The Influence of Pandemic Period on the Dynamics of the Associative Value of Words (Trading Sphere)

Undoubtedly, the associative (as well as the lexical) meaning of words changes under the influence of social, economic, and technological factors. In this article, we will try to trace the changes in the associative meaning of words related to the sphere of trade relations under the influence of the increasing tendency of transition of trade relations to the Internet, especially due to COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The results of the associative experiment we conducted this autumn are compared with the older data and conclusions about the features of the associative meaning of the same words made in 2019. The previously analyzed concepts were chosen as the stimuli for the 2020 experiment (kupit’ (buy), magazin (store), oplata(payment), prodazha (sale), otzyvy (reviews), dostavka (delivery), sajt (website), akcija(promotion), besplatno (free)). As material for the comparative study, we used the data of the direct and reverse associative dictionaries and results of our previous experiment in 2016.The results of the experiment reflect the changes in the associative meaning of words. Thus, a negative attitude towards the concepts ‘buy’, ‘promotion’ and ‘free’ is increasing; the associative meaning of the concepts ‘buy’ and ‘promotion’ is changing; the number of reactions associated with the implementation of trade operations on the Internet is sharply increasing, and, finally, the reactions to the stimulus dostavka (delivery) are now characterized by a greater detail.