**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** RESEARCHERS, POLICYMAKERS, AND FOOD RETAILERS HAVE SEEN THE POTENTIAL FOR ONLINE GROCERY SHOPPING (OGS) TO IMPROVE THE CONSUMER FOOD SHOPPING EXPERIENCE, ADDRESS LIMITED ACCESS TO SUPERMARKETS, AND IMPROVE THE HEALTHFULNESS OF PURCHASES FOR YEARS. WHILE MANY CONSUMERS HAVE CITED CONVENIENCE AND TIME SAVINGS AS BENEFITS OF OGS, DELIVERY TIMING AND COST ARE ALSO COMMONLY CITED BARRIERS. GIVEN THAT LOWER-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS MAY BE MORE SENSITIVE TO DELIVERY FEES AND THAT THE QUALITY OF PERISHABLES MAY BE MORE SENSITIVE TO DELIVERY TIMING, THESE BARRIERS MAY LIMIT THE POTENTIAL OF OGS TO IMPROVE NUTRITION SECURITY AND DIETARY OUTCOMES. BASKET-BASED CHOICE EXPERIMENTS (BBCE) PROVIDE A METHOD FOR EXAMINING HOW HOUSEHOLDS CHOOSE TO COMBINE FOODS TO CREATE A BASKET OF GOODS BASED ON FOOD PRICES. THUS, THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO EXTEND THE BBCE TO CAPTURE ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTES RELATED TO OGS DELIVERY TIMING AND FEES. FIRST, WE WILL UTILIZE ONLINE AND TELEPHONE SURVEYS TO ELICIT EXPERIENCES WITH AND BARRIERS TO OGS USE, PARTICULARLY AMONGST FOOD INSECURE HOUSEHOLDS. SECOND, WE WILL IMPLEMENT A BBCE WITH PRODUCT LEVEL ATTRIBUTES FOR FOOD PRICE AND BASKET LEVEL ATTRIBUTES FOR DELIVERY TIMING AND FEES. A SERIES OF REGRESSION MODELS WILL BE ESTIMATED TO DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF DELIVERY TIMING AND FEES ON FOOD PRODUCT CHOICE, WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE EFFECT OF DELIVERY TIMING ON DEMAND FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.
$300,000FY2023National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA
University Of Tennessee, Memphis TN