. Each emotion offers
a prominent readiness to act; each emotion points us in the direction that has already been
proven as the best path when facing repeating challenges of human existence. As these
eternal situations kept on recurring during the history of human evolution, the importance
of our emotional repertoire to survival has been confirmed. This is why these reactions
remained engraved into our nervous system as something we now call congenital automatic
reactions and propensities (Goleman 1997).
4.1. Previous Research on Emotions

No one today can deny the key role of fear in initiating and legitimizing the daily
extraordinary sanitary and political measures that disrupt our current mental and life
habits. Moïsi (2008, p. 169) believes that emotions of fear are extremely important, rather
irrational and magical-religious, or are based on guilt and stigmatization of a “deviant”
behavior of certain groups and individuals in the form of “scapegoats”. In his discussion of
the history of religions, Eliade (1996) pointed to the permanence of religious behavior and
religious fears and magical relics, stating that even in modern society, in their various forms,
the main themes of religious fears and behavior have not changed. Attali (2009, p. 275),
an advocate for the abolition of borders and world government, explained that “history
teaches us that humanity develops significantly only when it is really afraid”. Glassner
(2009) in The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things believes that the
culture of fear propagated by the media is often at the service of the political class and seeks
more to attract and direct public attention to “great threats” and less to everyday “small
threats”. Fear as an emotion and as a trigger for a purchase is directed at the consumer’s
social or psychological needs to purchase a particular product or service. Anić (2007, p. 539)
defines fear as an unpleasant emotion, a state of anxiety and worry, as a physiological
response to a perceived or recognized source of danger. Petz (2006, p. 470) views fear as “an
intense and uncomfortable feeling about a perceived or anticipated danger, often associated
with a desire to escape or hide”. Jenkins and Oatley (2007, p. 262) define it as interruption
of current activity, calming (stiffness) and preparation for escape or struggle. Kesić (2006,
p. 159) describes fear as a threat that contains some kind of danger and its goal is to provoke
the attention and action of the recipient toward the behavior that will eliminate that fear,
that is, the danger. Negative emotions are used to create an emotional imbalance that can
be corrected by prominent (desired behavior). In marketing, the prevailing opinion is that
customers, i.e., people in general, are primarily emotional beings who base their decisions
mainly on emotions, while the rational part of behavior is mostly included afterward. If all
this is true, it should be borne in mind that the essence of negative appeals is to provoke
fear and/or guilt in the consumer in the hope that it will provoke the desired reaction.
Emotions are a key part of a person’s life and occur daily, during daily activities, but
also during larger, more important events and milestones in life. In addition to being
part of everyday reactions, emotional responses to various situations and relationships
with people in different environments, they also occur when buying products, during
exposure to various advertisements and marketing communications and greatly influence
consumer behavior, attitudes, beliefs, opinions and motives (Lau-Gesk and Meyers-Levy
2009). Akbari (2015) states that fear affects the memory of consumers, while Mishra (2009)
states that consumers are brought into a state of excitement or anxiety with the help of fear.
From the above, it can be concluded that the purchase of a product conditioned by the
emotion of fear in customers reduces the cognitive evaluation of a product’s characteristics,
and they most often buy a product without thinking about the long-term consequences
of the purchase decision. Furthermore, in scientific literature, emotions are observed in
relation to the duration to ad exposure (Olney et al. 1991), to ad memorability (Amber and
Burne 1999) and to the consistency of consumer preferences (Lee et al. 2009). The results
show that emotions have a positive effect on all observed categories and encourage them.
Thus, the presence of emotional content encourages longer exposure to the ad, just as ads
with high emotionality are better remembered and better recognized in comparison to ads
with a high level of cognitive content. Most authors in previous research have dealt with
various aspects of compulsive shopping, but the impact of fear on buying and the extent to
which fear affects consumer behavior has been insufficiently explored. In accordance with
the above, it can be concluded that fear stimulates consumption and during a pandemic
draws consumers’ attention to a particular category of products. The fear for health has
proven to be one of the more important factors for the decision to buy not only various
dietary supplements, but also other products.
4.2. Influence of Emotions on Shopping

