Online Food Purchase Frequency Across Generations: Associations with Healthy Eating, Environmental Concern, and Economic Decision Indicators.

BACKGROUND/

objectivesOnline food purchasing may be associated with health-related, environmental, economic, and technological factors. However, limited evidence exists on whether these factors are associated with online food purchase frequency in similar ways across generational groups. This study examined whether self-reported healthy eating, environmental concern, and economic decision indicators were associated with online food purchase frequency among Polish consumers who had previously purchased food online and whether these associations differed across birth-cohort groups.

methodsData were collected in Poland in 2025 in a cross-sectional study using Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing. The analytical sample comprised 669 respondents who declared having purchased food online. Online food purchasing was measured both as a binary distinction between frequent and occasional purchasing and as an eight-category ordinal frequency variable. Pearson's chi-square tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, binary logistic regression, and ordinal logistic regression were applied. Moderation was assessed through predictor-by-generation interaction terms. The Benjamini-Hochberg procedure was used to control the false discovery rate, and seven economic decision-making indicators were additionally examined in mutually adjusted multivariable models. Ordinal models were interpreted as sensitivity analyses because the proportional-odds assumption was not fully satisfied.

resultsHealthy eating was not directly associated with online food purchasing frequency and did not interact significantly with generation. Environmental concern showed a significant interaction with generation in both binary and ordinal models. It was associated with more frequent online food purchasing among Baby Boomers but with less frequent purchasing among Generation Z. In separate models, price comparison and careful product choice were associated with more frequent online purchasing. Saving orientation also showed an exploratory interaction with opposite directions across generational groups: it was associated with more frequent purchasing in Generation X and less frequent purchasing in Generation Z. However, these economic decision indicators did not remain robust after correction for multiple testing and simultaneous adjustment.

conclusionsOnline food purchasing frequency was not uniformly associated with health, environmental, or economic tendencies across generations. In this cross-sectional sample, generation moderated the association between environmental concern and online food purchase frequency, although this pattern should not be interpreted as evidence of a distinct causal cohort effect. The findings suggest that similar declared tendencies may be associated with different patterns of online food purchase frequency across generational groups.