EFFECT OF COVID-19 IN CHANGING PEOPLE's

BEHAVIOR IN CONSUMING FOOD's

A Research Presented to Professor Prince Del Rosario

of the College of Hospitality Management
Cagayan State University
Andrews Campus.

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the degree of Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management.

MARY GRACE MALANA

CRISELDA ANTONIO
GAVILYN SIBAL
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors wish to express their heartfelt gratitude and sincere appreciation to the following

persons who extended sacrifices,cooperation and valuable assistance that contributed much in

the realization of this work.

Great appreciation is extended to Professor Prince Del Rosario who patiently gave his moral

support and for the assistance and encouragement;timeless effort and cooperation,kindness and

guidance in the completion of this work.

To their classmates and friends who show their warmest assistance,moral support and friendly

companionship in the accomplishment of this study.

Their beloved parents,for the love,moral and financial supports;also to their brothers and

sisters,and relatives for their short but meaningful piece of advice,concern and devotion,and for

the prayers,love and encouragement that made this task pleasant and bearable.

Above all to Almighty God;the source of wisdom and inspiration;for His blessings which

enabled the authors to overcome all the difficulties they encountered during the conduct of the

study.
 DEDICATION

The researchers sincerely dedicate this humble work

to their Alma Mater,the Cagayan State University,

to their loving parents and to the people who

believed and fervently prayed for their

safety,to their friends who served

as inspiration and most of

all to the omnipotent

creator of

mankind.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
DEDICATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
ABSTRACT
Chapter I:THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction
Conceptual Framework
Statement of the Problem
Research Hypothesis
Significance of the Study
Scope and Delimitation of the Study
Definition of terms
Chapter II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Chapter III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Locale of the Study
Samples and Sampling Techniques
Research Instrument
Collection of Data
Data Analysis
 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table
1. Personal Profile of Respondents
2. Home-Related Profile of the Respondents
3. Consumer Food Choice
4. Proper Sanitation of food
5. Consumer Behavior
6. Consumer food consumption
 ABSTRACT

Title :EFFECT OF COVID-19 IN CHANGING

PEOPLE's BEHAVIOR IN CONSUMING
FOOD.
Researchers :MARY GRACE MALANA
:CRISELDA ANTONIO
:GAVILYN SIBAL
Degree :BACHELOR IN SCIENCE IN
HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Institution :CAGAYAN STATE UNIVERSITY

Year :2021-2022

Adviser :PRINCE DEL ROSARIO

The study aim to identify the Effect of Covid-19 in changing people's behavior in

consuming foods.Its objective is to map changes at individual consumer level and

identify the influence of different factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic on

changes in individual food consumption.This paper investigates the immediate

impacts of COVID-19 on consumer awareness, attitudes, and behaviors related to

food consumption. The study is based on an online survey in consumers using a

structured questionnaire .The results reveal clear changes in the way consumers are

eating, shopping, and interacting with food. Indeed, the survey results suggested (i) a

shift toward healthier diets; (ii) an increase in the consumption of domestic products

due to food safety concerns; (iii) a change in the modality of acquiring food (with a

surge in online grocery shopping); (iv) an increase in culinary capabilities; and (v) the

absence of panic buying and food stockpiling of consumer. The results are expected to

inform current emergency plans as well as long-term food-related strategies.

 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION

Food is key to personal health as well as to the health of the planet given to the

current patterns of food production and consumption.Conversely, disasters such as the

COVID-19 pandemic can disrupt our food system and change our relationship with

food. For instance,to reduce the spread of infection, border and other logistic

restrictions limiting the flow of goods and people increased the risk of food shortages

due to impaired supply chains, including those related to labor shortages [as can be

seen in the US and Europe].

Risk perception associated with COVID-19 also influence people's food purchase

and consumption behaviors. For example, people may try to minimize the risk of

being infected by increasing their use of delivery services, purchasing more packaged

food, which is seen as being more hygienic, buying food with a longer shelf-life (and

thus purchasing less fresh food), in order to limit their shopping trips, or eating more

healthy food in an attempt to boost their immune system.

