A Hybrid Consumer in the Food Market

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic turned the attention of researchers towards the term ‘hybrid’. The notionis used to describe enterprises, labour market, services or trade. The paper provides a definition ofa hybrid consumer and examines her/his behaviour in the food market. As shown by the survey carriedout by GEMIUS and the Chamber of Electronic Economy in 2021, over 30% of Internet usersstarted buying more and more frequently in the times of the pandemic and explained it primarily byreasons of security, 24/7 access to the store, and competitive prices. The pandemic developed new habitsin consumers and changed their attitude to shopping. Polish consumers spend PLN 188 a monthon food purchased online. We can see that online purchases are getting grounds vis-a-vis traditionaloffline purchases which is why we can speak of a hybrid consumer. A study conducted on a group of1008 Poles aged between 18 and 80 demonstrated that the dominant profile is that of a traditional consumer(N=707), i.e., someone who buys food products in a brick and mortar store and shops onlineonly from time to time but a thesis can be put forward that the profile will evolve towards a hybridconsumer buying online and offline in similar proportions whose behaviour is shaped by competencenot just the pandemic.