An important aspect of emotions is the tendency to act, which implies readiness to
engage or disengage in an interaction with a certain objective in mind and includes the
following impulses (Goleman 1997):
1. Moving toward,
2. Moving away from and
3. Moving against.
Readiness to act is closely related to the unique psychological evaluation conducted
by the individual interpreting the act, not only to the act itself. Different people can display
different emotional reactions (or lack thereof) to the same event because of differences in
their expectations regarding the outcome. Facing ensuing emotions can be classified into
four categories (Bagozzi et al. 1999):
1. The intention to remove or undo the damage,
2. Receiving help or support,
3. Minimizing the outcome,
4. Questioning the objective or doubling one’s efforts, depending on the emotion.
The type of willingness to act and the act itself can be classified into different emotional
categories, e.g., evasion can be related to fear. A good example is the flight reflex—when
a person’s life is at risk, fear will motivate them to run away. Another example of the
tendency to ‘move away from’ is a student who is getting ready for a difficult exam held by
a strict professor. The student will decide to employ the ‘move away from’ action and will
therefore avoid taking the exam for fear of the said professor. This will happen because
of the student’s own interpretation that convinces them the professor is so strict it will
be impossible to pass the exam. Furthermore, the student takes into consideration the
perception of what else this event might bring—shame, humiliation, dissatisfaction, etc.
On the other hand, when facing the aforementioned emotion of fear, the student can switch
to a different class or ask the colleagues who have already passed the said exam for help,
which means employment of category number 4 and doubling the efforts in order to master
the task. Another example is the action tendency of ‘moving toward’ that occurs when we
care about someone and are willing to do anything to help this person. If we win a prize,
we wish to share our happiness with people close to us. When angry, a person is motivated
to employ the action tendency of ‘moving against’ and strike back at their assailant.
Accordingly, it can be concluded that as a person’s individual factors, emotions
participate in the overall human behavior, including consumer behavior. Emotions are
responses to the perception of external events and are formed by a person’s assessment of
occurrences that have happened or are currently happening. Emotions aren’t created by
specific events or physical circumstances, but by a person’s interpretation of these events,
i.e., by comparison between the existing conditions or results and the desired conditions
or results. This is why different people have different emotional responses to the exact
same events. When facing their own emotional state, humans create a tendency to act in
an effort to regain their equilibrium, which can also include the act of making a purchase
(Scheibehenne et al. 2009).
This tendency is well-known to marketing experts who, as communicators, utilize var-
ious stimulants to cause emotional reactions (which are a result of the overall psychological
portrait of a person, of everything they have been through and of their every experience
and feeling). These stimulants can be words, music or pictures and are used to encourage
an emotional action tendency that will result in making a purchase, i.e., that will create a
need or excitement within the consumer. Excitement (incentive) plays a significant role
when it comes to emotions. The environment in retail stores, marketing, background music,
brand names and packaging represent stimuli utilized to stimulate emotional reactions.
Advertising appeals make for the central portion of the ad, promising benefits and plea-
sures to customers who decide to purchase and consume certain products or services.
Advertising appeals represent impulses or incentives that are based on psychology and
used in advertising to activate wishes and feelings that create the need for the advertised
goods and services (Kesić 2003).
5. Research Methodology
The topic of this research was the influence of the emotion of fear on patterns of
consumer behavior toward dietary supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of
257 respondents participated in the survey. The survey consisted of 46 questions. The first
question was an elimination question, where the respondents had to state whether they are
using dietary supplements or not. Respondents had to answer this question with a “yes”
to continue with the survey. For the purposes of the research, a questionnaire was created
consisting of four parts: general data, health status and a series of questions about how
the “lockdown” and how the COVID-19 pandemic in general affected the psychological
state (anxiety, uncertainty, fear of losing a job and fear of infections) and the use of dietary
supplements. The section on general data included, in addition to general questions (age,
gender, body weight, height and education), also questions about the life habits of the
respondents (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, how to use free time before
the pandemic and during the lockdown, -a” etc.). The part related to the health condition
consisted of the anamnesis of the respondents (information on chronic diseases and the use
of therapy), including questions related to COVID-19. Subjects suffering from COVID-19
reported symptoms of the disease and the presence of post-COVID symptoms. The section
on the use of dietary supplements was filled in by all respondents regardless of COVID-19
(use before and during the pandemic, applied doses of vitamin C, vitamin D, subjective
impression of the positive effect of dietary supplements used, etc.). The objective of this
paper is to analyze consumer behavior toward purchasing dietary supplements during
the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e., to determine whether consumers have developed emotions
regarding these matters. An empirical study was conducted on a deliberate sample of
257 subjects who purchased a dietary supplement. As stated, the survey questionnaire
consisted of 46 questions. After the socio-demographic questions, and the elimination
question of whether they use or buy different dietary supplements, 23 questions were used
to determine the impact of fear on the purchase of dietary supplements, and consumer be-
havior at the time of the pandemic. The research instrument consisted of a set of statements
to which respondents responded by expressing their agreement/disagreement, using a
five-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree). The claims used in the
research are taken from the literature (Sproles and Kendall 1986). The collected data were
analyzed by a number of different statistical methods. The whole process of data analysis
took place in three phases: (1) assessment of the reliability and validity of the applied
measurement scales, (2) t-test to test the statistical significance of the difference between
the two-arithmetic means and (3) Z-test to check the distribution value. The reliability
of the applied measurement scales was assessed using the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.
In addition, the influence of individual statements on Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the
corresponding measurement scale was analyzed and, based on the above analysis, the
statements that affect the reduction of the reliability of the corresponding measurement
scales were identified. Such claims are excluded from further analysis and the research is
based on 23 items. Furthermore, this paper is to determine the type of said emotions, how
they affected consumption and which product categories were included. Therefore, the
objectives of this paper are:
• To research whether dietary supplement consumption was affected by the pandemic

