Traditional Foods at the Click of a Button: The Preference for the Online Purchase of Romanian Traditional Foods during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag,Dacinia Crina Petrescu,Iris Vermeir,Ioan Banatean-Dunea,Florin Laurentiu Crista

doi:10.3390/su12239956

Abstract

The 2020 quarantine demonstrated that online food purchase has become one of the main protagonists of the pandemic. The present study valued the Internet as a mediator between producers and consumers with the power to create new demand for Romanian traditional food during the COVID-19 crisis. Authors aimed at carrying out an exploratory research about the online purchase of traditional foods (TFs). Within this context, the study, firstly, outlines the meaning of traditional foods in the Romanian consumers’ minds and, secondly, it identifies the variables that can predict the preference for the online purchase of TFs during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was carried out to investigate the Romanian consumers’ perceptions (n = 223) of TFs and online purchase of TFs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Binary logistic regression tested the relationship between the preference for the online purchase of TFS (vs. in-store) and seven perceived characteristics of TFs. Results show that the preference for the online purchase of TFs during the COVID-19 pandemic can be predicted by five variables—“TFs taste”; “Effect of TFs consumption on health during the COVID-19 pandemic”; “Effect of online TFs purchase on health during the COVID-19 pandemic”; “How cheap/expensive is to buy TFS online during the COVID-19 pandemic”; and “Easiness to purchase TFS online during the COVID-19 pandemic”. It was concluded that TFs have to claim their place within this digitized landscape by finding the balance between old and new, between preferences for foods taste passed through generations and new life lifestyles at 5G speed.

Highlights

The online environment offers solutions to everyday needs and habits of people, besides removing socio-cultural and informational barriers
These comparatively lower percentages may be the consequence of the fact that products labeled “organic”, Protected designation of origin (PDO), Protected geographical indication (PGI), or Traditional specialties guaranteed (TSG) are rarer on the market compared to the other tested attributes and consumers are less used to look for these labels
People who prefer to buy traditional foods (TFs) online during the COVID-19 pandemic are those with the following characteristics: they perceive a higher positive effect on the health of TFs consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, they consider that TFs have good taste, they believe that TFs are cheap and easy to buy online, and they consider that TFs protect the health when they are purchased online, all other factors being equal

Summary

Introduction

The online environment offers solutions to everyday needs and habits of people, besides removing socio-cultural and informational barriers. The Internet matures, transforms, and grows continuously and it proves to be, during COVID-19 pandemic, a useful tool for more and more people. In September 2020, 63.2% of the population (representing 4,929,926,187 people) had access to the Internet [1] and in 2019, an estimated 1.92 billion people purchased goods online in general [2]. Europe shows significant potential as it is the second-largest market for e-commerce following Asia [3]. Varma Citrin et al [4] showed that a generally higher amount of Internet use is associated with an increased amount of Internet product acquisitions

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