An analysis of the experiences based on experimental marketing: pandemic COVID-19 quarantine

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to analyze the experiences experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine, based on an experimental marketing perspective and to validate a scale of experiences for the quarantine context.Design/methodology/approachThe life of a human being is a sum of the experiences that occur in their daily life, from experiences at home, to experiences at work, shopping, holidays and, essentially, with other human beings. However, experiences during the quarantine period became limited to experiences at home. For this, we used a questionnaire survey that analyzes the experiences experienced by individuals. The sample consists of 726 individuals who were in Portugal during the quarantine and confinement period.FindingsThe results show that the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis produced a structure with four factors that the authors called Sense and Feel, Pandemic Feel, Pandemic Think and Act. The experiences are manifested with greater intensity in the factors Pandemic Think and Sense and Feel. The scale of experiences used showed to have convergent and discriminant validity and adequate internal consistency. It is expected that the present study will contribute to increase scientific knowledge in the behavioral area and in the area of positive psychology in the context of pandemic and confinement situations.Originality/valueThe results achieved become useful for health and marketing professionals, which allow them to define appropriate strategies to better serve the population in order to improve people's health, well-being and quality of life.