Cultural Differences in Coping with Changes in the External Environment: A Case of Behavioural Segmentation of Senior Consumers Based on Their Reaction to the COVID-19 Pandemic

A sudden change in the external environment, such as the COVID-19 pandemic meant for senior customers in CEE, required coping mechanisms to adapt and a significant change in behavioural patterns. The paper presents the social and customer behaviour changes among elderly citizens caused by the pandemic and aims to identify regional differences in adapting to these changes. Results from CATI interviews of 5875 participants from Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which were conducted as a part of the international SHARE project, bring a deeper understanding of regional differences. Behavioural segmentation made in each of the studied countries shows that the clusters created in each country are different and yet similar in certain aspects. Clusters of "adapters" - seniors with partial behavioural change - are found in all three countries, and even though they vary in some aspects of behaviour, they have significant commonalities as well. Clusters of the "vulnerable" - seniors who had undergone a complete change of behavioural patterns to protect themselves - and clusters of the "resistant" - seniors resisting the change - are found only in two of the studied countries. Differences in understanding the threat and feeling the need to react in certain ways are found not only between countries but also within cultures. By employing Hofstede's cultural dimensions score to explain detected differences, the article brings more understanding of how power distance, indulgence and individualism could form differences in the usage of coping mechanisms among the elderly. The results bring insight into important aspects of changes in behaviour, which should be understood and mirrored in the business strategies of companies whose actual or potential customers are represented by this population.Implications for Central European audience: The research into behavioural changes among senior consumers due to the COVID-19 pandemic was done in three CEE countries: Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany and the implications are therefore well suitable for the CEE region, yet generalizations for other countries must be made carefully as the results show that behavioural segments identified in the studied countries indicate cultural differences.