Does the pandemic affect the lifestyle and dietary intake? A comparative investigation during the pandemic and new normal situation

Purpose The study attempts to investigate the role of social media in spreading awareness regarding ayurvedic immunity boosters (AIB) and changes in diet. Further, the study examines the factors affecting the willingness to pay for ayurvedic immunity boosters (WPIB) during the pandemic and new normal situation with the moderating effect of the “fear of COVID-19 infection.” Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from millennials in two phases, i.e. the first phase (1 July–August 2021) with 300 respondents and a second phase with (June–August 2022) 257 respondents. An online questionnaire was shared with millennials using the snowball sampling technique. Descriptive statistics with SPSS and SmartPLS 4.0 software were applied to analyze the data. Findings The results found a variation in AIB content sharing on social media during 2021 and 2022. Results found that respondents reported significant changes in their lifestyle and diet, like consuming honey, khada, tulsi tea, etc. In 2021, health consciousness and trust significantly affected WPIB, whereas in 2022, only health consciousness was substantially affected. Fear of COVID-19 infection moderates the relationship between health consciousness, perceived fear and willingness to pay for ayurvedic products, whereas the effect on consumer preference and trust remains insignificant. Research limitations/implications Results could help ayurvedic product manufacturing companies understand the consumers' mindset and the factors that stimulate consumers to buy these immunity boosters. Ayurvedic advertisers should design unambiguous messages that focus on health consciousness and have trustable components to encourage consumers to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Originality/value This is one of its kinds of studies that presents the contrasts of how the COVID-19 crisis has significantly changed individuals' dietary intake and affected lifestyle patterns.