and how,
• To identify which emotions consumers are experiencing during the pandemic,
• To determine whether consumers are using dietary supplements more often during
the pandemic,
• To determine why consumers use dietary supplements during the pandemic, i.e., to
identify the emotional incentive to purchase and consume supplements,
• To find out what impact the lockdown has on the consumer, i.e., what differences in
emotions have influenced the purchase of dietary supplements,
• To determine which emotions consumers are experiencing during and after using
dietary supplements.
In accordance with the stated research objectives, the following hypotheses were set:
Hypothesis 0 (H0). The emotion of fear does not cause an increase in dietary supplement con-
sumption.
Hypothesis 1 (H1). The emotion of fear is the initiator of changes in consumer behavior toward
the purchasing and consumption of dietary supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hypothesis 2 (H2). The emotion of fear has had the biggest impact on consumer behavior toward
the purchasing and consumption of dietary supplements during the lockdown.
Hypothesis 3 (H3). The attitude toward conspicuous dietary supplement consumption and the
fear of the infection are positively correlated.
Hypothesis 4 (H4). A significant portion of the increase in dietary-supplement consumption

during the COVID-19 pandemic can be explained by a linear combination of variables (the fear of
the disease, death or infection) in the multiple-regression model.
5.1. Discussion of Research Results

