Immediate impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on personal mobility and consumer behaviour of households in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Lockdown measures adopted to contain the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in severe disruptions to mobility, both in demand and supply of passenger and goods transport and supply chain activities globally. This research was designed to understand the immediate reactions of households and society during the curfew imposed in Sri Lanka, a developing country, to curb the spread of the pandemic. This paper investigates psychometric perceptions across different socio-economic characteristics of households using statistical techniques to explore the association between the sample and population parameters. Results prominently indicate that these immediate impacts of health advisories and lockdown on personal mobility and consumption patterns were short-term in nature and unlikely to continue beyond the curfew. These results would be useful in understanding how society would deal with a similar unforeseen event in the future if it were to arise.