IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ajagec/v104y2022i3p1050-1076.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Online shopping and the healthfulness of grocery purchases

Author

Listed:
  • Katherine Harris‐Lagoudakis

Abstract

This paper utilizes novel household panel data to analyze the effect of online grocery shopping on the healthfulness of grocery purchases. We utilize variation in the timing that an online shopping service was introduced as a source of exogenous variation in the decision to shop online. Relative to pre‐online service averages, our estimates indicate that online shopping baskets allocate 10.2 (21.7)% more of the total spending (calories) toward healthful product categories and are 10.1% more nutrient dense. We also evaluate the effect of online shopping on the monthly aggregate (in‐store and online) basket. Average treatment effects for the treated (ATT) indicate a 2.3% decline in the sugar/sweet/candy budget share upon the introduction of the online shopping service; however, summary measures of healthfulness do not illustrate robust changes at the monthly level.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine Harris‐Lagoudakis, 2022. "Online shopping and the healthfulness of grocery purchases," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(3), pages 1050-1076, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:104:y:2022:i:3:p:1050-1076
    DOI: 10.1111/ajae.12262
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12262
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ajae.12262?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Loewenstein, George, 1996. "Out of Control: Visceral Influences on Behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 272-292, March.
    2. Jakina Debnam, 2017. "Selection Effects and Heterogeneous Demand Responses to the Berkeley Soda Tax Vote," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(5), pages 1172-1187.
    3. France Caillavet & Gayaneh Kyureghian & Rodolfo M. Nayga & Coline Ferrant & Pierre Chauvin, 2015. "Does Healthy Food Access Matter in a French Urban Setting?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1400-1416.
    4. Sofia B. Villas‐Boas & Kristin Kiesel & Joshua P. Berning & Hayley H. Chouinard & Jill J. McCluskey, 2020. "Consumer and Strategic Firm Response to Nutrition Shelf Labels," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(2), pages 458-479, March.
    5. Emily Wang & Christian Rojas & Francesca Colantuoni, 2017. "Heterogeneous Behavior, Obesity, and Storability in the Demand for Soft Drinks," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(1), pages 18-33.
    6. Emily Oster, 2018. "Diabetes and Diet: Purchasing Behavior Change in Response to Health Information," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 308-348, October.
    7. Kühn, Frauke & Lichters, Marcel & Krey, Nina, 2020. "The touchy issue of produce: Need for touch in online grocery retailing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 244-255.
    8. Jessie Handbury & Ilya Rahkovsky & Molly Schnell, 2015. "Is the Focus on Food Deserts Fruitless? Retail Access and Food Purchases Across the Socioeconomic Spectrum," NBER Working Papers 21126, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Elena Belavina & Karan Girotra & Ashish Kabra, 2017. "Online Grocery Retail: Revenue Models and Environmental Impact," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(6), pages 1781-1799, June.
    10. Richard Volpe & Abigail Okrent & Ephraim Leibtag, 2013. "The Effect of Supercenter-format Stores on the Healthfulness of Consumers' Grocery Purchases," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 95(3), pages 568-589.
    11. Jeffrey Grogger, 2017. "Soda Taxes And The Prices of Sodas And Other Drinks: Evidence From Mexico," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 99(2), pages 481-498.
    12. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    13. Hut, Stefan, 2020. "Determinants of Dietary Choice in the US: Evidence from Consumer Migration," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    14. Avi Goldfarb & Ryan C. McDevitt & Sampsa Samila & Brian S. Silverman, 2015. "The Effect of Social Interaction on Economic Transactions: Evidence from Changes in Two Retail Formats," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(12), pages 2963-2981, December.
    15. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/19upp1b1si9uarpnvu9q0gp2mg is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Benjamin Bushong & Lindsay M. King & Colin F. Camerer & Antonio Rangel, 2010. "Pavlovian Processes in Consumer Choice: The Physical Presence of a Good Increases Willingness-to-Pay," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1556-1571, September.
    17. Shiv, Baba & Fedorikhin, Alexander, 1999. "Heart and Mind in Conflict: The Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 26(3), pages 278-292, December.
    18. David Laibson, 1997. "Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 443-478.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Harris-Lagoudakis, Katherine, 2023. "The effect of online shopping channels on brand choice, product exploration and price elasticities," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huseynov, Samir & Palma, Marco A. & Ahmad, Ghufran, 2021. "Does the magnitude of relative calorie distance affect food consumption?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 530-551.
    2. Martin Binder & Leonhard K. Lades, 2015. "Autonomy-Enhancing Paternalism," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(1), pages 3-27, February.
    3. Drew Fudenberg, 2006. "Advancing Beyond Advances in Behavioral Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(3), pages 694-711, September.
    4. David K. Levine & Drew Fudenberg, 2006. "A Dual-Self Model of Impulse Control," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1449-1476, December.
    5. Lauren Chenarides & Edward C. Jaenicke, 2019. "Documenting the Link Between Poor Food Access and Less Healthy Product Assortment Across the U.S," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 434-474, September.
    6. Rogers, Todd & Bazerman, Max H., 2008. "Future lock-in: Future implementation increases selection of 'should' choices," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 1-20, May.
    7. Binder, Martin & Lades, Leonhard K, 2014. "Autonomy-enhancing paternalism," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-02, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    8. Richard Schaefer & Raghunath Singh Rao & Vijay Mahajan, 2018. "Marketing Self-Improvement Programs for Self-Signaling Consumers," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(6), pages 912-929, November.
    9. Pourya Valizadeh & Shu Wen Ng, 2021. "Would A National Sugar‐Sweetened Beverage Tax in the United States Be Well Targeted?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(3), pages 961-986, May.
    10. Lades, Leonhard K., 2014. "Impulsive consumption and reflexive thought: Nudging ethical consumer behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 114-128.
    11. Lester, Bijou Yang, 2011. "An exploratory analysis of composite choices: Weighing rationality versus irrationality," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 949-958.
    12. Leonhard K. Lades & Wilhelm Hofmann, 2019. "Temptation, self-control, and inter-temporal choice," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 47-70, April.
    13. Peter Landry, 2019. "Sunk ‘Decision Points’: a theory of the endowment effect and present bias," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 86(1), pages 23-39, February.
    14. Lillemo, Shuling Chen, 2014. "Measuring the effect of procrastination and environmental awareness on households' energy-saving behaviours: An empirical approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 249-256.
    15. Tam, Leona & Dholakia, Utpal M., 2011. "Delay and duration effects of time frames on personal savings estimates and behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 142-152, March.
    16. Bryan, Gharad & Karlan, Dean & Nelson, Scott, 2009. "Commitment Contracts," Working Papers 73, Yale University, Department of Economics.
    17. Mattauch, Linus & Hepburn, Cameron & Stern, Nicholas, 2018. "Pigou pushes preferences: decarbonisation and endogenous values," INET Oxford Working Papers 2018-16, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    18. Giuntella, Osea & Rieger, Matthias & Rotunno, Lorenzo, 2020. "Weight gains from trade in foods: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    19. Jonathan D. Cohen, 2005. "The Vulcanization of the Human Brain: A Neural Perspective on Interactions Between Cognition and Emotion," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 3-24, Fall.
    20. Pier-André Bouchard St-Amant & Jean-Denis Garon, 2015. "Optimal redistributive pensions and the cost of self-control," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(5), pages 723-740, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:104:y:2022:i:3:p:1050-1076. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-8276 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.