How household food shopping behaviors changed during COVID-19 lockdown period: Evidence from Beijing, China

Di Chen, Chunyan Wang and Yi Liu

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2023, vol. 75, issue C

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a great impact on food shopping behavior. However, changes in food shopping behavior and related decision-making mechanisms remain unexplored. This study conducted a face-to-face questionnaire survey with 900 residents in three communities in Haidian, Beijing, China, to analyze food shopping behavior during the periods of pre-lockdown, lockdown (January–March 2020), and post-lockdown. Our results indicated that the preference for fresh food e-commerce shopping was accelerated by the lockdown with the usage rate increasing by 48%; the wet markets were seriously hit by the lockdown policy and had not fully recovered by the post-lockdown period (with a 75% reduction in the usage rate during lockdown). The psychological mechanisms of changes in food shopping behavior revealed that the context (e.g., community facilities) and the perceived risk of COVID-19 were two significant factors impacting the four shopping choices investigated. Specifically, the context factors affected behavior directly for supermarkets and convenience stores and indirectly for e-commerce and wet markets. The findings are expected to help in guiding emergency responses during a future pandemic as well as the long-term construction of food supply facilities.

Keywords: Food shopping behaviors; Urban residential community; Face-to-face survey; ABC theory; XGBoost (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joreco:v:75:y:2023:i:c:s0969698923002606

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103513

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