Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the consumer behaviour with special reference to poultry meat and egg in Tamil Nadu, India

ABSTRACT

A well-structured specifically developed questionnaire with 31 questions was circulated among residents in Tamil Nadu via social networking sites such as Facebook, Email, WhatsApp, and Twitter starting on 1411' August 2020 to 24m August 2020.181 out of 350 participants contacted, responded to the online survey (52%). Among the respondents (181), 30%, 21%, and 0.3% were male, female, and third gender, respectively. There was no substantial change in the consumption pattern of eggs during the COVID-19 lock-down period. However, there was a 5% reduction in the consumption of poultry meat and egg on Sunday's during the COVID-19 lock-down period. There was a marginal increase in the purchase of poultry eggs among the respondents who usually buy less than 6 eggs per week for their family and a marginal reduction in the (-4%) in the purchase of poultry eggs among the respondents purchasing 12-24 eggs per week for their family. The regular quantity of chicken meat consumed per family per week is up to 2 kgs. There was a 6% reduction in the consumption of chicken meat among the respondents consuming 1 to 2 kg per week for their family during the COVID-19 lock-down period. This survey highlights the need for constant awareness among the general public as 36% of respondents were unaware of the about non-transmission of COVID-19 through chicken meat and egg. fry.