How coronavirus is shifting consumer behavior and attitudes in China

For a long time I felt somewhat unique in this regard, but COVID has made my longstanding reality the norm for many more people. Their physical world is defined by their family and hometown, which no longer needs to be near their work, which is entirely online; everything from friends to entertainment has followed the same path.

• The pandemic made working from home commonplace and the requirement to work in an office five days a week less of a default solution.

This presents a question: once this is all done, will we go back? In normal times, the status quo here is very expensive: we pay a huge premium for business travel versus a phone call, or for university tuition versus learning online. You can’t help but wonder: if we’re forced for an entire year to forego the in-person benefits of these practices, ... See more

These behavioral shifts are creating rapid changes in our economy. There will be both short-term and long-term impact as consumers and businesses are forced to change their behavior radically for weeks or months.