Three Essays on Consumer and Retailer Food Responses to Natural Disasters and Disruptive Events
Open Access
- Author:
- Simandjuntak, Daniel
- Graduate Program:
- Energy, Environmental, and Food Economics (PhD)
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 07, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Douglas Wrenn, Program Head/Chair
Edward Jaenicke, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Yizao Liu, Major Field Member
Douglas Wrenn, Outside Field Member
Paul Grieco, Outside Unit Member - Keywords:
- consumer behavior
disaster response
food stockpiling
food diversity - Abstract:
- With increasingly frequent extreme events and higher risks of disruptions for consumers and businesses, understanding responses to emergencies is key to anticipating vulnerabilities and bottlenecks following a natural disaster. However, very few studies provide in-depth investigations of consumer and retailer responses to past major disasters with regards to one of the most basic necessities: food. Using the United States as context, this study examines food responses around disaster events and its heterogeneous impact across consumers and retailers. Results indicate that, when faced with a looming hurricane, shoppers in affected counties stockpile an extra 1 to 4 days of particular items on top of their normal weekly purchases while retailers, on average, are prepared for the corresponding size of stockpiling, except for bottled water. In a region less acquainted with hurricanes, late stockpiling preparations during 2012’s Hurricane Sandy happened at most retailers for bottled water and food but different retailers ran out of several products. While other households stockpiled bottled water – by more than half their usual weekly volume – a week before Sandy struck, low-income households did not and were at risk of lacking sufficient clean water. More recently, however, during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic and amidst the sudden shrinkage of dining-out options, households improved the diversity and healthfulness of their grocery purchases, with food healthfulness increasing the most for high income households.