Abstract
COVID-19 lockdown under the Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation, B.E. 2548 was partially eased from 3 May 2020 to allow public venues including retailers, market, flea markets, floating markets to reopen again with preventative measures imposed, i.e., temperature check for sellers and buyers, social distancing while choosing and paying. Flea markets in this research means any market without any permanent fixture offering fresh produces, goods and services. Flea markets are a part of Thai way of life; they are local and a congregating place of 20,000 � 30,000 consumers with revenue ranging from 600,000 and 10,000,000bht per day per flea market. Flea markets are scattered around Thailand and their market value are significant, however the crowded nature of flea markets is against social distancing guideline imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19; thus, social distancing would render a third of service space in flea markets unusable. In order to concurrently maintain the sales, satisfying consumers� needs and preventing COVID-19, the objective of the research is set to study (1) new normal consumer behavior in flea markets, (2) consumer behavior in deciding to purchase products and services in flea markets during COVID-19 outbreak which is the basis of set marketing mix, and (3) retailer marketing strategy. Primary data and secondary data are collected for this research. Primary data is collected by survey method by asking sample group to complete 400 questionnaires and the information thereof is analysed by descriptive method.
The research finds that the majority of questionnaire answers show the new normal consumer behavior in flea markets during COVID-19 outbreak are (1) the majority of consumers wear masks but do not have a temperature check, wash hands every time they visit flea markets, nor do they stay home to prevent COVID-19 spread, and, on top of the aforementioned, there was no social distancing; (2) consumer behavior in deciding to purchase products and services in flea markets reflects the totality of decisions which are (i) whether � yes, (ii) why � nearby and cheap, (iii) when � every time there is a flea market, (iv) where � flea market near home or office, (v) how � paid in cash, (vi) how much - 200 - 500bht/visit, (vii) how often � 2 � 3 time/week, and (viii) how long � 30 � 60minutes/visit; and (3) in relation to retail marketing mix, retail strategy consists of store differentiation and positioning which focuses on benefits in consistent with new normal particularly social distancing and such strategy aligns with retail marketing mix for (i) Distribution (location) and service assortment, (ii) Product assortment: increasing fresh produce, daily items and products for COVID-19 prevention or new normal, (iii) Promotion or Communication using promotion mix to support new normal, increase sales and profits (how much, how, how long), provide pre-purchase and post-purchase services, and (iv) Price: at the same price or at lower price.
IJCRT's Publication Details
Unique Identification Number - IJCRT2007624
Paper ID - 197392
Page Number(s) - 5583-5594
Pubished in - Volume 8 | Issue 7 | July 2020
DOI (Digital Object Identifier) -   
Publisher Name - IJCRT | www.ijcrt.org | ISSN : 2320-2882
E-ISSN Number - 2320-2882
Cite this article
  Daoroong Aiyadech ,   
"BUYER CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN FLEA MARKET DURING COVID-19 IN THAILAND", International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT), ISSN:2320-2882, Volume.8, Issue 7, pp.5583-5594, July 2020, Available at :
http://www.ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2007624.pdf