Online Grocery Shopping Behaviors and Attitudes Among Asian Americans.

ABSTRACT

How online grocery shopping behaviors differ among Asian American (AA) ethnic subgroups and acculturation level is unknown. From June 9-15, 2020, we administered an online survey to a nationally-derived nonprobability sample of 2,895 AA adults, including 1,737 East, 570 South, and 587 Southeast Asian adults, assessing online grocery shopping (yes/no, frequency, reasons). We used logistic regression to compare responses by subgroup and acculturation score, controlling for sociodemographics. Thirty-percent of participants reported shopping online for groceries in a typical month, with a higher percentage among South (45%) versus East Asian adults (23%). Participants with low (vs. high) acculturation scores were more likely to report a lack of special foods (OR = 0.7; 95% CI 0.5-0.98) and poor food quality (OR = 0.6; 95% CI 0.4-0.7) as preventing them from shopping online. Online grocery shopping has the capacity to address inequities in health, potentially via culturally-tailored programs designed for less-acculturated AA adults.