Despite the fact that in the official guidelines of the CDC (2021), the US national public
health agency, there are no recommendations for the prevention of COVID-19 through
the use of certain dietary supplements, but the recommendations relate exclusively to
vaccination and socially responsible behavior, interest in dietary supplements is ubiqui-
tous. Evidence of this is also in the numerous clinical studies that have been launched to
determine the potential efficacy of vitamin C (Adams et al. 2020) and vitamin D (Lordan
et al. 2021). As there is no specific drug for COVID-19, consumers perceive that dietary
supplements will protect them from infection, or mitigate the impact of infection because of
various claims that dietary supplements “raise” immunity (Lordan et al. 2021). In addition,
another reason for the use of dietary supplements is their easy availability and the sense of
security that they provide to the consumer (Adams et al. 2020), but also the fact that the
use of vaccines is still not widespread and not available to everyone (Hamulka et al. 2020).
The following are the results of the research.
Table 1 shows the socio-demographic structure of the respondents from which it can
be seen that when they participated in the research, 59.5% (153) of the respondents were
female, whereas the remaining 40.5% (104 respondents) were male. The majority of the
respondents (32.3% or 83 respondents) were between the ages of 36 and 45, followed
by respondents in the age bracket from 26 to 35 (29.2% or 75 respondents). In total, 48
respondents were between the ages of 46 and 55 (18.7%), 30 respondents were between
the ages of 18 and 25 (11.7%), 17 respondents (6.6%) fell into the 56 to 65 age categories,
whereas only 4 persons were over the age of 66 (1.6% of the respondents). Of the total,
139 respondents were college graduates (54.1%), 45 respondents have graduated from a
community college (17.5%), 32 respondents declared they held a master’s degree (12.5%),
whereas 12.1% of the respondents stated they were high school graduates (31 persons).
Only 3.5% of the respondents stated they had a doctorate (9 persons), whereas only 1 person
stated they have completed only elementary school (0.4%).
Table 1. Sodio-demographic structure of respondents (n = 257).
n %
Sex
Male 104 40.5%
Female 153 59.5%
Age Group
16–25 30 11.70%
26–35 75 29.20%
36–45 83 32.30%
46–55 48 18.70%
56–65 17 6.6%
66+ 3 1.6%
Completed Education
Elementary school 1 0.4%
High school 31 12.10%
College 45 17.50%
Hihg school 139 54.10%
Master’s Degree 32 12.5%
Doctorate 9 3.5%
Number of Household
Members
1 44 17.10%
2 61 23.70%
3 62 24.10%
4 70 27.20%
5 20 7.8%
Amount of Income
−3999 85 33.1%
4000–6999 22 8.6%
7000–8990 34 13.2%
9000+ 43 16.7%
More than half of the respondents (61.5% or 158 persons) stated that their household
income was in the ‘over HRK 9000’ category, 16.7% or 43 respondents said their household
income fell within the ‘HRK 7000 to 8999’ category, 34 respondents (13.2%) reported the
income between HRK 4000 and 6999, whereas 8.6% or 22 respondents reported the income
below HRK 3999. About one-third, 33.1%, of the respondents (85 persons) were willing
to spend anywhere between HRK 101 and 200 per month on dietary supplements, 23.3%
(60 persons) were ready to spend anywhere between HRK 201 and 300, whereas 20.6% or
53 persons stated they would be willing to spend less than HRK 100 per month. In total,
31 respondents (12.1%) stated they would be willing to pay between HRK 301 and 400 per
month for supplements, and only 28 persons (10.9%) reported being willing to pay more
than HRK 401.
The focus of this paper are emotions during the pandemic, as well as the influence
of fear on choosing and purchasing various products. In total, 64.6% of the respondents
(166 persons) have experienced fear for their health, whereas 27.2% (70 persons) felt
optimistic regarding matters of health preservation and 8.2% (21 persons) reported feelings
of indifference. The respondents’ answers were based on their own self-evaluation. Given
that the survey was conducted between December 2020 and February 2021, this might
represent a research limitation. People have experienced the pandemic in a different way
when it first started and therefore acted differently. On the other hand, almost a year into
the pandemic, peoples’ attitudes and emotions have changed—the initial panic began to
subside and the citizens slowly began to adapt to the ‘new normal’. Accordingly, some
people initially experienced fear, but now display complete indifference. Categorical data
is represented by absolute and relative frequencies. The numeric data is described by the
arithmetic mean and the standard deviation in cases where the distribution was normal,
and by the median and the limits of the interquartile range where it was not. The normality
of the numeric variable distribution was tested using the t-test, whereas reliability levels
were tested using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Statistical analysis was conducted using
the SPSS 25 program.
Reliability of the measurement scales was analyzed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient
(it is preferable to achieve a coefficient of minimally 0.7, whereas values over 0.8 indicate
good reliability). Furthermore, ‘alpha-if-deleted’ indicators and ‘item-to-total’ correlation
coefficients were utilized to identify possible claims that might cause a decrease in values
of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, as well as those that display a weak correlation with the
total values of the appropriate measuring scale (values under 0 are generally considered
problematic). Cronbach’s alpha shown in Table 1 indicates a coefficient of 0.744 for 23 items.
The questionnaire has demonstrated good discriminant validity for all items, with the most
successful discrimination between life quality and influence of work, financial income and
