Did COVID-19 Support Sustainable Marketing?: Modelling the Enablers of E-Commerce – Online Shopping in the Pandemic

Introduction

We discuss many marketing strategies in light of various market circumstances, and the majority of businesses employ varied strategic approaches in light of these circumstances. Company restructures its market segmentation and positioning as well as its strategic decisions about product selection, pricing, and distribution. The Covid-19 epidemic had significantly altered society's priorities and people's way of life, this affects sustainable development significantly. This, however, was not a case of the market system breaking due to an economic slowdown; rather, it was a circumstance where the entire chain system broke, causing a crisis in terms of production, sales, or marketing, which reflected the firm's economic crisis. Sharma and Srivastava (2022) various strategies have been designed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is difficult for huge corporations to keep their clients because local competitors are now gaining an advantage in the market and are more aware of consumer psychology during a recession. On the other hand, there is no control mechanism, and the unemployment rate is rising. Because of it, shopping preferences will undoubtedly change. The link between consumer behavior and supply and demand is now changing. By reducing industrial and transportation activity while encouraging families to participate in non-commercialized forms of recreation and social interaction, economic collapse and social isolation have lowered society's environmental impact. Many companies use sustainable marketing to succeed in today's ethical and ecologically sensitive marketplace. Exogenous and endogenous elements, such as government and international organization environmental rules, as well as societal norms and values, are linked to strategic integration in ways that affect the sustainability of the enterprise. The first factors are those that affect stakeholders and include: a) environmental regulations of national and international organizations; b) social norms and values; c) expectations of interest groups (NGOs, community groups, media, etc.); d) influence of market agents like customers, suppliers, competitors, and shareholders. The second factor consists of internal forces such as (a) integrating sustainability into decision-making strategies, which is one of this factor's biggest challenges; (b) cultural influences such as motivation, information sharing, management commitment, and long-term perspective; and (c) promoting the use of fundamental resources such as physical assets, capacities, and resources (Schrettle et. al., 2014). Organizations must finance sustainability programs in order to practice sustainable marketing. A successful marketing strategy must be in line with consumer values, and as a result, many brands have redesigned their operations to be more sustainable and to be more transparent about their efforts. The actions used to stop the pandemic have altered daily living and brought about significant changes in consumer behavior says Sheth (2020). Environmental responsibility knowledge and attitudes have been the subject of numerous research, and a wide range of methodologies and ideas have been employed to explain them says Walsh and Dodds(2022).