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Consumer behaviour and experiences in a naturalistic online grocery store: implications for nutrition research.

ABSTRACT: Naturalistic online grocery stores could provide a novel setting for evaluating nutrition interventions. In 2021-2022, we recruited US adults (n 144, 59% low-income) to complete two weekly study visits: one in a naturalistic ('mock') online grocery store developed for research and one in a real online grocery store. Participants selected groceries and responded to survey questions. Analyses examined survey responses and expenditures on fifteen food categories (e.g., bread, sugar-sweetened beverages). Nearly all enrolled participants completed both visits (98% retention). Moreover, nearly participants all reported that their selections in the naturalistic store were similar to their usual purchases (95%) and that the naturalistic store felt like a real store (92%). Participants' spending on food categories in the naturalistic store were moderately-to-strongly correlated with their spending in the real store (range of correlation coefficients: 0⋅36-0⋅67, all P-values < 0⋅001). Naturalistic online grocery stores may offer a promising platform for conducting nutrition research.

SUBMITTER: Grummon AH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10052388 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Consumer behaviour and experiences in a naturalistic online grocery store: implications for nutrition research.

Grummon Anna H AH Tucker Anna Claire AC Noe Violet V Rummo Pasquale E PE Prestemon Carmen E CE Hall Marissa G MG Jaacks Lindsay M LM Lippuner Veronica V Taillie Lindsey Smith LS

Journal of nutritional science 20230314

Naturalistic online grocery stores could provide a novel setting for evaluating nutrition interventions. In 2021-2022, we recruited US adults (<i>n</i> 144, 59% low-income) to complete two weekly study visits: one in a naturalistic ('mock') online grocery store developed for research and one in a real online grocery store. Participants selected groceries and responded to survey questions. Analyses examined survey responses and expenditures on fifteen food categories (e.g., bread, sugar-sweetened ...[more]

PMID: 37008411

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Project description:BackgroundFamilies participating in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) experienced barriers to accessing healthy food during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we do not yet understand how WIC participant food purchases shifted during the pandemic.ObjectivesWe aimed to describe the association between the initial shock of the pandemic in March 2020 and WIC shoppers' food purchases and changes in purchases before and during the pandemic at a top grocery chain and examine differences in these relationships by duration of WIC use.MethodsWe used longitudinal food transaction data from WIC shoppers (n = 2,989,116 shopper-month observations from 175,081 unique WIC shoppers) from 496 stores in a top grocery store chain in North Carolina between October 2019 and May 2021. We used an interrupted time series design to describe the following: 1) the relationship between the initial shock of the pandemic and WIC shopper food purchases and 2) differences in purchases before and during the pandemic. To assess differences in purchases between shoppers consistently using WIC electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards and shoppers starting or stopping WIC EBT use during the pandemic, we used models stratified by WIC group. Primary outcomes were share (%) of total calories purchased from fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes (FV), processed foods, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).ResultsWe observed small decreases in the share of total calories from FV (-0.4%) and small increases in the share of calories from processed food (1.1%) and SSBs (0.5%) purchased at this retailer when comparing the pre and post March 2020 periods. Compared with shoppers that started or stopped using WIC benefits during the pandemic, shoppers that used WIC benefits consistently had slightly higher FV and lower processed food and SSB purchases at this retailer.ConclusionsFuture studies should examine whether additional supports for nutrient-dense food choices may be needed for families with low incomes in public health emergencies.

Dataset Information

Consumer behaviour and experiences in a naturalistic online grocery store: implications for nutrition research.

Publications

Consumer behaviour and experiences in a naturalistic online grocery store: implications for nutrition research.

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