COVID-19 is changing the fabric of society. While the naysayers say that nothing will change once the lockdown ends, we at Wolfzhowl believe that collectivism will be on the rise. Brands will need to realign their marketing plans to now cater to a far lesser individualistic audience. Do you agree with us? Let us know in the comments below.

1. The Re-Rise of Collectivism
COVID 19 – The Dawn of New
Beginning
Wolfzhowl
Pathogens and their impact on society
The world has been grappling with Covid-19 and it’s extremely likely that the world, as we know
it, will change. If history is any indication, every Black Swan event has affected the society and
culture at large. Pathogens, especially are known to change human behavior, impact economies and
disrupt societies.
Most infectious diseases impact society, culture as well as human behaviour. They shape language,
the foods consumed and structures of society. And these effects continue long after the disease has
been eliminated or a vaccine has been developed for the same. An epidemic of measles in Fiji led

2. to the death of 20-25% of the population including all 69 Chieftains across various tribes, creating
a vacuum in leadership, which led to the colonial government importing labourers from other
nations to work in agriculture. This made them an inter-racial state which went on to develop the
culture for the country. Similarly, there was massive displacement of the Irish between 1845 &
1852 with over 1 million migrating to the US to escape the famine caused by Phytophthora
infestans destroying potato harvests (Source: Turner RS)
A lot of epidemics have also resulted in violence,
scapegoating and mass hysteria associated with
the spread of pathogens across history.
According to historian Snowden, when cholera
struck Paris in 1832, a lot of commoners
propagated the rumours of King Louis Phillipe
poisoning wells with arsenic. The violence that
ensued during this period led to
institutionalization of dread of the “deadly
class” – the poor people. This violence led to the
class-based repression in the 19th century until
the 1848 revolution. (Source: Nature)
While increased xenophobia is an outcome of any epidemic, pathogens have an impact on the way
languages are shaped. Example, saying “God Bless You” after someone sneezes can be traced back
to Greek and Roman history linked to diseases although it is popularly credited to St Gregory the
Great. (Source: The Conversation)
If we look at Black Death (The Plague of 1340 – 1400), we realize that it changed Europe’s
structure completely.
• The uncertainty of daily survival was making it
extremely morbid and made people shift from thinking about
the future to “live for the moment.”
• People shifted from grain farming to animal
husbandry since it was more economical
• With more people getting into animal husbandry,
meat consumption across the continent increased.
• Mass urban migration in order to survive and find
jobs led to the death of agrarian economy in Europe

3. In something similar, we can feel the effects of Covid-19 globally:
• Uncertainty of wages and economic conditions are pushing us to be more frugal with our
money
• Increased vulnerability towards health making us rethink our lifestyle & how we measure
our fitness
• Migrants who were working in bigger cities are now trying to head back home, to the safety
of smaller towns and villages where the virus has not yet reached
• The defiance of authority is now being socially shamed, and people are not afraid on calling
out the ones who blatantly disobeying physical distancing rules
• Increased connectivity with friends and family despite social distancing
Before Corona Virus hit us, one could see the rise of individualism globally. According to the
Association for Psychological Science, increasing socioeconomic development is an especially
strong predictor of increasing individualistic practices and values in a country over time.
Individualist cultures tend to prioritize independence and uniqueness and tend to think of people as
autonomous beings. Collectivist cultures on the other hand emphasize on inter-dependence, family
relationships and social conformity as identifiers of culture.
Globally, people were depending more on their friends than on their families. More and more
people were moving to urban and uber-urban locations for a ‘better life’. Almost all countries that
were surveyed by ‘World Values Survey’ showed that everyone emphasized on the need for their
children to become more independent and to prioritize self-expression. Specifically, statistical
models indicated that individualism has increased by about 12% worldwide since 1960.
India’s tryst with Individualism & Collectivism
Let’s take a look at India specifically. As a pre-dominantly collectivist civilization, India was
heading towards individualism. And there was a strong reason for it. India has survived on the 4
tenants of Hinduism – Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. For centuries before independence, India
was focused on Dharma and Moksha. This was primarily because British denied the pre-
independent India of the Artha and Kama. Dharma and Moksha were the only two things that
people could own as their expression of self. And both of these kept emphasizing on the values of
family and togetherness, thinking about others before self, treating the world as your home –
‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’.

