How different industries can help customers in building a digital identity, by reconsidering their existing business models and surviving the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a drastic change in an individual’s lifestyle. As a response to contain COVID, most countries in the world imposed strict lockdowns to control the spread of the virus. As individuals are forced to stay home in a constrained environment with limited physical access to their immediate and distant social circles, their sense of identity is likely to be threatened and this in turn can lead to uneasiness (reactance) in them. According to research in psychology, reactance is the motivation to regain freedom after it has been lost or threatened, which leads people to resist the social influence of others. As a result, people are spending more time online via video calls to their colleagues, binge watching series or learning new skills. However, some of them are also spending time to build their digital identity – this is being done to compensate the loss of their physical presence. There are various routes that an individual can follow to instill their digital presence online. In this article, we discuss how different industries can help customers in building a digital identity, by reconsidering their existing business models and surviving the pandemic.
In addition to the above trends, we also believe that customers will be inclined to explore beyond free services to have a greater control over things. We have come up with the term, “Digital Pampering” to describe this phenomenon. Since lockdowns have begun, people feel a sense of loss of control. The only acts they feel in control of are preventive ones such as maintaining social distancing, sanitizing their hands, and wearing masks. Such acts have taken over their minds. So, in order to feel more in control, people may be willing to spend additional money on the premium services available to pamper themselves. For example, LinkedIn Premium (for better control of their professional life), Food delivery premium Membership (for priority delivery slots, exclusive discounts, and cashbacks), Amazon Prime for quick delivery, and so on. Digital identity will be the most dominant norm in upcoming years. Till we realize that the pandemic has truly left us, we urge people to stay home, stay safe and wear masks.
About authors: Laxminarayana Yashaswy Akella is Doctoral Student, Marketing and Anuj Kapoor is Assistant Professor, Marketing at IIM Ahmedabad.