 It has been shown recently that COVID-19 might present additional health risks

due to the metabolic impact of overeating under conditions of home confinement.

The above literature regarding changes in food purchase/consumption patterns

during COVID-19 documents general trends, but does not relate them to specific

changes in people's circumstances due to the pandemic and resulting lockdown.

Making such linkages is important in order to be able to identify the mechanisms

underlying such changes, so that more accurate projections of the effects of COVID-

19 can be forecast, and measures can be effectively targeted toward minimizing their

negative effects on food consumption. Therefore, the main aim of our research was to

understand the changes in food consumption behavior and identify the factors

influencing individual changes in the food consumption frequencies of different food

categories, such as fresh food, preserved food, sweet snacks, and alcoholic drinks.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The research study identifies the Effect of Covid-19 in Changing People's Behavior

in Consuming Food. In the level of the individual consumer during the

pandemic .Building on two strands of literature: food choice process, and behavior

change. The interplay between food-related behaviors forms the core of our

framework , the processes of consuming (what, where, with whom, how often),

obtaining (where, how, how often), and preparing food (what, how). Food-related

behaviors are influenced by the personal food system, food-related values and

strategies, which in turn are influenced by personal factors, resources, and ideals . We
introduced a dynamic perspective by recognizing that food consumption during the

pandemic is related to food consumption before the pandemic.

The framework further recognizes that individual-level (changes in) food

consumption patterns are embedded in a complex system of multilevel factors

including the household level and the broader micro- and macro-context. We further

drew upon dynamic behavior change models based on Bandura’s social cognitive

theory and concept of reciprocal determinism, postulating that personal, contextual,

and behavioral factors create a feedback loop and influence each other. We thus

suggest that personal experiences with changes in food-related behaviors during the

pandemic potentially influence future behavior after the pandemic and might also lead

to changes in personal food-related values and strategies.

The most important changes the pandemic potentially brought about in the study

countries. This illustrates that government restrictions and lockdown measures (along

with restrictions imposed by the private sector) had profound impacts on the micro-

and macro-contexts of food choice. For instance, the closure of physical workplaces

and the closure of schools and day care institutions interrupted people’s daily life and

potentially changed how, where and with whom individuals ate meals and snacks. The

same applies to the closure of work canteens, cafés and restaurants, and the

restrictions on private gatherings. Government recommendations to stay at home are

likely to have affected how often (and where) people went food shopping.

At the personal level, we expected that the individual risk perception of COVID-19

might have caused changes in food consumption. One proposition is that people
concerned about the disease would eat more healthily in order to strengthen their

immune system. An alternative proposition is that people anxious about COVID-19

might drink more alcohol and eat more comfort foods, such as snacks and cake, in

order to better cope with the situation. The pandemic also had potential impacts on

households’ food-related resources, i.e., money and time. Some people faced income

losses, e.g., due to reduced working hours. In terms of time, households were affected

by the pandemic in very different ways; some people faced severe time constraints

while others had more time available for food preparation and consumption than

before. In our empirical analysis, we tested the effects that pandemic-related changes

at a personal level and contextual changes had on food consumption.

(Jansen et al., 2021)

Overall, the above-mentioned studies confirm that COVID-19 pandemic have

widely affected consumers’ food choice behavior in terms of dietary habits and food

shopping behavior. However, no previous studies have investigated the persistence of

the effects of the COVID-19 emergency in the long run. Compared to existing studies

concerning consumer behavior during the lockdown, our research focuses on the long-

term changes and our main objective is to assess whether dietary changes during the

lockdown might be permanent or not.

( Ammar et al., 2020)

 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This research focused on Effects of Covid-19 in Changing peoples behavior in consuming food

such as:

1.Consumer changing behavior and attitude in consumption of food products: What are the

Strategies in terms of :

 Proper sanitation

 Food waste

 Buying too much of food

2.What are the attitude and behavior of consumers in purchasing food products.

3What are their ways of conserving food.

