The Impact of COVID-19 on Consumers’ Psychological Behavior Based on Data Mining for Online User Comments in the Catering Industry in China

The outbreak of COVID-19 in late 2019 has had a huge impact on people’s daily life. Many restaurant businesses have been greatly affected by it. Consumers’ preferences for catering industry in China have changed, such as environmental hygiene, variety of dishes, and service methods. Therefore, the analysis of consumer preference differences and changes before and after the epidemic can not only provide emergency strategies for the catering industry but further improve the catering industry’s ability to deal with public health emergencies. This paper takes five cities in China as representatives to explore the impact of COVID-19 on China’s catering industry. Based on catering review data from August 2019 to April 2020, this paper first carries out Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic analysis and SNOWNLP (A Python library for processing Chinese text) sentiment analysis. Then this paper compares the results of topic classification and sentiment analysis before and after the epidemic. Furthermore, differences and changes of consumer preferences are obtained and preferences of consumers under COVID-19 are analyzed and forecasted. The results of LDA thematic analysis before the outbreak of COVID-19 show that consumers tend to punch in cyber celebrity restaurants and pay more attention to the taste of dishes, whereas after it consumers pay more attention to the changes of dishes, dining environment as well as epidemic prevention. The number of packages and takeout was also increasing. However, the waiting time is constantly considered by consumers before and after COVID-19. Firstly, to our surprise, final outcome of emotional analysis showed that consumers’ emotional state was more positive after the epidemic than before. COVID-19 has changed the lifestyle of consumers, consumption concepts, and consumption habits. Therefore, businesses also need to take positive and flexible measures to actively get feedback from consumers to adjust dishes and business methods. Secondly, the psychological attitude of catering consumers is relatively positive during the epidemic period, which indicates that consumers have great confidence in the recovery and development of the catering industry. Businesses can comply with consumers’ psychology and combine consumption vouchers with restaurant discounts to promote consumers’ consumption. Finally, the environment and service play more and more important effect on consumers’ emotional scores at present, which indicates that dining state and comfortable mealtime environment are becoming increasingly valuable. Therefore, businesses need to improve service standards.

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Investigating COVID-19 News before and after the Soft Lockdown: An Example from Taiwan

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132011474 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (20) ◽

pp. 11474

Author(s):

Hsin-Yu Kuo ◽

Su-Yen Chen ◽

Yu-Ting Lai

Keyword(s):

Sentiment Analysis ◽

News Media ◽

Latent Dirichlet Allocation ◽

World Health ◽

Prevention Measures ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Government Response ◽

Before And After ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact

COVID-19 caused an unprecedented public health crisis and was declared a global pandemic on 11 March 2020, by the World Health Organization. The Taiwanese government’s early deployment mitigated the effect of the pandemic, yet the breakout in May 2021 brought a new challenge. This study focuses on examining Taiwanese newspaper articles regarding the government response before and after the soft lockdown, collecting 125,570 articles reported by three major news channels from 31 December 2019, to 30 June 2021, and splitting them into four stages. Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling and sentiment analysis were used to depict the overall picture of Taiwan’s pandemic. While the news media focused on the impact and shock of the pandemic in the initial stage, prevention measures were more present in the last stage. Then, to focus on the government response indicators, we retrieved 31,089 related news from 125,570 news articles and categorized them into ten indicators, finding the news centered on the fundamental measures that were taken early and that were transformed into advanced measures in the latest and hardest period of the pandemic. Furthermore, this paper examines the temporal distribution of the news related to each indicator with the support of a sentiment analysis of the news’ titles and content, indicating the preparation of Taiwanese society to confront the pandemic.