life quality, and workplace and income uncertainty. The first part of the questionnaire
referred to the socio-demographic structure, and to questions about consumption habits
before the start of COVID-19. The influence of individual claims on Cronbach’s alpha
coefficient of the corresponding measurement scale was also analyzed and, based on this
analysis, claims related to the emotion of fear as a drive to buying food supplements during
the “lockdown” were identified.
Based on the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients displayed in the previous table, it is possible
to conclude that the applied measurement items possess high reliability levels, i.e., they are
herewith confirmed as valid attitude and opinion measurement instruments. To compare
data from scales of different ranges, it was necessary to transform this data and place it
on one common scale. This was achieved by converting Likert scales into standard values
from 1 to 5 according to the formula: %SM (scale maximum percentage) = (individual
result/n) × 100. If the lowest value on the scale was 1, transformation was conducted
according to the following formula: %SM = (individual result − 1) × 100/(number of scale
points − 1). The obtained results have been summed up and presented in Table 2.
Table 2. Survey reliability measurement using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.
Reliability Statistics
Cronbach’s Alpha Based on
Cronbach’s Alpha No. of Items
Standardized Items
0.744 0.735 23
Apart from the small standard deviation, there are items where the noted standard
deviation was 0, which meant that the variance was also 0. All of this leads to the conclusion
that the evaluation of the obtained results is insignificant and that one can observe a
high and prominent functional dependency (Table 3). The results point to the following
conclusions: the majority of the respondents (101 persons or 39.3%) strongly agreed with
the claim that they used dietary supplements to a greater extent than usual during the
pandemic. In total, 46 respondents (17.9%) have mostly agreed with said claim, whereas
42 persons (16.3%) did not have a specific opinion on the matter; 16% of respondents
(41 persons) mostly disagreed with this claim, whereas 27 respondents (10.5%) strongly
disagreed.
Table 3. Descriptive statistics for the chosen items.
Std.
Range Minimum Maximum Mean Variance
N Deviation
Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Error Statistic Statistic
I spend more money on dietary supplements
257 4 1 5 3.41 0.093 1.495 2.235
than usual during the pandemic
My usage of dietary supplements was greatly
257 4 1 5 3.24 0.093 1.494 2.231
influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic made me fear for my
257 4 1 5 3.83 0.083 1.327 1.760
health
The COVID-19 pandemic made me fear for the
257 4 1 5 4.32 0.066 1.054 1.110
health of my loved ones
The COVID-19 pandemic made me fear death 257 4 1 5 3.40 0.085 1.357 1.842
The COVID-19 pandemic made me feel
257 4 1 5 3.14 0.075 1.196 1.431
powerless regarding matters of my own health
The COVID-19 pandemic made me feel
indifferent toward matters of my health (I do 257 4 1 5 1.86 0.078 1.258 1.582
not care whether I get sick)
This analysis shows that the majority of the respondents used dietary supplements to
a greater extent than usual, as the sum of the respondents who strongly agreed and mostly
agreed with this claim amounts to 57.2%, which is more than half of the total number of
respondents. This matter is extremely important to the research as it demonstrates a change
in consumer habits and behaviors toward dietary supplements during the pandemic, i.e., it
shows that the consumers have started purchasing and using this category of products to a
greater extent than usual.
The results pertaining to the claim that “I am using dietary supplements to a greater
extent than usual during the COVID-19 pandemic” are visible in Table 3. The results are
as follows: σ or the average mean square deviation of the numerical values equals 1.409;
whereas the arithmetic mean equals 3.60. In all, 35% of the respondents (90 persons) strongly
agreed with the claim that they have been spending more money than usual on dietary
supplements, 19.1% of the respondents (49 persons) mostly agreed with said claim, 13.6%
(35 persons) did not have a specific opinion on the matter, whereas 42 respondents (16.3%)
mostly disagreed and 41 respondents (16%) strongly disagreed with the aforementioned
claim.
This analysis shows that 139 respondents, i.e., 54.1% out of the total 257 respondents,
claimed to mostly or strongly agree with the claim in question, which proves an increase
in dietary supplement consumption, as well as in funds allocated to purchasing the said
supplements during the pandemic.
Results pertaining to the claim that “I spend more money on dietary supplements
than usual during the pandemic” are shown in Table 4. The results are as follows: σ or
the average mean square deviation of the numerical values equals 1.495, whereas the
arithmetic mean equals 3.41. 72 respondents (28%) strongly agreed with the claim that
their consumption of dietary supplements was influenced by the pandemic; 58 respondents
(22.6%) mostly agreed with said claim, 37 persons (14.4%) did not have a specific opinion
on the matter and 15.6% of the respondents (40 persons) mostly disagreed with it; 50
respondents (19.5%) strongly disagreed with this claim. This analysis shows that the
majority of the respondents (130 persons or 50.6%) strongly or mostly agreed with the claim
that their consumption of dietary supplements was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the other hand, 90 respondents (35.1%) mostly or strongly disagreed with this claim.
Table 4. ‘Low levels of fear of the COVID-19 infection and its influence on consumption of dietary
supplements’ Hypothesis Test.
Z-Test of the Hypothesis on Levels of Economic Possibility and Influences

