Consumer fear and healthy eating during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to contribute to the healthy eating literature by analyzing whether fear of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), ability to prepare food and the safety-seeking are antecedents of the intention to consume healthy foods during COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two studies. The first study was done with a sample of 546 valid respondents. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze data. The second study was qualitative, in which 40 subjects took part. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.FindingsThe main findings reveal that ability to prepare food and the safety-seeking are strong antecedents of the intention to consume healthy foods. In addition, safety-seeking mediates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and intention to consume healthy eating. However, high levels of fear did not influence the ability to prepare food and intention to consume healthy foods. Also, the ability to prepare food does not mediate the relation between fear of COVID-19 and intention to consume healthy food.Originality/valueThis study is among the first to consider terror management propositions to analyze the intention to consume healthy foods during COVID-19 pandemic. From a scientific point of view, it has several contributions to the literature. First, this study provides advances and innovation in the field by identifying new explanatory relations. Second, this study extends the scope of terror management health model (TMHM) by analyzing it in the pandemic context. Third, the findings seem to provide empirical support for recent criticism of TMHM assumptions. Moreover, practical implications are outlined to public health decision-makers and healthy food businesses on increasing consumers’ intention to healthy eating.

Evaluation of orthorexia nervosa tendency and fear of COVID-19 in university students receiving health education

“…In a study conducted on 2,540 adults in Iran during the pandemic period, it was shown that food preferences in this period were affected by the effect of health, weight control and mood (Mohajeri et al , 2021). In the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been observed that the intention to eat healthy is high in individuals (Campos et al , 2021). In this study, in which the eating attitudes were evaluated using the EAT-26, increased fear of COVID-19 was associated with an increased EAT-26 score ( r = 0.12, P < 0.001).…”

The COVID-19 Pandemic and its Implications for Food Consumer Behavior: A Bibliometric Analysis of Institutionally Affiliated Research in Brazil

“…Moreover, they are concerned about the fact that the same quality and food safety contained in exported agricultural products do not always correspond to what is distributed in the Brazilian domestic market Smaira et al, 2021;Quevedo-Silva et al, 2022). Also, given the importance of studying consumer behavior during the covid-19 pandemic, in Brazil several areas of scientific knowledge became interested in this phenomenon and investigated its implications for food consumer behavior; among these areas, we can mention economics, administration (marketing), health studies, and psychology (Campos et al, 2021;Cordeiro et al, 2021;Da Silva et al, 2020;Rodrigues et al, 2021a).…”

“…With the arrival of the covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, in February 2020, most of the population became more averse to risks, not only related to health, but also to the impact of family income. In this way, in relation to food consumer behavior, the greatest impact was observed from July 2020, with a reduction in household income and greater consumer caution towards food consumption (Campos et al, 2021;Cavalli et al, 2020). In 2021, with the advancement of the vaccination program, a more favorable scenario began for businesses in the food sector, such as supermarkets and restaurants (Aureliano- Silva et al, 2021;Hakim et al, 2021).…”

“…The impacts of food consumer behavior in Brazil due to the covid-19 pandemic demand innovation and new practices in companies' operations and the way organizations adapt to constant changes (Campos et al, 2021). The pandemic brought a very challenging context, so creativity is important to overcome difficulties for businesses.…”

“…• Reduction in meat consumption (Hargreaves et al, 2021;Quevedo-Silva et al, 2022). • Increased consumption of ultra-processed foods and reduced consumption of natural foods (Campos et al, 2021). • Reducing food consumption as a precaution against the greater likelihood of losing your job (Santos et al, 2022;Smaira et al, 2021).…”