Goal: to determine how three business model adaptation (BMA) strategies (namely, product development, market development, and diversification) influence firm profitability through the mediating mechanisms of customer behavioral loyalty and acquisition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: the study is based on a telephone survey of 210 Russian micro and small enterprises conducted in the beginning of 2022. Structural equation modeling is used to test the relationships between three BMA strategies, customer behavioral loyalty, customer acquisition, and firm profitability.

Findings: three BMA strategies positively influence customer acquisition but have no effects on customer behavioral loyalty. In turn, customer behavioral loyalty and acquisition unequally contribute to firm profitability. Diversification strategy is found to be the only strategy that positively influences firm profitability during the crisis...