Pandemics and marketing: insights, impacts, and research opportunities

Pandemics have been an unfortunate but consistent facet of human existence over centuries, threatening lives as well as livelihoods globally. Disconcertingly, their frequency persists, with four “major” pandemics disrupting the planet in the last 65 years and more expected in the future. While many of the economic and health consequences of pandemics are well-documented, their marketing implications are less understood. Addressing this gap, we develop a broad, conceptual framework to highlight the characteristics and impacts of pandemics as they relate to marketing. We first identify four macro-level forces that characterize pandemics and highlight their marketing implications. Next, using the 7P marketing mix model as the organizing structure, we discuss these implications at a micro-level and identify a set of research questions to stimulate further inquiry, not only to generate deeper insights pertaining to pandemics’ marketing implications but also to envision new developments in these areas. Finally, we identify pandemics’ disproportionate impacts on and implications for some industry sectors, including healthcare, retail, education, hospitality, and tourism.