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The consumption pattern of Malaysian consumers has continuously changed and is simultaneously propelling the growth of the country's economy (Sulaiman, et al., 2018). This social phenomenon is noticed from the private consumption growth pace in 2019 at 7.6% which was higher than the long-term average (2011 to 2018) of 7%. Malaysia consumers are spending more which is contributing to nearly 60% of the Malaysian GDP in 2019 (Ong & Analytica, 2020). Financial agencies projected positive economic growth in 2020 (Asada & Lenain, 2019; Shukry, 2019). Furthermore, Malaysia is placed 6th globally on the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI), with an index score of 115 points in the first quarter of 2019 (“Malaysia consumer confident”, 2019). Malaysia was expected to have a steady growth in the luxury lifestyle and goods spending regardless of the slowing global economy (Tan, 2018). Unfortunately, all the optimistic prospects have taken a drastic turn for the worse with the unprecedented global Covid-19 pandemic. To curb the spread of the virus in the country, the Malaysia government implemented three phases of strict containment measurements since first quarter of 2020 with serious economic consequences (Kana, 2020). The Central Bank of Malaysia revised its official gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2020 to between -3.5% and -5.5% against 4.3% growth in 2019 (Idris, 2020). Private consumption fell 18.5% in the second quarter of 2020 and a 17.1% contraction in GDP which is the lowest quarter growth ever recorded by the nation since the Asian Financial Crisis when GDP fell 11.2% in the fourth quarter of 1998 (Idris & Salim, 2020).
As Malaysian consumers resolve to manage their consumption by discriminating towards essential goods and necessities, the focus of policy makers shifted to low-income spending (Mohtar & Kamarulzaman, 2020). The immediate effect of decline in discretionary spending rate appears to contribute to the deteriorating demand for branded and luxury goods (AmInvest, 2020). Branded and luxury goods offer high symbolic, social, and emotional value to consumers as a source intrinsic pleasure while offering low ratio of functionality to price (Kapferer & Bastien, 2017). Branded and luxury goods are known as social goods, the consumption of which is to portray an image to fit in with desired social groups (Fitzmaurice & Comegys, 2006). This curtailed demand of social consumption is expected as the general perception toward these as non-essentials may become accentuated in weak situation (Mischel, 1977). In recent years, the luxury market emerged as a significant element in global market (Wang et al., 2011) estimated at the value of 1.2 trillion Euro globally up until 2018 (Bain & Company, 2018). This market has a notable footprint in retail industry where more than 50 percent of the Malaysia shopping mall retail mix comprises non-essential goods (PPKM, 2018). As such, luxury products consumption rate could significantly dictate the survival of the 671 malls in Malaysia which are said to be a struggling sector recently due to changing consumption pattern owing to the Covid-19 pandemic (Birruntha, 2020). Erratic consumption behaviors surfaced because of the Covid-19 pandemic that contradicted common pattern expected of cautious spending during a crisis. For instance, irrational consumption behaviors of panic buying, and stockpiling were observed during the enforcement of the first movement control order (MCO) in Malaysia (“Panic buying”, 2020). Recent study based on data from 4,859 respondents from the US, Canada, UK, France, and Germany during the week of 6 April 2020 found that, consumer spending habits across the four emerging segments, only 9% reported they will maintain the same spending patterns post-Covid-19 (Rogers & Cosgrove, 2020). If this pattern is representative of Malaysian consumption pattern as well, the question arises as to the sustainability of the shopping malls in Malaysia that are dependent on leisure consumption. However, very little is known about what motivates Malaysian consumption of non-essential goods during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study investigates the consumption of social goods (Fitzmaurice & Comegys, 2006) and its relationships with materialism and self-concept clarity of Malaysian consumers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.