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The Impact of Consumer Preference Distributions on Dynamic Electricity Pricing for Residential Demand Response

Volume 2A: 45th Design Automation Conference ◽

10.1115/detc2019-98219 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel Dunbar ◽

Scott Ferguson

Keyword(s):

Demand Response ◽

Dynamic Pricing ◽

Consumer Preferences ◽

Consumer Preference ◽

Population Level ◽

Economic Incentives ◽

System Level ◽

Renewable Energy Resources ◽

Product Use ◽

The Impact

Abstract Demand Response (DR) is the adjustment of consumer electricity demand through the deployment of one or more strategies, e.g. direct load control, policy implementation, dynamic pricing, or other economic incentives. Widespread implementation of DR is a promising solution for addressing energy challenges such as the integration of intermittent renewable energy resources, reducing capacity cost, and improving grid reliability. Understanding residential consumer preferences for shifting product usage and how these preferences are distributed amongst a population are key to predicting the effectiveness of different DR strategies. In addition, there is a need for a better understanding of how different DR programs, system level objectives, and preference distributions will impact different segments of consumers within a population. Specifically, the impacts on their product use behavior and electricity bill. To address this challenge, a product based approach to modeling consumer decisions about altering their electricity consumption is proposed, which links consumer value to their products, instead of directly to the amount of electricity they consume. This model is then used to demonstrate how population level preference distributions for altering product use impact system level objectives.

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Consumer preference for wine from hand-harvested grapes

British Food Journal ◽

10.1108/bfj-04-2019-0301 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 122 (8) ◽

pp. 2551-2567 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrea Dominici ◽

Fabio Boncinelli ◽

Francesca Gerini ◽

Enrico Marone

Keyword(s):

Latent Class ◽

Consumer Preferences ◽

Latent Class Model ◽

Interactive Effect ◽

Consumer Preference ◽

Random Parameter ◽

Content Type ◽

Organic Certification ◽

Taste Heterogeneity ◽

The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate preferences for wine made from hand-harvested grapes, and the interactive effect between this attribute and organic certification. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via an online choice experiment involving a sample of 408 Italian wine consumers. A random parameter logit was performed to estimate consumer preferences for wine attributes: harvest type, organic and the interaction between these. The experiment also includes geographical indications and price. Furthermore, a latent class model (LCM) is performed to investigate taste heterogeneity for the included wine attributes. Findings On average, consumers prefer the wine produced with hand-harvested grapes. The hypothesis of an interaction between organic and hand-harvested attributes is rejected. Using the LCM, the authors identify three segments with significant taste heterogeneity in terms of the magnitude and the sign of the parameters. Moreover, consumer attitudes towards food naturalness differ according to their belonging to the segments. Originality/value The novelty of this article is twofold. First, this study investigates, for the first time, the impact of the hand-harvested method on consumer wine preferences. Second, hand-harvesting and organic have independent values.

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The Impact of Carbon Trade on Outsourcing Remanufacturing

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182010804 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (20) ◽

pp. 10804

Author(s):

Xiqiang Xia ◽

Mengya Li ◽

Biao Li ◽

Hao Wang

Keyword(s):

Trade Policy ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Consumer Preferences ◽

Consumer Surplus ◽

Green Manufacturing ◽

Consumer Preference ◽

Carbon Neutrality ◽

Trade Prices ◽

The Cost ◽

The Impact

Outsourcing remanufacturing is an important way to achieve resource recycling, green manufacturing and carbon neutrality goals. To analyze the impact of carbon trade on manufacturing/remanufacturing under outsourcing remanufacturing, this article builds a game model between an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and a remanufacturer under the carbon trade policy. In the outsourcing remanufacturing model, this article compares the impact of the carbon trade policy on the unit retail price, sales volume, revenue, environmental impact, and consumer surplus of new and remanufactured products. The research mainly draws the following conclusions: (1) Carbon trade increases the prices of both new and remanufactured products and the cost of outsourcing. Only when certain conditions are met can increased carbon trade prices increase revenue. (2) The carbon trade policy helps reduce the adverse impact on the environment, but only when the carbon trade price is greater than a certain threshold can it increase consumer surplus. (3) Consumer preferences and carbon emissions of the unit product affect manufacturers’ profits. Increased consumer preference for remanufactured products and reduced carbon emissions of remanufactured products contribute to increased sales and revenues.