4.How consumers affect their food choice despite the increasing value of products.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The hypothesis of this study is the effects of Covid -19 in changing people's behavior
in consuming food that have a good understanding of eating habits and adequate
knowledge about nutrition. This research assumes that they care about the proper
sanitation and their health.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The Outcome of the study would benefit the following:
To the Student, the results of study help them would help them to enlighten their
mind on changes in food consumption that occurred during the COVID-19
pandemic.Like change in the modality of acquiring food, a surge of stockpiling of
non-perishable food items,a shift toward healthier diets,an increase in culinary
capabilities and the decrease of food waste.

To the Society , the results of study is all about learning the changing behavior of the
society in food consumption due to Covid-19 and how we can develop sustainable
strategies to protect the environment.

To the researchers, the result of the study can help to elaborate the strategy in
knowing how the effect of Covid-19 changes the behavior of people in food
consumption, and help to answer the queries, for example, why it is happening and
the effects. The best way to reduce waste of food.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study aimed to know the Effect of Covid-19 in Changing People's Behavior in

Consuming Foods.The respondents of the study involved the facebook

friends,Families and relatives of the researchers.The research gathered data for less

than two weeks and use qualitative approach of research.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

To achieve legibility in the research study,the following terms are operationally

defined.

Covid-19 is a disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus. 'CO' stands for

corona, 'VI' for virus, and 'D' for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as

'2019 novel coronavirus' or '2019-nCoV.

Consumer Behavior is defined as the study of individuals, groups, or

organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use and disposal of

goods and services, and how the consumer's emotions, attitudes and preferences affect

buying behavior. 
 Consumer Food Choice refers to how people decide on what to buy and eat. A

complex set of factors that vary from person to person and depend on culture, heritage

and up-bringing all influence food choice. We may look for price if we need to stick

to a budget, or look for allergen information if we have a food allergy.

Food Sanitation is the practice of following certain rules and procedures to prevent

the contamination of food, keeping it safe to eat. Many jurisdictions around the world

have specific food sanitation laws, along with lists of regulations created by public

health agencies.

Chapter II

Review of Related Literature

As the coronavirus pandemic has progressed, the way people purchase and consume food has

changed. Firstly, at the beginning of the epidemic, when the understanding of the virus and

comprehension of the potential severity was limited, consumers focused on panic buying to

mitigate the risk of future shortages.Multiple cases of panic buying of non-perishable food items

(e.g., pasta, rice, canned goods, flour, frozen foods) have been observed throughout the world.

Baker et al. indicated that American consumers increased their spending during COVID-19 in an

attempt to stockpile needed home goods such as food. Since food is obviously the most vital item,

panic buying is a common human response to crisis, which is not caused by food shortage, but

rather by a fear of simply running out of food. This behavior is “transmissible”, as highlighted by
Grasso“The fear of scarcity is self-fulfilling, because the more people stockpile, the more others

are infected by the panic and therefore the faster the food runs out”. However, there is also

evidence that this focus on buying food items is a behavioral reaction to feelings of stress and

uncertainty. A perceived loss of control is a disagreeable state that leads consumers to restore

control through product acquisition. It is also possible that some consumers stockpile food to

reduce the number of future shopping trips, buying more on each trip to minimize store visits, and

consequently limiting their perceived risk of exposure to COVID-19 . Panic buying has led to

increased concerns about shortages of food products such as long-life milk, pasta, rice, and tinned

vegetables . Panic buying behavior may also break the supply chain and have negative

consequences, such as an increase in food prices and food waste, stock-out, overconsumption, and

unequal distribution of products. The situation limits some vulnerable groups (e.g., elderly or

poor) from accessing some products .In addition, from the retail perspective, panic buying causes

additional disorders to supply chains.Consequently, this exacerbates stock-out situations and often

leads to a price increase in consumer products . Moreover, since the food distribution system is

built on just-in-time, the rapid and unexpected spike in demand created short-run stock-outs .

