Abstract
Online-to-offline (O2O) food delivery platforms have greatly expanded urban
residents' access to a wide range of food options by allowing convenient
ordering from distant food outlets. However, concerns persist regarding the
nutritional quality of delivered food, particularly as the impact of O2O food
delivery platforms on users' healthy food remains unclear. This study leverages
large-scale empirical data from a leading O2O delivery platform to
comprehensively analyze online food choice behaviors and how they are
influenced by the online exposure to fast food restaurants, i.e., online food
environment. Our analyses reveal significant variations in food preferences
across demographic groups and city sizes, where male, low-income, and younger
users are more likely to order fast food via O2O platforms. Besides, we also
perform a comparative analysis on the food exposure differences in offline and
online environments, confirming that the extended service ranges of O2O
platforms can create larger "cyber food swamps". Furthermore, regression
analysis highlights that a higher ratio of fast food orders is associated with
"cyber food swamps", areas characterized by a higher proportion of accessible
fast food restaurants. A 10% increase in this proportion raises the probability
of ordering fast food by 22.0%. Moreover, a quasi-natural experiment
substantiates the long-term causal effect of online food environment changes on
healthy food choices. These findings underscore the need for O2O food delivery
platforms to address the health implications of online food choice exposure,
offering critical insights for stakeholders aiming to improve dietary health
among urban populations.