CHANGES IN THE ONLINE FOOD AND MEAT SHOPPING HABITS OF TURKISH ADULTS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

In the current study, food and meat shopping/online shopping behavior of Turkish adults were investigated and analyzed comprehensively, during COVID-19 pandemic. For that purpose, a survey with 19 questions was administered with the attendance of 494 people from Turkey. According to the findings, 42.8% of the participants did online shopping for food and 28.5% of them bought meat and meat products online, before the COVID-19 pandemic. These figures rose to 44.7% and 44.32%, respectively, after the COVID-19 pandemic. Online meat shopping has increased during COVID-19 pandemic. However, more than half of the participants did not prefer to buy meat products online, because of the concerns about the spoilage of meat until the products were delivered. If there was a mobile tracking system which allows users to track the conditions of the product during transportation, 56% of the participants who did not initially prefer to do online meat shopping reported that they would have ordered meat online. This study has shown that; it is very important to implement mobile tracking systems in terms of the continuity of the food chain in processes such as pandemics. This study will contribute to the creation of mobile tracking systems to be established in the future, for the food industry