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Has consumer food demand become more price sensitive? A case study of beverages using retail- and household-based scanner data

Author

Listed:
  • McLaughlin, Patrick W.
  • Okrent, Abigail M.

Abstract

Have consumers become more price sensitive in light of elevated food inflation in the post-pandemic era? This study uses beverages, a large category of food expenditure in the United States, as a case study to examine whether consumers shifted consumption from national brands to cheaper PLs or had higher price elasticities of demand for these products. We draw on near “real-time” brand-level beverage sales data from Circana’s Liquid Data Unify platform for retail scanner data. We find little evidence that consumers' price sensitivity increased in the post-pandemic era.

Suggested Citation

  • McLaughlin, Patrick W. & Okrent, Abigail M., 2025. "Has consumer food demand become more price sensitive? A case study of beverages using retail- and household-based scanner data," 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO 360837, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea25:360837
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.360837
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    3. Larrimore, Jeff & Mortenson, Jacob & Splinter, David, 2023. "Earnings business cycles: The Covid recession, recovery, and policy response," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    4. Barten, Anton P, 1993. "Consumer Allocation Models: Choice of Functional Form," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 129-158.
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