COVID-19 could also change people’s eating and dietary patterns, leading to a deterioration of

nutritional and health status at both individual and country levels (e.g., all forms of malnutrition:

undernutrition and over-nutrition are likely to increase); for instance, confinements and panic

buying during the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone (2014–2016) led to a spike in hunger and

malnutrition . The crisis is also affecting the quality of diets. Consumers are shifting towards

greater consumption of processed food, such as convenience foods, junk foods, snacks, and ready-

to-eat cereals (as a result of panic buying for foods with longer shelf-life, and supply chain

disruptions) . There is also a possibility of a decrease in meat consumption (as a result of fears—

not science-based—that animals might be hosts of the virus) and other higher-value products like

fruits and vegetables (which are likely to cause price decreases). Besides, the fact that consumers

are stocking up on nonperishable items means that they are likely substituting across food

categories. Richards and Rickard indicated that consumers in Canada and the USA have been

storing frozen fruits and vegetables, which could potentially reduce current and future sales of
fresh produce and influence dietary quality . Any substitution patterns may unintentionally

discourage consumers from eating the recommended portions of fruits and vegetables. Further,

COVID-19, via school closures, may aggravate childhood obesity and increase disparities in

obesity risk. By staying at home, children would miss out school lunches and organized school

activity. They could also be exposed to more shelf-stable food. Meanwhile, their physical activity

decreased.

In addition, the drastic changes in lifestyles caused by the lockdown/quarantine and the overall

crisis could result in negative emotions such as boredom, depression, stress, and fear of the

disease. In China, during the initial stage of COVID-19, Wang et al.reported several psychological

impacts of COVID-19 such as high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. These negative

emotions could lead toward overeating, and “emotional eating”, especially of “comfort foods”

which tend to be high in salt, fats, and sugars . In their study on the effects of COVID-19 on food

consumption in Italy, Scarmozzino and Visioli highlighted that 46.1% of responders reported that

they were eating more during the quarantine, and 19.5% gained weight. In particular, they

reported an increase in “comfort food” consumption, particularly desserts, chocolate, and ice

cream (42.5%), and salty snacks (23.5%). A total of 42.7% of this group linked this increase to

higher anxiety levels. Moreover, in Italy, Di Renzo et al. reported that during the COVID-19

lockdown, 34.4% of responders had more appetite and 48.6% thought they increased their weight.

Based on an international research on the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on lifestyle behaviors,

Ammar et al. highlighted that food consumption and meal patterns (viz. type of food, eating out of

control, snacks between meals, number of main meals) were more unhealthy during the

confinement. They concluded that the measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 might alter

physical activity and eating behaviors in a health-compromising direction .This could create

vicious cycles: diabetes and other diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are risk factors

for more severe complications and mortality of COVID-19.

Furthermore, COVID-19 is far from being just a health crisis; it is expected to cause a severe

global economic and financial recession for 2020, rising rates of unemployment and poverty on a

global scale. According to the International Monetary fund , the global economy is projected to
contract severely by 3% in 2020, which is much worse than during the 2008–2009 financial crisis.

The economic recession is likely to severely reduce people’s purchasing power, impacting food

accessibility, which could easily affect the overall diet quality .As a result, the continuance of

income is important to understand how consumers respond to the COVID-19 crisis and how it

impacts their demand for food . Moreover, the social and economic crises and worries about the

future might hypothetically lead some people to reduce their expenditures, including those for

food.The economic crisis is expected to impact the quantity of food consumed along with the type

of goods purchased.Besides, COVID-19 is affecting where and how consumers buy their

food .With the shutdown of restaurants and cafes, food purchases switched to grocery

stores .Further, since physically shopping in a grocery store has a perceived risk and induces fears

of being in proximity to others,consumer buying patterns have rapidly shifted to online

shopping .As the virus spread in the USA and more households stayed home, Grashuis et al. noted

that the trend in the number of new COVID-19 cases influences grocery shopping preferences. In

milieus where COVID-19 is spreading at an increasing rate, consumers are generally less willing

to shop inside the grocery store. However, in milieus where COVID-19 is spreading at a

decreasing rate, consumer preferences for the home delivery method relative to the other methods

are less strong. The change in consumer behavior is driven partly by feelings of fear toward the

virus.Moreover, in the USA, Baker et al. noted a sharp drop in restaurants, retail, air travel, and

public transport spending. Meanwhile, they highlighted a significant increase in food delivery

spending, consistent with households substituting meals at restaurants with meals at home. During

