MEDIATION APPROACHES TO COVID-19 INFLATIONARY PRESSURE BY CONSUMERS OF FAST-MOVING CONSUMER GOODS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The descriptive survey was conducted to identify mediation approaches by consumers of Fast Moving Consumer Goods to the inflationary pressure caused by Covid-19 pandemic lockdown through the coping strategies adopted by consumers. Two research questions were formulated to guide the study. Purposeful sampling technique was used to select 200 consumers in Anambra State Nigeria, while structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. Using simple percentage, mean and, standard deviation the demographic information, and the research questions were analyzed respectively. The result revealed that while the purchasing power and savings of consumer reduced drastically, consumers in Anambra State forfeit the use of some products, switched over to close substitutes with lower prices in other to cope with price increase of essential products. The study also showed that if manufacturers of fast moving consumer goods should offer price discounts, increase the quantity of packaged goods and can source local raw materials locally that they will be able to reduce production costs and prices of their products which will assist them to gain and maintain their market share and recommended that manufacturers of fast moving consumer goods should invest in the local production of raw material to reduce cost at long run for their sustainability.