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The impact of food industry reformulation, innovation and consumer preference on dietary intakes in Ireland: a probabilistic intake model

Proceedings of The Nutrition Society ◽

10.1017/s0029665120003651 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 79 (OCE2) ◽

Author(s):

Maeve Cushen ◽

Noel Rogers ◽

Rebecca Barron ◽

Jasmin Wonik ◽

Beata Stanek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Industry ◽

Consumer Preferences ◽

Saturated Fat ◽

Consumer Preference ◽

Rank Test ◽

Dietary Intakes ◽

Nutrient Intakes ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Total Fat ◽

The Impact

AbstractStrong evidence exists linking poor diet to increased risk of overweight, obesity and non-communicable diseases. Reformulation initiatives, whereby the food industry gradually reduces energy, sodium, sugar, fat and saturated fat content of their products, are identified as important strategies to improve dietary intakes. The analysis aimed to examine the impact of voluntary reformulation, changes to products on the market and changes in consumer preferences on dietary intakes in Ireland from 2005 to 2017. Data on composition and volume sales (kg/ year) of products available on the market in 2005 and 2017 were collected from 15 Food Drink Ireland (FDI) member companies via online templates. These products were assigned to appropriate food and beverage groups identified in four Irish University Nutrition Alliance (IUNA) surveys of preschool children (1–4 years), children (5–12 years), teenagers (13–17 years) and adults (18–90 years). Assignment of FDI products to IUNA foods and beverages was carried out using weighted distributions for a given group of foods. The weightings were taken from the sales volumes of similar products relative to one another in a given category in a given year. Monte Carlo simulations were used to run the IUNA survey consumption data with both sets of weighted composition data from 2005 and 2017. The Creme Global intake model was used to estimate daily energy and nutrient intakes for all four populations during 2005 and 2017. The Wilcoxon-signed rank test was used to test for differences between the two years. Changes in both the products available on the market and market share of these products were observed from 2005 to 2017. The nutrient with the greatest intake reduction between the two years for all ages was sugar. Children and teens were the most affected, where total sugar intakes reduced by 3.2g/d and 2.7g/d, respectively. This reduction was primarily driven by the beverage category. There were modest saturated fat intake reductions observed for teens and adults (0.2g/d and 0.5g/d, respectively). Energy, total fat and sodium intakes for all ages remained relatively stable between the two years. This analysis highlights the impact of not only food industry efforts but also consumer choices on nutrient intakes in Ireland. It is worth noting that the data collected predates the sugar tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in Ireland. Reductions in sugar intakes were not compensated by total fat or energy increases.

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The Impact of COVID-19 on College Students' Consumption Behaviors

International Research in Higher Education ◽

10.5430/irhe.v6n2p32 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 32

Author(s):

Xiaoran Chu

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Online Education ◽

Global Economy ◽

Utilization Rate ◽

Consumer Group ◽

Medical Supplies ◽

Catering Industry ◽

Epidemic Period ◽

Delivery Services ◽

The Impact

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit global economy, and it has also greatly affected all industries with college students as the core consumer group. Through the questionnaire survey, this paper found that during the epidemic period, college students' consumption in catering and tourism decreased significantly, the utilization rate of supermarket flash delivery services was not high, and they were not satisfied with the services provided by online education. In terms of college students' consumption tendency after the epidemic, their willingness to consume in catering industry is relatively strong, while their willingness to consume in tourism is not high. The overall consumption level of college students has been on the rise during the epidemic period, with specific increases in online spending on education, daily necessities, online shopping and medical supplies, and decreases in catering, offline retail and traffic tour. Based on the problems found and the development rules of the industries, this paper puts forward corresponding operational countermeasures for the operators of the above industries to help them better carry out the post-epidemic recovery work.