4. If we were to place the timeline of independent India on the Maslow’s heirachy of Needs, we will
realise how a Artha-Kama-denied India moved from scarcity to indulgence.
It was only the in the 1960s, 20 years after India got independence, that India experienced Artha
for the first time. The socialist industrialization phase of India drove millions to cities for a better
job. For the first time, India witnessed nuclear families. People started having a far more stable
income (as they were not dependent on agricultural income). For the first time, middle class in
India bloomed. They had more financial stability than any other generation ever before.
The liberalization of the economy in the 1990s became a turning point for the society. For the first
time India starting indulging in their ‘wants’. Middle class India blossomed with fewer mouths to
feed and higher disposable income. The Western Culture became aspirational. Identity of self
through work started driving decisions. India inched towards an individualistic society while still
having some conditioning prevalent from its collectivist times.
However, this will all change. Covid-19 has taught us and has reaffirmed what epidemiologists
have been saying for very long – countries and cultures with a more collectivist outlook are less

5. susceptible to epidemics than individualist societies. And evidence of this can be found in the way
the virus is spreading across the globe.
Source: Covid TrackerData as of 15 May 2020, 5pm IST.
As we can see, the more individualistic societies not only have higher number of reported cases but
also have the highest number of deaths linked to Covid-19.
And this brings us to another very critical point –

6. WOULD COVID-19 MAKE INDIA A
COLLECTIVIST SOCIETY ONCE AGAIN?
And the answer to that is a resounding yes. And the reason to this is simple - collectivist
behaviours are hypothesized to generate a societal defense against pathogen transmission.
Source: HOFSTEDE (2001)
According to a report of The Royal Society Publishing, 2008, the authors say, “Given that many
specific traditions and norms (such as those pertaining to food preparation) can serve as buffers
against pathogen transmission, deviance from the status quo may pose a contagion risk to self and
others, whereas conformity helps to maintain the integrity of these ritualized buffers against
disease.” We can already see how the society is becoming collectivist. Let’s take the example of
India.

7. • We are dependent upon collective wisdom of our grandmothers, mothers and aunts for
building immunity
• We are reaching out to our neighbours, checking in on our friends, exchanging recipes
• We are video calling our relatives with whom we had lost touch with more than ever before
• We are reaching out to family first instead of friends in case we are distressed over health
or money
• We’ve become far more sensitive about ordering food from outside or even stepping out to
buy groceries if there are old people or very young infants living around us
• We’re stepping out, putting ourselves at risk to feed
the animals & birds who have lost access to food that
was provided by humans (restaurants feeding cats and
dogs, tourists feeding fish and monkeys etc.)
• We’re setting up kitchens or collecting funds to help
those who are stranded
• We are not hesitating in reaching out and calling in
favours for people we barely know
• We are trying to ensure that the dignity of the lesser-
privileged is not lost by ensuring that help reaches them before they need to ask for it
While this is happening at a larger level and is more a response to the lockdown than the virus
itself, there are larger things that will lead to the decline
in individualism. Take, for example, government
surveillance. With contact tracing as a step towards
containing the virus, there’s an increase in government
surveillance mechanism.
Such mass surveillance is known to alter human
behaviour. A 2016 study published in the Journalism
and Mass Communication Quarterly reveals that people
repress their opinions and creativity if they believe that
the government is watching them. Surveillance enables a culture of self-censorship which leads to
the further disenfranchisement of minority groups. Individual opinion and self-expression form the
cornerstone for an individualistic community. One censors self-expression by considering the
impact of such expression not only on the individual self but also the community at large. In such
cases, people end up thinking about the greater good of the community and steer away from
individualism.

8. Source: Research Gate
But will India revert to collectivism completely? Not really. It has taken a few centuries for India
to enjoy artha and kama and we are not ready to let this go any time soon. However, we will
become indivualistically-collective; where there is space of individualism to blossom while also
thinking about the society at large.

