ESL WORKSHEET - Changes in consumer habits

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

THE NEW CONSUMER

LinguaHouse

Mar. 2, 2025

Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)
Type of language: Business English
Tags: Describing Feelings and Behavior; Shops and Services; Prediction and Speculation; Article Based; Vocabulary and Grammar; Mixed Tenses; Past Tenses; Present Tenses; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old
Publication date: 03/02/2025

This lesson looks at the changes in consumer habits that the pandemic brought about. Students do a trivia quiz on some recent statistics about consumer habits, then listen to a podcast about how the way we shop has changed since the pandemic. After doing vocabulary and comprehension tasks on the podcast, they look at language to describe changes and complete a short text describing a graph. They then do a keyword transformation task featuring adjective + noun and verb + adverb combinations and finish off by discussing questions about the topic. (by Edward Alden)

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in international English.

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Podcaster: Welcome to our podcast Brandz, where we talk about the business world. Today, we're looking at how the pandemic has changed consumer habits. COVID turned our entire lives upside down, and many of the habits that we acquired in the pandemic don't seem to be going anywhere. That includes the way we shop.
Obviously, the main change was in the way we buy things. Even before the pandemic, digital shopping was on the rise, but while we were locked in, it skyrocketed. We ordered food more than ever, and many people also started buying their groceries online, as well as clothes, books, anything really. And now that many consumers have found out how convenient it can be to buy with a few clicks, they don't want to go back to buying in-store anymore. In fact, studies show that around 92% of consumers who tried online shopping during the pandemic kept the habit afterwards. That's why it's more important than ever for any business to have a solid digital strategy.
But that's not the only change in consumer habits that the pandemic accelerated. Shoppers have been more aware of who they're buying from. They are more interested in understanding the history of the company and its corporate responsibilities. They want to know if a company's values reflect their own. So, telling customers what your business is about has become a key part of any marketing strategy. You could, for example, have a campaign showing your potential consumers your brand's story and what you do to make a better world.
Another trend in shopping that the pandemic brought about is to shop local. There are two main reasons for that, the first one being environmental: consumers don’t want the products they buy to have a huge carbon footprint. But possibly the most interesting reason was that the pandemic created a stronger sense of local community: everyone was in it together, so consumers felt the need to help the local businesses stay open. That is obviously good news for small businesses because those that managed to create customer loyalty are managing to retain that customer base even after the pandemic.
Speaking of loyalty, studies show that consumers were much less loyal to brands during the pandemic. Three-quarters of consumers said they have experimented with other brands, mostly because of price and convenience. And many of these simply didn't go back to their old brands, especially younger consumers.
If there's one thing that the pandemic taught us it is that life's too short and we have to make the most of it. That has also changed consumer habits, with more being spent on experiences than on goods. These include trips, which is only natural after being locked up for so long, but also dining experiences, concerts, and sports. So many businesses have started creating these experiences for their customers or being associated with them by sponsoring them.
So, what lessons can businesses take from the pandemic and these changes in consumer habits? First of all, a digital-first approach is key. That means planning your online strategy before anything else, and then fitting the rest around that. Another key takeaway is that companies need to be flexible to adapt to sudden changes. I really hope we won't have anything like COVID-19 anytime soon, but those companies that were able to adapt in a crisis were able to survive the pandemic and are more likely to deal successfully with any future market changes.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/business-english/the-new-consumer. Accessed on March 10, 2025. LinguaHouse.com © 2008–2025. All rights reserved.