How the Covid-19 Pandemic Is Changing Online Food Shopping Human Behaviour in Italy

Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo, Mariantonietta Fiore and Antonino Galati
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Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo: Italian National Institute of Statistics—Istat, 00184 Rome, Italy
Antonino Galati: Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: The advent of the Internet has significantly changed consumption patterns and habits. Online grocery shopping is a way of purchasing food products using a web-based shopping service. The current COVID-19 pandemic is determining a rethinking of purchase choice elements and of consumers’ behavior. This work aims to investigate which characteristics can affect the decision of online food shopping during the pandemic emergency in Italy. In particular, the work aims to analyze the effects of a set of explanatory variables on the level of satisfaction for the food online shopping experience. For achieving this aim, the proportional odds version of the cumulative logit model is carried out. Data derive from an anonymous on-line questionnaire administrated during the first months of the pandemic and filled by 248 respondents. The results of this work highlight that people having familiarity with buying food online, that have a higher educational level and consider food online channels easy to use, appear more satisfied for the food online shopping experience. These findings can be crucial for the future green global challenges as online shopping may help to reach competitive advantages for company sustainability.

Keywords: online grocery shopping; situational factors 2019; global pandemic; consumer behavior; m-commerce; proportional odds version of the cumulative logit model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (38)

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