Investigating the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumer Behavior in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

The world has not experienced exceptional conditions like the coronavirus at its scale since World War II. Most crises in recent decades have been caused by a financial or economic crisis, but the corona virus Pandemic as a widespread and catastrophic health event affected the social and economic lives of many people around the world and disturbed consumption patterns and consumer behaviours. It has influenced the well-being and welfare of the people thourgh increasing unemployment, poverty and reducing economic growth. Considering the importance of this issue, this study examines the effects of corona virus pandemic on household consumption patterns in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and compares changes in consumer behavior before the time of spread and during the outbreak of coronavirus and its impact on household income and expenditure. This study is cross-sectional in terms of time and method, focusing on the population of Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The sample size is determined by the Morgan table. And the data will be collected through survey questionnaire. In designing the questionnaire, a 5-point Likert scale was used. Data analysis was performed using two software packages: Excel and SPSS25. The overall results of the study showed that the corona virus pandemic had a significant effect on consumer behavior, such that consumer behavior changed before and during the pandemic, as the spread of the virus reduced income and increased the expenditures of households.