9. The Dawn of New Normal
How will the Indian consumer change post Covid-19?
• Value-driven consumer – Indians were always known for taking pride in driving a good
bargain (cost vs value). With increased financial insecurity, Indian consumers will think
twice before buying anything.
• Buying for the ‘greater good’ – Playing to the altruism of the consumers (example, a part
of the money will be donated to the COVID-impacted migrant labours) may not be a bad
idea. However, brands need to engage in more than just lip-service and show proof of the
CSR initiative.
• Herd Mentality – The Indian consumer is going to buy because others are buying. Indian
consumers will rely on social wisdom and take decisions – whether it is about investing in
certain instruments or buying a car for self; the decisions will be driven by WOM.
• Frugality is new hero - Collectivism will make frugality a hero. Each paisa would be spent
wisely and those who are frugal in their spending will be the new hero. The emphasis will
move away from indulgences to savings; with savings being akin to financial
• The emergence of sub-cultures into mainstream – With individualism, subcultures
always had a separate space. Now, with a semblance of acceptance into the wider culture,
subcultures will merge, and Individualistic habits will slowly form a part of larger
collectivistic consensus. Eg: Hiphop, street culture becoming part of the larger narrative
with even the older generation accepting this as a part of self-expression.
What will be the impact of the Re-rise of collectivism on brands?
1. Changing drivers of success: Brands have been reflecting aspirational success in their
communication – the boardroom, the bigger house, a big car, etc. While leaning towards
collectivism, measures of success & aspiration will change. Altruism and larger good of the
society will become aspirational.
2. No More REACH based influencers - With more people relying on their family and
friends, influencers will change. From Social Media influencers, we will see the rise of the
true social influencers. Brands will now have to do away with vanity influencers with a
large following and actually start mapping the power of influence of everyone’s social
circle while crafting their influencer marketing strategy.
3. Brand positioning & communication of ‘indulgent’ products needs an overhaul. If the
product heightens vanity and extreme individualistic narcissism, the consumers will
blatantly reject it. Brands need to reimagine their communication strategy post lock-down.
4. An era of Brand Advocates and Brand Loyalists – Brands will now need to identify and
build a relationship with the true brand advocates and brand loyalists. Brands where there is
not a lot of online chatter (example, feminine hygiene products) but a lot of offline chatter
will need to invest in identifying the circle of influence. Would voice assistant data be
helpful in identifying these? Or would brands actually have to build an emotional connect
and commission new-age research techniques to identify these?

10. 5. Brand Loyalty at risk – Brands will find it difficult to find loyalty amongst consumers
since more of us would be moving towards collectivism. Individualistic consumers better
withstand influences from group members, social/group norms, and marketing media, they
tend to stay with their individually best choice without being distracted by external
influences. This will be due to the Collective Action Problem wherein even those
individuals who want to take the decision for the betterment of the collective group are
unable to do so because of the clash of opinions within the group.
6. Brands with frequent repurchase cycles like FMCG are at risk of drop in
consumption – When people start thinking of groups before their purchase decision, a lot
of FMCG consumption goes down. This used to be seen in India until the early 90s when
joint families were a norm. Products like chips & aerated beverages were ‘treats’ and not
meant for everyday consumption. One could not simply go out and buy a pack of biscuits
for him/herself. It had to come for everyone in the family and hence, the occasions of such
purchases were limited. With the re-rise of collectivism, a lot of us will move back to
thinking about the family together instead of ordering in a pizza for oneself.
7. Upping the game of legitimizing conspicuous consumption – With Indians leaning
towards collectivism, brands will find it far more difficult to legitimize conspicuous
consumption even in Urban India. The social stigma of over-indulgence while dealing with
economic insecurities will ensure that the Have-Nots will detest those who have, making it
difficult for even the affluent to indulge. Whether it is luxury automobile or expensive
handbags, watches or shoes or even owing more than one gaming devices (not for the hard
core gamers) will be impacted. Brands will need to identify legitimizers and work doubly
hard to get people to indulge.
8. Rise of all-encompassing consumer products - that cater to individual tastes and needs
but also fit Collective needs. More families will want to buy products that have multiple
features to satify the needs of everyone in the family and not just of the self. Eg. Smart
TVs, Refrigerators, Cars etc.
9. Brands need to aim at embedding themselves in the collective memory of the
consumers - Collective memories are shared representations of a group's past based on a
common identity. Their formation is affected by cognitive and emotional factors, but it
takes place in the context of human interactions with other humans or with cultural
artifacts. They are shaped by, and transmitted through, narratives. Because they intervene in
the definition, maintenance, and mobilization of social identities, they have a strong impact
on intergroup relations. Collective memories influence the present, but they are also
influenced by present psychological states and needs. Every brand manager must do
stocktaking to know the elements and associations that are memorable and influence
memory ranking. Many factors play a role in what we remember. Wolfzhowl’s write up on
Memory Structures is a good beginning point for brand managers.
10. Innovation – With the re-rise of collectivism, brands will need to innovate not only their
marketing efforts but the product itself. Larger pack sizes, multi-user friendly products
would become the need of the hour.
For more such interesting insights, reach out to us on howl@wolfzhowl.com