Hypothesis 0
0.90
p-value
Significance Level 0.05
Number of responses about low levels of economic possibility 782
Sample proportion 0.9524
Standard error
Test size Z
Upper critical value 1.6449
p-value 0.9263
The hypothesis is confirmed
Previous analysis shows that 60.7% of the respondents (156 persons) used to consume
dietary supplements periodically/seasonally before the pandemic, 15.6% (40 persons)
used dietary supplements often, i.e., every month/all year long, whereas 23.7% of the
respondents (61) did not use dietary supplements at all before the pandemic and 54.5%
of the respondents (140) have already used dietary supplements prior to the start of the
pandemic. Results pertaining to the claim that “My usage of dietary supplements was
greatly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic” are as follows: σ or the average mean
square deviation of the numerical values equals 1.494, whereas the arithmetic mean equals
3.24.
The initial hypothesis refers to low levels of fear of the COVID-19 infection and its
influence on the increased consumption of dietary supplements during the pandemic. Ho
. . . p ≤ 0.90; H1 . . . p > 0.90. . . . ; . . . , ≤ >. With the significance of 5% and the p-value
that equals 0.9263, the hypothesis has been confirmed, i.e., it has been determined that
the respondents recognized a correlation between the emotion of fear and its influence
on the increased consumption of dietary supplements. In this paper, the emotion of fear
was regarded as the initiator of the increased usage of dietary supplements. The purchase
of dietary supplements included both objective factors and the subjective assessment of
physical, material, social and emotional elements pertaining to health preservation, which
are closely related to the consumption of dietary supplements and act as agents of health
preservation. Regarding matters of interconnection between the objective and subjective
indicators, a weak correlation was observed between a person’s subjective feelings of
fear, their own assessment of the chances of getting COVID-19 and their objective living
conditions (an increase in the count of sick people, an increase in the number of the
deceased, etc.).
To determine the association of an increased consumption with fear assessment as a
drive for the increased consumption of dietary supplements during the COVID-19 pan-
demic, the Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated. Since the distribution of self-
assessments of the increased consumption of dietary supplements and the fear of infection
and disease are asymmetric, the Spearman correlation coefficients are calculated, which are
very similar to the Pearson correlation coefficients and are shown in Table 5. The results
of correlation analysis support good criteria validity. Although the obtained correlations
are not high, they are statistically significant and are in the expected direction, ranging
from 0.15 to 0.30. Respondents with higher consumption of dietary supplements also had a
higher fear of infection, which suggests that fear is the motivator of increased consumption
of dietary supplements. In addition, respondents in such an environment of high risk of
infection do not feel safe, as indicated by the relatively low but statistically significant
correlation between assessing the security of respondents during a pandemic and their
assessment of their own fear. Respondents who assessed a lower level of security at the time
of the pandemic also assessed fear as an emotion that makes the situation more negative.
Table 5. Relationships of self-assessment of the impact of fear on patterns of behavior at the time of
COVID-19 with variables of purchase of dietary supplements on the total sample (N = 257), male and
female subsamples (NM = 104; NF = 153) and subsamples up to 35 years of age (N up to 35 years of
age = 105) and after 35 years of age (N after 35 years of age = 152).
Lockdown Consumption
Pearson Fisher’s z Test Difference in Spermanov Coefficient
Correelation
Coefficient Correlations Correlations
Buying dietary supplements −0.155 ** −0.149 **
Men Women −0.179 ** −0.111 ** z = 1.02
to 35 after 35 years years −0.134 ** −0.123 ** z = 0.16
A sense of security for Health Pandemic −0.147 ** −0.133 **
Men Women
−0.141 ** −0.169 ** z = 0.41
to 35 after 35
−0.160 ** −0.176 ** z = −0.24
Self assessment of “Lockdown” 0.273 ** 0.299 **
Men Women 0.289 ** 0.288 ** z = 0.02
to 35 after 35 0.348 ** 0.253 ** z = 1.53
Self assessment of fear of infection 0.293 ** 0.305 **
Men Women 0.217 ** 0.329 ** z = 1.78
To 35 after 35 0.291 ** 0.285 ** z = 0.10
Note ** p < 0.5.
Further research has proven that this correlation isn’t linear, which indicates an in-
terconnection of subjective and objective indicators in extraordinary circumstances and
situations of fear and panic, circumstances in which basic human needs are not met and so-
cial contact is kept to a minimum. Once the objective living conditions have improved, and
the number of the infected and the deceased has decreased, the quality of life will increase
and people will be able to socialize more. Table 6 displays the statistical significance of
the structural coefficient, which indicates confirmation of the set hypotheses. Considering
the obtained t-test values (H1 = 4.515, H2 = 3.467, H3 = 4.183 and H4 = 4.253), the set
hypotheses are herewith confirmed.
Table 6. Statistical significance of the structural coefficient between high levels of fear, risk perception
and consumer behavior toward the purchase of dietary supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Standardized
Standard Hypothesis
Hypothesis Relation Direction Assessment t-Value p-Value
Error Confirmed
(Beta Coefficient)
Emotion of fear
H1 0.392 0.127 4.515 0.00 ** YES
→ Initiator of dietary supplement purchase
Emotion of fear during lockdown
H2 0.385 0.104 3.467 0.00 ** YES
→ Initiator of dietary supplement purchase
Attitude toward prominent consumption of dietary
H3 supplements → Positively correlated with the fear 0.326 0.071 4.183 0.00 ** YES
of the COVID-19 infection
Linear combination of variables (fear of the disease,
fear of death or infection) → A significant increase
H4 0.319 0.137 4.253 0.00 ** YES
in consumption of dietary supplements during the
COVID-19 pandemic
Note ** p < 0.001.
5.2. Limitations of Research and Contribution of Authors

