Preferences for online grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic - the role of fear-related attitudes

Wiktor Budziński; Ricardo Daziano

doi:10.1016/j.jocm.2023.100416

Preferences for online grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic - the role of fear-related attitudes

J Choice Model. 2023 Jun:47:100416. doi: 10.1016/j.jocm.2023.100416. Epub 2023 May 10.

Authors

Wiktor Budziński¹, Ricardo Daziano²

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, Poland.
² School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, United States.

Abstract

In this study, we employ a choice experiment to analyze New York City residents' preferences for online grocery shopping at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We employ a latent class specification to identify three market segments and estimate consumers' willingness to pay for a variety of attributes of online grocery services related to the quality of the stock, delivery characteristics, and the cost of the online order. We characterize consumers in each segment by their observed characteristics as well as fear-related latent variables. On the one hand, we find that individuals who are actively protecting themselves against COVID-19 have a higher willingness to pay for almost all attributes. On the other hand, consumers who avoid crowds have a lower willingness to pay, but they assign relatively higher importance to no-contact delivery.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Choice experiment; Crowd avoidance; Hybrid choice model; Online grocery shopping.