Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Change Consumers' Food Consumption and Willingness-to-Pay? The Case of China

The influence of price value on purchase intention among patients with chronic diseases in medical e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic in China

Background

During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical e-commerce (MEC) has provided a way for patients with chronic diseases to purchase drugs online to maintain social distancing, decrease the risk of infection and community transmission, and relieve the burden on medical resources. Therefore, research which seeks to elucidate the drivers of purchase intention (PI) among patients with chronic diseases in MEC is vital. This study extended the theory of planned behavior (TPB) by integrating the price value (PV) variable into the original TPB framework and explored the effect of PV on patients' PI in MEC during the coronavirus pandemic.

Methods

Empirical data was gathered from 414 Chinese participants. Structural equation modeling was applied to explore the mechanism of chronic patients' PI in MEC. In addition, this study also estimated the moderating effect of gender, income, and region and the mediating role of attitude (ATT), subjective norm (SN), and perceived behavioral control (PBC) between PV and PI.

Results

Patients' PI in MEC is significantly affected by ATT, SN, and PBC. PV delivers significant influence on ATT, SN, PBC, and PI, with PV having the strongest effect on ATT. Gender, income, and region can significantly moderate the relationship between PV and ATT.

Conclusion

These findings can contribute to design targeted interventions to increase the adoption of MEC for patients with chronic diseases, decrease infection rates, and alleviate the strain on medical resources in the COVID-19 era.

Pathways to food insecurity: Migration, hukou and COVID-19 in Nanjing, China

The COVID-19 pandemic has issued significant challenges to food systems and the food security of migrants in cities. In China, there have been no studies to date focusing on the food security of migrants during the pandemic. To fill this gap, an online questionnaire survey of food security in Nanjing City, China, was conducted in March 2020. This paper situates the research findings in the general literature on the general migrant experience during the pandemic under COVID and the specifics of the Chinese policy of hukou. Using multiple linear regression and ordered logistic regression, the paper examines the impact of migration status on food security during the pandemic. The paper finds that during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, households without local Nanjing hukou were more food insecure than those with Nanjing hukou. The differences related more to the absolute quantity of food intake, rather than reduction in food quality or in levels of anxiety over food access. Migrants in China and elsewhere during COVID-19 experienced three pathways to food insecurity-an income gap, an accessibility gap, and a benefits gap. This conceptual framework is used to structure the discussion and interpretation of survey findings and also has wider potential applicability.

Food consumption and the Covid-19 pandemic: The role of sustainability in purchasing choices

The paper addresses the consumption issue in the post-Covid-19 pandemic era, finding a possible interpretative model in the theory of planned behaviour. To this end, a sample was selected, and multivariate statistical analysis showed that the aspects of sustainability, health and well-living represent possible keys to understanding purchasing and consumption behaviour in the recovery and return to "normality". The mass media, the advice of experts, and the optimism of small things (from an emotional and social point of view) also have a correlated effect on the purchase of food, health and the environment, as well as production methods, origin and supply chain, packaging and ethical and social responsibility, in line with the much desired ecological transition.

Boon or Bane? Urban Food Security and Online Food Purchasing during the COVID-19 Epidemic in Nanjing, China

This paper examines the relationship between the rapid growth of online food purchasing and household food security during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China using the city of Nanjing as a case study. The paper presents the results of an online survey of 968 households in Nanjing in March 2020 focused on their food purchasing behavior and levels of food security during the early weeks of the pandemic. While online food purchasing has increased rapidly in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, little research attention has been paid to the relationship between online food purchasing and household food security. This paper provides detailed insights into this relationship in China. The medium- and longer-term food security and other consequences of the pandemic pivot to online food purchasing are a fertile area for future research in China and elsewhere.

Does Backward Integration Improve Food Safety of the Tea Industry in China in the Post-COVID-19 Era?

China is the largest tea producer in the world; however, tea quality and safety issues have caught broad attention due to pesticide overuse in the growing stage. In order to control the quality and safety of their raw inputs, tea-processing firms in China are expanding their own plantations. Does this backward integration (BI) improve the food safety performance of the tea firms in China? Based on the transaction cost theory, we empirically investigate the effect of tea firms’ BI on their food safety performances, using data from 246 tea firms collected via an online survey in 2021. Controlling the basic background situation and firms’ characteristics, the empirical regression results, when controlling for the self-selection bias, support the hypothesis that BI can improve the food safety performance of the tea industry when it reaches the effective integration level, specifically, 80% or higher. Other factors include that the private brand and asset share of the plantation would also help reduce the firms’ food safety problems. Therefore, the government may consider supporting firms’ BI in the development of tea plantations through one-time subsidies and/or land and labor coordination, so as to improve the food safety situation and industry efficiency.