Assessing the Impact of Promotions on Consumer Purchasing Behavior During Crises

ABSTRACT Understanding how households modify their food expenditure decisions during times of crisis is essential because consumer purchasing behavior frequently changes during these times. This study looks at these behavioral shifts during the COVID‐19 pandemic, concentrating on how price sensitivity and response to sales promotions changed over the course of the crisis. The study uses both fixed‐effects and quantile regression models to estimate the effect of prices and promotions on food expenditure using 499,600 observations from 5784 households in the Spanish Kantar Worldpanel Homescan dataset. According to the results, price sensitivity and promotion responsiveness significantly decreased during the initial lockdown and then increased during the new normalcy period. Results further indicate that low‐expenditure households were consistently more responsive to prices and promotions than high‐expenditure households. These insights highlight important implications for retailers, who may adjust communication and pricing strategies, and for policymakers, who should consider targeted interventions to support household food security during future crises.