Consumer agency and food retailer choice in an American urban neighborhood

Brian J Thomas

doi:10.36251/josi.21

Abstract

Abstract This study examines the issue of consumer agency within the food system as manifested by food secure and food insecure households in an urban neighborhood in the United States. Using a self-administered mail survey this study examines food retailer perception and shopping behaviour of food secure and insecure households in Lansing, Michigan. Food security represents a useful lens through which to examine the issue of agency since food, while a necessary part of life, is nonetheless something that is difficult to access for a large sector of the population. By examining both food secure and food insecure households, light is shed on some of the factors that lead to the relative ability of each group to successfully and reliably obtain food. In particular, this study focuses on the perception and behaviour of consumers in relation to the decision to shop, or not to shop, at various food retailers. Some theories of consumer behaviour tend to focus either on class related cultural elements which determine taste preferences while other theories focus on structural elements of the food system which force a limited selection onto various social groups. While certainly class culture influences taste preference to some extent, results from this study suggest that structural elements of the food system and economic differences between food secure and food insecure households have a larger influence on store choice than cultural preferences. In fact, both food secure and insecure households indicated similar sets of criteria used in determining store choices. However, in examination of actual shopping behaviours, this study found that food insecure households are more likely to shop at deep discounters and more likely to travel farther to obtain food. These results suggest that structural elements such as food retailer locations limit the range of shopping options of food insecure households when compared to food secure households. Keywords: food desert, food access, food security, consumer, food retailer

Highlights

This study examines the issue of consumer agency within the food system as manifested by food secure and food insecure households in an urban neighborhood in the United States
Measures of food security, such as that annually conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, may provide us with some insight into the differing levels of agency that exist between different groups in the food system
The boundaries used in this study were the 48912 zip code. This area corresponded with the service area of the Allen Neighborhood Center (ANC), a non-profit community group established in 1996 and evolving out of the Eastside Neighborhood Organization (ENO), a 30 year-old volunteer neighborhood advocacy organization

Summary

Introduction

This study examines the issue of consumer agency within the food system as manifested by food secure and food insecure households in an urban neighborhood in the United States. The lines that exist between the individual decision and the social structures that constrain and/or enable those decisions are not well understood, in part due to the large number of decisions and actions required to procure, prepare, and consume food. Understanding these lines is important as it allows us to ask some fundamental questions related to who is being included in, or excluded from, the conventional food system. Due to a limited ability to negotiate the retail environment, food insecure individuals are forced to develop procurement strategies that prioritise cost

Methods

Results

Conclusion