The Application of the Soft Modeling Method to Evaluate Changes in Customer Behavior towards e-Commerce in the Time of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, business and consumer behavior towards online consumption digital payments has changed. This trend, although significant, may be observed, to varying extent, among customers across European Union. study aims investigate if, what pandemic had powerful impact on in EU (European Union) countries. The empirical research using soft modeling method supplements theoretical deliberations based critical literature review. A conceptual model was adopted. Three first-order latent variables were selected for analysis: “online customer behavior”, activity” “willingness spend online”, which all analyzed indicators (14) classified. analysis loadings 2019 2020 allowed this not same Clustering performed with hit map enabled identification four groups Significant changes observed countries such as Poland, Ireland, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Spain, Finland. results classification values three indicate that only composition one group (Bulgaria Romania) remained unchanged during period. Research discussion presented, further fields identified.