The Effects of Recession on Consumer Buying Behavior towards Shopping and Brand Switching

The research problem is effect of economic recession‟s indicators on consumers‟ buying behavior. The objective of this study was to identify which factors that affects consumer buying behavior toward shopping and brand switching, to identify which dominant categories that effects during recession to consumer buying behavior toward shopping and brand switching and to determine the relationship between the effects of recession with consumer buying behavior towards shopping and brand switching. Three research hypotheses are formulated and tested. Descriptive survey research was used with 150 respondents as sample size. Consumer buying behavior towards shopping and brand switching were compared for four points of reference where changed occurred in the economic environment. Consumer‟s self-reported attitudes toward statements related to consumer buying behavior towards shopping and brand switching were extracted from Target Group Index conducted by the researcher and compared using one-way between group analysis of variance to reveal if there was a statistically significant difference in consumer buying behavior between the four factors of recession. The result show that consumer buying behavior towards shopping and brand switching are somewhat influenced by the factors of recession.