Influence of COVID-19 outbreak on changing buying behaviors: Chinese consumer's growing concerns over food safety

ABSTRACT

The outbreak of COVID-19 in China has caused Chinese consumers to question the hidden danger of food safety after their experience with previous epidemics like SARS, H1N1, and swine flu. It is feared that the virus could spread from animal to human, similar to avian and swine influenza. They are also concerned that food purchased from supermarkets and farmer's markets could be infected due to improper control measures. This study reviews the potential impact of the COVID- 19 pandemic on Chinese consumers' growing health, ethical, and food safety concerns, which could influence their purchasing attitudes and intention to buy food. The implications of this research are to suggest to marketers the long- term behavioral and attitude shifts we could witness from the COVID- 19 pandemic is a primary concern that needs to be given attention. In order to study the effects of COVID-19 on consumers' attitudes, an online questionnaire was administered in this study. Participants are Chinese consumers from different areas who have different ages and educational backgrounds. This study applies regression analysis to figure out the relationships between the independent variables and dependent variables. The results show that, during the pandemic of COVID- 19, food safety concerns and health consciousness changed the purchasing behaviors of Chinese consumers. © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Berlin 2021. All rights reserved.