PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION (2020) 57(8): 336-342 ISSN: 00333077 336 www.psychologyandeducation.net The impact of social media on personal shopper phenomenon in the covid-19 era Nieke Monika Kulsum 1* , Agus Salim 1 , Dian Wardiana Sjuchro 2 , Aat Ruchiat Nugraha 2 , Ari Agung Prastowo 2 1 Universitas Nasional, Jakarta, Indonesia 2 Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia Corresponding Email: niekemonika1@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Since the COVID-19 outbreak, there are many sectors are depending on the internet, such as the marketing. Nowadays, Indonesia becomes the highest number of online shopping services in Southeast Asia, due to many sellers running an online or an e- commerce site besides the offline store. The latest trends also indicate that Southeast Asia will continue to enjoy double-digital growth in e-commerce spend well into the next decade, fueled by increasing numbers of internet users, greater familiarity with online shopping, and improved consumer spending power. This research elaborated on the phenomenon of personal shopper that significantly increases in this Covid-19 era. For this study, researcher used a series of observations, interviews, and the examination of documents and literature review to complete the data. Based on the results of interviews and participatory observations, the researcher concludes that there is an impact on changing the behavior of consumers who usually shop offline to online. According to personal shopper services, there is a dramatic increase in demand for various types of products since the implementation of social distancing regulations by the government during this pandemic. Keywords: personal shopper, covid-19, social media, consumer behavior Article Received: 18 October 2020, Revised: 3 November 2020, Accepted: 24 December 2020 Research Background The Covid-19 pandemic that is currently hitting the world, many countries have closed their borders, limited the movement of their citizens, and even confined citizens in quarantine within their homes for weeks. This is a rather unique occurrence, as we are used to freedom of movement, but in the midst of the pandemic outbreak, people have been fined just for being outside. Although our societies seem to be very accepting of these limitations and condemn people that do not follow the rules, but we need to ask ourselves how this will affect the views of our society 1 . According to the Worldbank, Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia, has charted impressive economic growth since overcoming the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Furthermore, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation, the world’s 10th largest economy 1 Naveen Donthu and Anders Gustafsson, ‘Effects of COVID- 19 on Business and Research’, Journal of Business Research, 117 (2020), 284. in terms of purchasing power parity, and a member of the G-20. Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, Indonesia was able to maintain a consistent economic growth, recently qualifying the country to reach the upper middle income status 2 . Although Covid-19 has certainly affected Indonesian people's lives, both in health and social and economic aspects. The current outbreak has had severe economic consequences across the globe, and it does not look like any country will be unaffected. This not only has consequences for the economy; all of society is affected, which has led to dramatic changes in how businesses act and consumers behave 3 . Another consequence of the physical distance that implemented by the government, is the extreme increase in the usage of Internet and social media. Previous research has indicated that humans who feel lonely tend to use social media more and, in 2 https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/indonesia/overvie w 3 Donthu and Gustafsson.