Serial coping to anxiety under a pandemic and subsequent regulation of vice food and beverage consumption among young adults

David A. Jaud and Renaud Lunardo

Journal of Consumer Affairs, 2022, vol. 56, issue 1, 237-256

Abstract: The COVID‐19 pandemic has prompted great anxiety for most people worldwide. Building on the coping literature and two studies, this research examines the effect of such anxiety on young (18–35 years old) adults' consumption of vice food and beverages. Specifically, in an online experiment using a UK sample (N = 211), we first identify the feeling of helplessness as the reason why anxious people accept a situation less and reinterpret it less positively. Then, in a large study in France (N = 1006), we show that these coping mechanisms of acceptance and positive reinterpretation explain why individuals engage in unhealthy consumption as a response to their anxiety. From this serial coping explanation of the effects of anxiety, this article then offers implications for social marketers and public policymakers, particularly with respect to young people's well‐being and physical health.

Date: 2022
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