Volume 15: Low Carbon Cities and Urban Energy Systems: Part IV

Imported food consumption intention shifting during COVID-19: Turning a problem into an opportunity? Boqiang Lin, Chunxu Guan

Abstract

With the increasing value of import food, the extra greenhouse gas (GHG) emission generated at food’s logistic phase can’t be ignored in China. While changing food consumers’ preference of import food over domestic food products has been difficult, the current COVID-19 pandemic may provide a bright side for shifting consumers’ intention. This paper first proposes that food safety, which used to be a highly anticipated attribute of import food, has lost its superiority due to possible contamination of the virus. Then the antecendent of such intention change has been analyzed. The preference changes for Chinese food consumers can then be guided for supply-side structural change to save energy. Further policy and managerial recommendations can be given based on the results for energy saving.

Keywords Import food, energy-saving, consumer intention, food policy, COVID-19