EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON GROCERY SHOPPING BEHAVIOUR : A MULTI-COUNTRY COMPARISON

Abstract

Since the Covid-19 pandemic has affected many countries in the world, many countries have taken unusual steps of partial or full lockdowns. While grocery shopping is an essential activity, not much is known about the relationship of the pandemic to the travel behaviour of the shoppers. Therefore, an online survey was used as a data collection strategy. The data was analysed in 4 countries, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan and Austria. Apart from descriptive analysis, interrelationships between different elements were exploratorily modelled with structural equation modelling. Generally, during the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, changes in commuting and grocery shopping behaviour were observed regardless of the age. People changed their shopping behaviour to some extent, including buying larger amount than before or using online grocery stores more often. In terms of travel mode, large extent of the people continued to use their regular travel modes to stores.