This research deepens the knowledge about the impact of the emotion of fear and the
purchase of dietary supplements (vitamins and minerals). The results of the research show
that consumers’ tendency to buy a dietary supplement will be higher the more they are
prone to feelings of fear. As the number of new cases of infection increases or decreases,
so does the intention to purchase a dietary supplement. The panicked accumulation of
stocks of products for everyday use is one of the first reactions of people to emergencies
with an uncertain future. Furthermore, one of the first changes in customer behavior is to
postpone the demand for products such as travel, cars or real estate, or to leave the demand
for these products for some future time. The delay in demand is also visible in the services
of recreation, sports or going to a concert. Furthermore, the same research points to the
fact that to maintain health, consumers are more inclined to buy dietary supplements, their
consumption is more thoughtful and they focus on meeting essential needs and on their
own health. When considering the results of this research, it is important to keep in mind
that there are certain limitations. First, the research was conducted in the city of Zagreb,
which, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, suffered a major earthquake in the same
period. Also, this research is based on a survey. Although this research methodology has its
advantages, to have a more detailed insight into the cause-and-effect relationships among
the researched variables, it would be necessary to conduct a series of experiments. Despite
these shortcomings, the research results provide important implications for theory and
practice.
First of all, it should be noted that there are not many studies that have dealt with this
topic, which significantly affects the conceptualization, but also the setting of hypotheses
and the overall design of the research. Furthermore, there are concepts (e.g., socialization
of emotions, socialization of fear as emotions) that are only superficially included in this
research, and could contribute to a better understanding of differences in the acceptability
of emotions, pandemic experiences and feelings that define behavior. Given the fact that
the resulting models of predictors of the acceptability of expressing emotions during a
pandemic are very weak, it can be assumed that by including other concepts of feelings the
image would look different. In this study, a deliberate sample of 257 respondents was used,
which is a relatively small sample, so it should not be inferred about the proportions of
individual findings, but it can still be used to determine the relationship between different
phenomena. But it should be noted that the findings about how the emotion of fear is most
acceptable are tied solely to our pattern and should not be generalized. The findings of
this study need to be further investigated on a larger and possibly probabilistic sample
of the general population. Furthermore, due to the lack of similar research, most of the
instruments used were constructed by the authors themselves, which is both a contribution
of research, but also a limitation since their validity cannot yet be assessed.
6. Conclusions
Fear is the primary emotion that inevitably belongs to every human being, accompa-
nying him from birth to death. It arises from the experience of a threat, physical or mental,
that endangers our lives in various ways. According to the results of research at the time
of “lockdown” (average score = 4.26 and standard deviation 0.865 and a relative standard
deviation of 22.3%), the consumer was structurally exposed to the fear that is present in the
threat of imminent infection. Apparently, the fear of infection with COVID-19 is at the root
of all humans, i.e., consumer conscious and subconscious fears and anxieties that affect the
purchase, but at the same time it can be a useful mechanism that keeps us from experiencing
death before it comes. Fear at the time of the pandemic, according to respondents, has its
cause in existential insecurity and imbalance, and respondents rated this construct (average
score = 4.57, standard deviation 1.41 and a relative deviation of 21.8%). Furthermore, for
the purposes of this paper, fear was defined as an intense and uncomfortable feeling about
the existing or some expected danger of COVID-19 that causes increased consumption
equally in women and men. The threat and danger of coronavirus infection is perceived to
be higher than other infectious injections and epidemics, such as the seasonal flu epidemic,
which respondents did not attribute as a problem of infection. Therefore, it is important
to look at the characteristics of the threat of coronavirus infection because the specific
characteristics of the threat increase the emotional response and experience of risk and
danger and increase the consumption of dietary supplements. This is supported by the
fact that 62.65% of respondents said that they increased the use of dietary supplements
compared to the period before the pandemic. As many as 172 subjects began active vitamin
