IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/apecpp/v43y2021i1p58-72.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Examining Food Purchase Behavior and Food Values During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Brenna Ellison
  • Brandon McFadden
  • Bradley J. Rickard
  • Norbert L. W. Wilson

Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic has altered conceptions of “normal” globally, including food purchasing and acquisition decisions. In this paper, we surveyed a panel of 1,370 U.S. households four times during the COVID‐19 pandemic from mid‐March to late April 2020. With this unique panel, we observe changes in food expenditures, shopping behaviors, and food values as the pandemic evolved. Our results reveal reductions in food‐away‐from‐home expenditures and increases in online grocery shopping. Food values appear to be fairly stable in the early stages of the pandemic; however, decreases in the importance of price and nutrition reveal tradeoffs households make during the pandemic.

Suggested Citation

  • Brenna Ellison & Brandon McFadden & Bradley J. Rickard & Norbert L. W. Wilson, 2021. "Examining Food Purchase Behavior and Food Values During the COVID‐19 Pandemic," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 58-72, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:43:y:2021:i:1:p:58-72
    DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13118
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13118
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/aepp.13118?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. John A. L. Cranfield, 2020. "Framing consumer food demand responses in a viral pandemic," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 68(2), pages 151-156, June.
    2. Griffith, Rachel & O'Connell, Martin & Smith, Kate, 2014. "Shopping around? How households adjusted food spending over the Great Recession," CEPR Discussion Papers 10096, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Fred Kuchler, 2011. "Is it Food Quality or Quantity that Responds to Changing Income?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 33(2), pages 205-221.
    4. Todd, Jessica & Morrison, Rosanna Mentzer, 2014. "Less Eating Out, Improved Diets, and More Family Meals in the Wake of the Great Recession," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, issue 02, pages 1-1, March.
    5. Fred Kuchler, 2011. "Is it Food Quality or Quantity that Responds to Changing Income?," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 33(2), pages 205-221.
    6. Saksena, Michelle J. & Okrent, Abigail M. & Anekwe, Tobenna D. & Cho, Clare & Dicken, Christopher & Effland, Anne & Elitzak, Howard & Guthrie, Joanne & Hamrick, Karen S. & Hyman, Jeffrey & Jo, Young &, 2018. "America’s Eating Habits:Food Away From Home," Economic Information Bulletin 281119, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. Rachel Griffith & Martin O'Connell & Kate Smith, 2016. "Shopping Around: How Households Adjusted Food Spending Over the Great Recession," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(330), pages 247-280, April.
    8. Ellen Goddard, 2020. "The impact of COVID‐19 on food retail and food service in Canada: Preliminary assessment," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 68(2), pages 157-161, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Weersink, Alfons & von Massow, Mike & Bannon, Nicholas & Ifft, Jennifer & Maples, Josh & McEwan, Ken & McKendree, Melissa G.S. & Nicholson, Charles & Novakovic, Andrew & Rangarajan, Anusuya & Richards, 2021. "COVID-19 and the agri-food system in the United States and Canada," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    2. Lester Lusher & Geoffrey C. Schnorr & Rebecca L.C. Taylor, 2022. "Unemployment Insurance as a Worker Indiscipline Device? Evidence from Scanner Data," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(2), pages 285-319, April.
    3. Tarek Ben Hassen & Hamid El Bilali & Mohammad S. Allahyari, 2020. "Impact of COVID-19 on Food Behavior and Consumption in Qatar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Alena Bicakova & Guido Matias Cortes & Jacopo Mazza, 2021. "Make Your Own Luck: The Wage Gains from Starting College in a Bad Economy," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp698, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    5. A. Ford Ramsey & Barry K. Goodwin & William F. Hahn & Matthew T. Holt, 2021. "Impacts of COVID‐19 and Price Transmission in U.S. Meat Markets," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(3), pages 441-458, May.
    6. O’Connell, Martin & Smith, Kate & Stroud, Rebekah, 2022. "The dietary impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    7. Alena Bičáková & Guido Matias Cortes & Jacopo Mazza, 2021. "Caught in the Cycle: Economic Conditions at Enrolment and Labour Market Outcomes of College Graduates," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(638), pages 2383-2412.
    8. Rivera-Ferre, Marta G. & López-i-Gelats, Feliu & Ravera, Federica & Oteros-Rozas, Elisa & di Masso, Marina & Binimelis, Rosa & El Bilali, Hamid, 2021. "The two-way relationship between food systems and the COVID19 pandemic: causes and consequences," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    9. Hindriks, Jean & Madio, Leonardo & Serse, Valerio, 2021. "Promotion ban and heterogeneity in retail prices during the Great Lockdown," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2021005, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    10. Nathapornpan Piyaareekul Uttama, 2021. "Open Innovation and Business Model of Health Food Industry in Asia," JOItmC, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-24, July.
    11. Dong, Xiao & Zeballos, Eliana, 2021. "COVID-19 Working Paper: The Effects of COVID-19 on Food Sales," USDA Miscellaneous 309615, United States Department of Agriculture.
    12. Riccardo Testa & Antonio Asciuto & Giorgio Schifani & Emanuele Schimmenti & Giuseppina Migliore, 2019. "Quality Determinants and Effect of Therapeutic Properties in Honey Consumption. An Exploratory Study on Italian Consumers," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-12, August.
    13. Hasan, Syed & Shakur, Shamim & Breunig, Robert, 2021. "Exchange rates and expenditure of households with foreign-born members: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 977-997.
    14. Margarida Rodrigues & Mário Franco & Rui Silva, 2020. "COVID-19 and Disruption in Management and Education Academics: Bibliometric Mapping and Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-25, September.
    15. Nadia Palmieri & Walter Stefanoni & Francesco Latterini & Luigi Pari, 2022. "Italian Consumer Preferences for Eucalyptus Honey: An Exploratory Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-11, June.
    16. Jim Been & Susann Rohwedder & Michael Hurd, 2020. "Does Home Production Replace Consumption Spending? Evidence from Shocks in Housing Wealth in the Great Recession," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(1), pages 113-128, March.
    17. Alan P. Ker & Ryan Cardwell, 2020. "Introduction to the special issue on COVID‐19 and the Canadian agriculture and food sectors: Thoughts from the pandemic onset," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 68(2), pages 139-142, June.
    18. Kumar, Anish & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Kumar, Pradeep & Song, Malin, 2021. "Mitigate risks in perishable food supply chains: Learning from COVID-19," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    19. Jaravel, Xavier & O'Connell, Martin, 2020. "Inflation Spike and Falling Product Variety during the Great Lockdown," CEPR Discussion Papers 14880, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Zeballos, Eliana & Dong, Xiao, 2021. "The Localized Effects of the COVID-19 Recession on Food Sales," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313996, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    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:apecpp:v:43:y:2021:i:1:p:58-72. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: . General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)2040-5804 .

    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/10.1002/(ISSN)2040-5804 .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.