Abstract
This study builds on the concept of resilience and investigates the responses undertaken by Croatian consumers and firms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main aim of this research is to explore how resilience drives behavioral intentions of consumers and SMEs within the context of the “new normal.” Through secondary data analysis, the impact of pandemic on Croatian lives, policy reactions, consumers, and firms was observed. Additionally, primary research was conducted to (1) explore the impact of consumer resilience on online buying shifts and (2) investigate the influence of SME’s resilience, actualized through top managers’ self-efficacy, on investment intentions. The findings indicate that Croatian consumers feel of themselves as being quite resilient while Croatian SMEs increase the resilience by relying on the self-efficacy of top managers who are prone to engage in investment during pandemic. Our study contributes to literature by revealing the profile of resilient consumers and firms and how it affects their behavioral intentions during pandemic. The authors conclude with some discussion of lessons from key findings and implications for crisis-management, business, governance, marketing, and well-being.
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Notes
- 1.
This was expected because these products are necessary for home food preparation and can be stored
- 2.
Croatia ranks first in the EU, given the new vehicle sales drop in the first half of 2020, which decreased by 54.4% (Croatian Chamber of Commerce, 2020a)
- 3.
It should be noted that despite this finding, there is a significantly higher number of happy citizens and those who are satisfied with their lives compared to those unhappy and/or dissatisfied
- 4.
Criteria for classifying entities in the small and medium enterprise sector are defined by the Accounting Act and the Small Business Development Promotion Act. The Accounting Act, which was used in CEPOR report, classifies entrepreneurs into micro, small, medium, and large, based on amount of total assets, amount of income, and average number of employees during business year
- 5.
Measure for entrepreneurs with an annual income of less than HRK 7.5 million, who record a drop in income of more than 50%
- 6.
Measure for entrepreneurs with an annual income of less than 7.5 million HRK, which recorded a decline in income between 20 and 50%
- 7.
Measure for entrepreneurs with an annual income of more than HRK 7.5 million, in proportion to the decline in income
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Miočević, D., Milaković, I.K., Crnjak-Karanović, B., Mihić, M., Kvasina, A. (2022). Croatia: Assessing Resilience and Responses of Firms and Consumers During COVID-19 Pandemic. In: Shultz, II, C.J., Rahtz, D.R., Sirgy, M.J. (eds) Community, Economy and COVID-19. Community Quality-of-Life and Well-Being. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98152-5_8
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