<p>Major events such as personal or economic crises or pandemics often lead to long-term consumer behavior changes. Reports of such changes during the COVID-19 pandemic led us to investigate the underlying psychological drivers of such change. We aimed to understand the impact of social support, self-transcendence, and optimism, on the intention to make lifestyle changes and spending behavior during a crisis using the self-determination theory as the framework. Two surveys, seven months apart, were conducted during the pandemic. As anticipated, it was found that there were direct causal links from both self-transcendence and optimism to lifestyle change intentions and spending. Social support had a negative effect on spending as predicted but had only an indirect effect on lifestyle change intentions. This paper contributes to an underdeveloped area of research related to consumer behavior during a prolonged crisis. Based on the findings, we propose a model of consumer lifestyle change, where consumers are likely to make positive changes in their lives based on their level of self-transcendence, optimism and level of social support. In terms of practical implications, this research shows that there is a segment of consumers who desire to spend less and make more meaningful lifestyle changes. Brands must appeal to this mindset.</p>