Purpose

The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been well documented, but there is still limited insight into the complex interaction of factors that determine its longer-term effects on the most vulnerable sectors of society. The current study therefore develops an integrated conceptual framework to investigate how consumers' fear of mortality and the perceived risk of severe illness associated with COVID-19 act as critical determinants of consumer food choices and perceived well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was utilized to collect data from a sample of 407 adult, low-income consumers across Trinidad and Tobago. The PROCESS macro was used to empirically test the hypothesized relationships in a moderated mediation model.

Findings

The results confirm that an increase in the perceived risk of severe illness has a significant negative effect on the consumption of healthy foods and perceived well-being. Moreover, consumers' choice of healthy foods mediates the negative relationship between consumers' perceived risk of severe COVID-19 illness and subjective well-being. Finally, the negative relationship between perceived risk of illness and healthy food choice weakens as an individual's fear of pandemic-related mortality increases.

Originality/value

This research integrates multiple related theoretical constructs to provide a more nuanced understanding of the lingering impact that risk perceptions and fear have on consumer food choices and associated well-being among a vulnerable Caribbean population. The changes identified have important implications for researchers interested in consumer food preferences as well as policymakers seeking to promote a healthy lifestyle among individuals coping with psychologically stressful circumstances.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 导致特立尼达和多巴哥低收入消费者的食品消费和幸福感发生变化

目的

COVID-19 大流行的全球影响已得到充分记录，但对于决定其对社会最脆弱群体的长期影响的因素的复杂相互作用的了解仍然有限。因此，本研究开发了一个综合概念框架，以调查消费者对死亡的恐惧以及对与 COVID-19 相关的严重疾病风险的感知如何成为消费者食物选择和感知福祉的关键决定因素。

设计/方法论/途径

我们利用在线调查收集了特立尼达和多巴哥 407 名成年低收入消费者的样本数据。PROCESS 宏用于实证测试调节中介模型中的假设关系。

发现

结果证实，严重疾病感知风险的增加对健康食品的消费和感知幸福感具有显着的负面影响。此外，消费者对健康食品的选择调节了消费者对严重 COVID-19 疾病的感知风险与主观幸福感之间的负相关关系。最后，随着个人对流行病相关死亡率的恐惧增加，感知的疾病风险与健康食品选择之间的负相关关系减弱。

原创性/价值

这项研究整合了多种相关的理论结构，以便更细致地了解风险认知和恐惧对加勒比弱势群体消费者的食物选择和相关福祉的持续影响。所发现的变化对于对消费者食物偏好感兴趣的研究人员以及寻求在应对心理压力环境的个人中促进健康生活方式的政策制定者具有重要意义。