The Effect of Digitalization on Food Purchasing Preferences: A Study on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

According to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, food is one of the physiological needs. Therefore, food is one of the main needs that people need to survive. Due to the fact that physiological needs can be more severe as a stimulant, they may come to the fore in consumption preferences compared to other needs. When faced with a stronger stimulus than the previously conditioned stimulus in Pavlov's experiments on dogs, dogs forget the old stimulus. Therefore, this situation is interpreted in the field of consumer behavior. In times of crisis, people's desire to meet their physiological needs can be intensified. With the COVID-19 pandemic, people can force themselves to change their lifestyle. Survival emerges as a dominant stimulus. With the development of today's internet technologies, food purchasing on the internet has been made possible. Thus, consumers can consider the internet channel as an option in food purchasing. In our study, the effect and preferences of digitalization in food purchasing before and after COVID-19 are interpreted. 72 volunteers participated in the study. The structured interview method was used in the research and the results were interpreted. Even though consumers state that hygiene is at the forefront in their purchasing preferences, we see that price comparison maintains its strength in the factors that determine preference.