IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i23p10154-d1525629.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Qualitative Analysis of Australian Perspectives Regarding the Cost of Groceries Using the Online Social Media Platform, Reddit

Author

Listed:
  • Virginia Chan

    (Discipline of Nutrition and Dietetics, Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
    Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia)

  • Rajshri Roy

    (Discipline of Nutrition and Dietetics, Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
    Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia)

Abstract

Australia’s current food system does not equitably or sustainably feed all Australians. Coupled with the rising costs of essential goods, it raises concerns around the cost of living and food security. This study aimed to investigate Reddit user perspectives on the current cost of food and groceries in Australian subreddits. Posts related to the costs of groceries within Australian subreddits were collected using Reddit’s Application Programming Interface (API) and Python Reddit API Wrapper python package (version 7.7.1). Posts (n = 1727) were screened, and the included posts (n = 583) underwent thematic analysis. Australian Reddit users reported concerns over the increasing prices of groceries and identified supermarket pricing tactics including price gouging, shrinkflation, and misleading price displays. Reddit also served as an important platform providing support and a method to disseminate budgeting strategies to help others to overcome rising costs of living. The findings highlighted the challenges faced by Australians in managing food and grocery expenses and the strategies they employ to cope with rising costs, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to improve food affordability and accessibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Virginia Chan & Rajshri Roy, 2024. "A Qualitative Analysis of Australian Perspectives Regarding the Cost of Groceries Using the Online Social Media Platform, Reddit," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-13, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:23:p:10154-:d:1525629
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/23/10154/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/23/10154/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Meron Lewis & Lisa-Maree Herron & Mark D. Chatfield & Ru Chyi Tan & Alana Dale & Stephen Nash & Amanda J. Lee, 2023. "Healthy Food Prices Increased More Than the Prices of Unhealthy Options during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Concurrent Challenges to the Food System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Christina Zorbas & Jennifer Browne & Alexandra Chung & Anna Peeters & Sue Booth & Christina Pollard & Steven Allender & Anna Isaacs & Corinna Hawkes & Kathryn Backholer, 2023. "Shifting the social determinants of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic: the Australian experience," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(1), pages 151-170, February.
    3. Penelope Love & Jillian Whelan & Colin Bell & Felicity Grainger & Cherie Russell & Meron Lewis & Amanda Lee, 2018. "Healthy Diets in Rural Victoria—Cheaper than Unhealthy Alternatives, Yet Unaffordable," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Penelope Love & Jillian Whelan & Colin Bell & Jane McCracken, 2019. "Measuring Rural Food Environments for Local Action in Australia: A Systematic Critical Synthesis Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-21, July.
    2. Ned Marshall & Carolyn Bendotti & Jessica Charlesworth & Barbara Mullan & Chloe Maxwell-Smith, 2024. "Food Banks as a “Treasure Trove”: Users’ Experiences of a Western Australian Food Relief Organization," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(8), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Christina M Pollard & Sue Booth, 2019. "Food Insecurity and Hunger in Rich Countries—It Is Time for Action against Inequality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-13, May.
    4. Christina Mary Pollard & Sue Booth, 2019. "Addressing Food and Nutrition Security in Developed Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-5, July.
    5. Lily Grigsby-Duffy & Sally Schultz & Liliana Orellana & Ella Robinson & Adrian J. Cameron & Josephine Marshall & Kathryn Backholer & Gary Sacks, 2020. "The Healthiness of Food and Beverages on Price Promotion at Promotional Displays: A Cross-Sectional Audit of Australian Supermarkets," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Igor Cavallini Johansen & Miquéias Freitas Calvi & Verônica Gronau Luz & Ana Maria Segall-Corrêa & Caroline C. Arantes & Victoria Judith Isaac & Renata Utsunomiya & Vanessa Cristine e Souza Reis & Emi, 2024. "Poverty–Food Insecurity Nexus in the Post-Construction Context of a Large Hydropower Dam in the Brazilian Amazon," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-19, January.
    7. Amanda Lee & Meron Lewis, 2018. "Testing the Price of Healthy and Current Diets in Remote Aboriginal Communities to Improve Food Security: Development of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healthy Diets ASAP (Australian Standa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Browne, Jennifer & Walker (Yorta Yorta), Troy & Hill (Torres Strait Islander), Karen & Mitchell (Mununjali), Fiona & Beswick, Holly & Thow (Pennemuker, Ngāti Porou), Stephanie & Ryan (Gunditjmara), Jo, 2024. "Food policies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health (FoodPATH): A systems thinking approach," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    9. Meron Lewis & Lisa-Maree Herron & Mark D. Chatfield & Ru Chyi Tan & Alana Dale & Stephen Nash & Amanda J. Lee, 2023. "Healthy Food Prices Increased More Than the Prices of Unhealthy Options during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Concurrent Challenges to the Food System," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.
    10. Meron Lewis & Sarah A. McNaughton & Lucie Rychetnik & Mark D. Chatfield & Amanda J. Lee, 2021. "Dietary Intake, Cost, and Affordability by Socioeconomic Group in Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-14, December.
    11. Akanji A. R & Umeakuana Chidinma Doris, 2024. "Assessing The Socio-Economic Implications of Biotechnology-Enhanced Food Accessibility and Affordability," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 11(7), pages 474-483, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:23:p:10154-:d:1525629. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.