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Conceptualizing the Impact of Religiosity on the Preferences for Islamic Banking in Mirpur (Azad Jammu and Kashmir): An Empirical Analysis

Lahore Journal of Business ◽

10.35536/ljb.2019.v8.i1.a4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 73-90

Author(s):

Khola Ozair ◽

Muhammad Luqman ◽

Syed Nisar Hussain Hamdani

Keyword(s):

Consumer Preferences ◽

Consumer Preference ◽

Islamic Banking ◽

Significant Shift ◽

Islamic Banks ◽

Sustainable Competitive Advantage ◽

Jammu And Kashmir ◽

Conventional Banks ◽

The Impact

Over the years, Islamic banking has emerged as a viable alternative to conventional banking, especially after the global financial crises of 2008. Despite the fact that the existing literature emphasizes on this significant shift in customers’ preferences in favor of Islamic banking, there are only a few studies that investigate the actual motives behind this shift. Hence, the key objective of this study is to identify the different factors that explain consumer preferences regarding Islamic banking services, specifically in Mirpur. Even more specifically, this study explores the role of religiosity in influencing consumers’ choice of Islamic banking in Mirpur. To test whether or not religiosity affects consumer preference for Islamic banking, the logistic regression technique has been used for the data analysis. The overall results reveal that besides the conventional variables, the religiosity level of customers, Shariah compliance of an Islamic bank, and knowledge of the respondent about prohibition of interest (Riba) in Islam have positive, and significant effects on consumers’ selection of Islamic banks. Based on these empirical findings, this study suggests that along with improving delivery and quality of services, Islamic banks should emphasize on Shariah compliance which provides a sustainable competitive advantage for Islamic banks over conventional banks.

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Market simulations of consumer preferences for the introduction of GM tomatoes

International Food and Agribusiness Management Review ◽

10.22434/ifamr2019.0218 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Joshua Berning ◽

Benjamin L. Campbell

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Consumer Preferences ◽

Consumer Preference ◽

Grocery Stores ◽

Farmers Market ◽

Tomato Plants ◽

Price Increases ◽

Gm Foods ◽

Analysis Experiment ◽

The Impact

Labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods has increasingly become a topic at the consumer and policymaker level. Using an online survey that included a conjoint analysis experiment, consumer preference for GM labeling on both fresh tomatoes and tomato plants was evaluated. Retailer (farmers market, grocery stores, mass merchandisers) sales and quantity sold were simulated to examine the impact of introducing GM labeling as well as certified GM labeling. Results indicate that retailers can increase revenues via price increases associated with the introduction of GM labeling.

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Text Mining Approaches to Analyze Public Sentiment Changes Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines on Social Media in Korea

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18126549 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (12) ◽

pp. 6549

Author(s):

Jae-Geum Shim ◽

Kyoung-Ho Ryu ◽

Sung Hyun Lee ◽

Eun-Ah Cho ◽

Yoon Ju Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Sentiment Analysis ◽

Time Course ◽

Latent Dirichlet Allocation ◽

Allocation Model ◽

Public Response ◽

Latent Dirichlet Allocation Model ◽

Public Sentiment ◽

Before And After

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire world, resulting in a tremendous change to people’s lifestyles. We investigated the Korean public response to COVID-19 vaccines on social media from 23 February 2021 to 22 March 2021. We collected tweets related to COVID-19 vaccines using the Korean words for “coronavirus” and “vaccines” as keywords. A topic analysis was performed to interpret and classify the tweets, and a sentiment analysis was conducted to analyze public emotions displayed within the retrieved tweets. Out of a total of 13,414 tweets, 3509 were analyzed after preprocessing. Eight topics were extracted using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation model, and the most frequently tweeted topic was vaccine hesitation, consisting of fear, flu, safety of vaccination, time course, and degree of symptoms. The sentiment analysis revealed a similar ratio of positive and negative tweets immediately before and after the commencement of vaccinations, but negative tweets were prominent after the increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. The public’s anticipation, disappointment, and fear regarding vaccinations are considered to be reflected in the tweets. However, long-term trend analysis will be needed in the future.