D intake with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The severe clinical picture was an
independent factor associated with the consumption of dietary supplements. Respondents
who used dietary supplements both for prevention and as adjunctive therapy were more
likely to increase their consumption of dietary supplements, although the majority of
respondents stated that they used dietary supplements for prevention purposes. Research
has shown that during the pandemic, respondents generally changed their lifestyle for
the better, i.e., increased physical activity and paid attention to diet and increased the
use of dietary supplements. Respondents who believed that supplementation contributes
to both prevention and the clinical picture used dietary supplements more and one of
the main reasons for the increased use of dietary supplements is the subjective feeling
of calm that their use brings. Therefore, although there is no solid clinical evidence that
classifies dietary supplements as official guidelines for the prevention and treatment of
COVID-19, the psychological effect they have on the user, together with the safety profile
and availability of the drug itself, is a benefit and motivation to consume. The COVID-19
pandemic has caused many changes in normal day-to-day life. The new security mea-
sures and the lockdowns have been a real turning point in life as we know it. Along with
the various measures, a reign of fear began—fear of the unknown, fear of the infection,
fear of the disease, and fear of death. In these new circumstances, with the end of the
pandemic nowhere in sight, the emotion of fear has greatly altered people’s behavioral
and purchasing patterns. The pandemic caused fear, which in turn encouraged people
to focus on their health. Consumers started contemplating ways of strengthening their
immune systems, and often turned to dietary supplements because of their numerous and
well-known health benefits. Modern consumers are well-informed and know what they
want. One might say that their cognitive development regarding the process of purchase
decision-making has increased, probably because of the overall availability of information.
However, even though the consumer understands, evaluates, plans and contemplates more
than ever before, affective factors such as emotions still play an important role in human
behavior and the purchase decision-making process. Emotions have been passed down to
humans as a part of their evolutionary heritage and enabled their ancestors’ survival tens of
thousands of years ago. The human emotional system has the same role today as well—it
helps humans face obstacles and make the best possible decisions to make the increasingly
taxing day-to-day life a little bit easier. Emotions are often the initiator and the trigger for
many different actions, such as deciding on a purchase. This has been especially evident
during the pandemic. This research has shown that the emotion of fear initiated the changes
in consumer behavior toward dietary supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In these modern times, people are more influenced by external stimuli than ever before.
The socio-economic environment, ecological factors, and a person’s own day-to-day life all
play a significant role, whereby factors on the inside, such as emotions, greatly influence
the way people react to external stimuli. This is why internal factors such as emotions
should not be neglected or overlooked in any aspect of our lives.
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, D.V. and B.J.; methodology, D.V.; software, D.V.; formal
analysis, I.K. and D.V.; investigation, I.K.; writing—original draft preparation, I.K., D.V. and B.J.;
writing—review and editing, D.V. and B.J.; supervision, D.V. All authors have read and agreed to the
published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by the University North.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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J. Risk Financial Manag. 2022, 15, 257. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15060257 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jrfm

2. Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumer Habits

2.1. Can Fear Change Consumer Behavior Patterns?

2.2. Changes in Consumer Habits Conditioned by COVID-19

4.1. Previous Research on Emotions

4.2. Influence of Emotions on Shopping

• To research whether dietary supplement consumption was affected by the pandemic

Hypothesis 4 (H4). A significant portion of the increase in dietary-supplement consumption

5.1. Discussion of Research Results

Table 1. Sodio-demographic structure of respondents (n = 257).

Table 2. Survey reliability measurement using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient.

Table 3. Descriptive statistics for the chosen items.

Z-Test of the Hypothesis on Levels of Economic Possibility and Influences

5.2. Limitations of Research and Contribution of Authors

Milas, Goran. 2007. Psihologija Marketinga. Zagreb: Target.

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