March 2020, according to the Brick Meets Click survey , 31% of U.S. households (about 39.5

million consumers) used an online grocery delivery or pickup service compared to 13% (16.1

million consumers) in August 2019. Online sales through pickup and delivery grew by 233% in

the USA from 1.4 billion in August 2019 to USD 4.0 billion in March 2020. Overall, the monthly

order volume has surged by 193% in the March 2020 versus August 2019 levels. As for grocery,

online grocery sales increased by 37% during April 2020 over March sales. Moreover, the results

showed that 26% of the households that had not bought groceries online during March or April,

said they were extremely or very likely to try online shopping in the next three months .It seems
likely that e-shopping for food will continue to gain traction as store shutdowns and social-

distancing rules push more digital shopping holdouts to online channels. In fact, the COVID-19

crisis has accelerated the shift to digital services and digitization has become a basic need. In the

fight against the COVID-19 crisis, digital technologies play a crucial role in the maintenance of

daily life and economic and social activities [60]. Therefore, the coronavirus pandemic could

become a tipping point for digitization—a dawn of a new era—by accelerating the maturity of

digital technology .At the same time, the high demand for food products has also affected online

food delivery. For example, in the UK, companies were struggling with excessive bookings, with

deliveries arriving late or not at all.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 crisis may have some positive effects. Jribi et al.underlined that the

COVID-19 lockdown improved food grocery shopping performances and pushed toward a

positive behavioral change regarding food wastage in Tunisia. However, consumers’ behavioral

changes regarding food waste prevention might be probably driven more by the socio-economic

context of the COVID-19 lockdown (i.e., food availability, restricted movements, loss of income),

than by a pro-environmental concern. In Spain, Aldaco et al. revealed that during the first weeks

of the COVID-19 lockdown, there was no significant adjustment in overall food loss and waste

(FLW) generation, but a partial reallocation from extra-domestic consumption to households

occurred (12% increase in household FLW). In Italy, according to Di Renzo et al. during the

COVID-19 lockdown, 54% of responders declared to use leftover food more than 30% of the

time. Another potential change due to COVID-19 is the rise of home-prepared meals. Since

restaurants and coffee shops are closed, consumers are cooking and baking more at home. With

the confinement, it is much easier to find the time for these activities, usually undermined by the

hectic pace of daily life. A food industry association survey, “U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends: The

Impact of COVID-19”, conducted in February–April 2020 in the USA revealed that 41% of

Americans cook more, 27% plan more meals in advance, and 20% try new dishes more often since

the start of the pandemic.

 CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The chapter presents the research design, locale of the study, respondents and

sampling procedures, instruments and statistical tools treat the data gathered.

RESEARCG DESIGN

The study used the descriptive correlational method in determining the factors on

what the EFFECT OF COVID-19 IN CHANGING PEOPLES BEHAVIOR IN

CONSUMING FOODS of the Facebook Friends using the internet. The descriptive

design was used to determine the profile of the respondents, their experience during

the pandemic, their level of consuming foods and their overall food behaviour during

covid-19 pandemic.

LOCALE OF THE STUDY

This study was conducted using the internet because of the new normal study. The

students cope up the questioners through asking their Facebook friends. In addition

there’s no research study conducted yet in the EFFECT OF COVID-19 IN

CHANGING PEOPLES BEHAVIOR IN CONSUMING FOODS during this Covid-

19 pandemic.

RESPONDENTS AND SAMPLING PROCEDURES

To gathered sufficient and reliable data for the study, the Facebook Friends who is

always active in using social media in different places where identified as

respondents.A number of 30 Facebook Friends of the researchers was taken and

through purposive sampling.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

In order to facilitate a well-Established data collection, the self-made questioners,

the researcher used the social media especially Facebook to gather information.The

questionnaire consists of I part with a 13 questions consist of personal information

and home-related information of the respondents.

COLLECTION OF DATA

The study was guided by the following three steps first permission to conduct

the study from the professor handling the subject of the Cagayan state university

second the mechanics of the instruments explained to the respondents before it was

answered by the respondents and finally, the retrieval of the instruments was done to

ensure the 100 present data collection