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Dampak Program Gerakan Tanam Cabai Terhadap Pemenuhan Kebutuhan Cabai Tingkat Rumah Tangga di Bogor dan Jakarta (Impact of Chilli Planting Program n Chilli Self Sufficiency at Household Level in Bogor and Jakarta)

Jurnal Hortikultura ◽

10.21082/jhort.v29n1.2019.p119-128 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 119

Author(s):

Rizka Amalia Nugrahapsari ◽

Rima Setiani ◽

Sulusi Prabawati ◽

NFN Turyono ◽

NFN Hardiyanto

Keyword(s):

Impact Analysis ◽

Consumer Preferences ◽

Institutional Arrangement ◽

Control Group ◽

Household Level ◽

Action Group ◽

Self Sufficiency ◽

Before And After ◽

The Difference ◽

The Impact

Program Gerakan Tanam Cabai (Gertam Cabai) dilatarbelakangi oleh fluktuasi harga cabai yang berlangsung tiap tahun. Program ini bertujuan membantu penyediaan cabai secara berkelanjutan pada tingkat rumah tangga. Penelitian bertujuan untuk mengkaji sejauh mana pengaruh Gertam Cabai terhadap kemandirian pemenuhan kebutuhan cabai tingkat rumah tangga di Kota Bogor dan Jakarta. Metode analisis yang digunakan adalah statistik deskriptif dan impact analysis. Pada metode impact analysis dilakukan pengukuran nilai indikator sebelum dan setelah intervensi program pada dua kelompok, yaitu kelompok yang mendapat intervensi program (Kelompok Aksi) dan kelompok yang tidak mendapat intervensi program (Kelompok Kontrol). Pada masing-masing kelompok dilakukan penghitungan selisih nilai indikator pada saat impact dan baseline. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa program Gertam Cabai belum memberikan pengaruh terhadap pemenuhan kebutuhan cabai tingkat rumah tangga. Hal ini terlihat dari: (1) tidak adanya perbedaan volume pembelian cabai antara sebelum dan sesudah Gertam Cabai pada kelompok penerima, dan (2) tidak adanya perbedaan volume pembelian cabai sesudah periode program tersebut antara kelompok penerima dan non penerima. Hal ini disebabkan karena banyak tanaman cabai yang mati, cabai yang dibagikan tidak sesuai dengan preferensi konsumen, dan cabai merupakan komoditas yang bersifat inelastis. Terdapat beberapa hal yang perlu diperhatikan apabila program itu masih akan dilaksanakan, yaitu: (1) jenis cabai dalam program itu agar disesuaikan dengan preferensi konsumen, dan (2) pembangunan sistem dan tatanan kelembagaan untuk memastikan keberlanjutan program meliputi sistem pembagian benih, penentuan kelompok penerima, pendampingan pra dan pasca pembagian benih, serta pembekalan teknis budidaya kepada kelompok penerima.KeywordsGerakan tanam cabai; Rumah tangga; Impact analysisAbstract Chilli planting program was motivated by the fluctuation of chili price every year. The objective of this program was to assist the household level for having sustainable supply of chilli. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of chilli Planting Program on the self sufficiency of household chilli needs in Bogor and Jakarta. The method of analysis used is descriptive statistics and impact analysis. In the impact analysis method, the indicator measurement before and after the program intervention was done in two groups: the group receiving the program (Action Group) and the group that did not participate in the program (Control Group). The next step is to calculate the difference between the indicators value at impact and baseline on each group. The results showed that chilli planting program has not affected chilli self sufficiency at household level. This can be seen from: (1) there is no difference in the volume of chilli purchasing before and after chilli planting program in the action group, and (2) there is no difference in the volume of chilli purchasing after chilli planting program period between action and control group. This is because a lot of chilli plants were dead, the chili was distributed not in accordance with consumer preferences, and chilli is an inelastic commodity. Some suggestions that should be considered if there is a continuation of the chilli planting program are (1) distributed chilli type has to satisfy household preferences, and (2) the program should be equipped by simultaneous development of system and institutional arrangement to ensure its sustainability, includes a system for distributing seeds, determining beneficiary groups, providing pre and post seed distribution, and providing technical training to the recipient groups.

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