Future Anxiety and Consumption Adaptation under Food Price Inflation: Cross-Cultural Evidence on Young Adult Vulnerability
This study utilizes Structural Equation Modelling on university students in Türkiye and Hungary to reveal that while hopelessness and shopping behaviors consistently predict future anxiety during food price inflation, the specific links between purchase motivations and anxiety, as well as gender differences, vary significantly across these two distinct socioeconomic contexts.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
In times of economic uncertainty, the human mind often turns its gaze forward, searching for stability in a future that feels increasingly unpredictable. This forward-looking worry, known as future anxiety, is a chronic fear of what might happen, distinct from immediate panic but deeply rooted in the anticipation of trouble. When this psychological stress meets the tangible pressure of rising prices for essential goods like food, the two forces can reshape how people live and spend. While economists have long studied how inflation alters purchasing habits, and psychologists have examined how anxiety affects decision-making, the intersection of these two fields remains less explored. Understanding how young adults navigate this dual pressure is crucial, as they are often the most financially vulnerable group, balancing the demands of education with the instability of a changing global economy.
A team of researchers from universities in Türkiye and Hungary set out to investigate this specific dynamic among university students. They focused on business faculty students in Istanbul and Pécs, reasoning that these individuals, while more financially aware than the general student population, still face significant economic pressures. The researchers wanted to see how the fear of an uncertain future and the reality of soaring food prices worked together to change shopping habits. They gathered data from over 600 students through online surveys, asking them to report on their feelings about the future and how their food shopping and eating habits had shifted due to inflation. The study did not aim to prove that one caused the other, but rather to map the connections between these feelings and behaviors in two different cultural and economic settings.
The results revealed a complex picture where the relationship between anxiety and spending habits depends heavily on the local context. In both countries, students who felt a deep sense of hopelessness about their future were more likely to report a general fear of what lies ahead. However, the way this fear translated into action differed between the two nations. In Hungary, students who were more anxious about the future also reported stronger motivations to buy specific types of food, suggesting a link between their emotional state and their purchasing goals. In contrast, this connection was not statistically significant for students in Türkiye. Instead, Turkish students showed a different pattern where their gender played a larger role in their fear of the future, with women reporting higher levels of anxiety than men. In Hungary, gender differences appeared in shopping behaviors rather than in the anxiety itself, with women reporting more active shopping strategies.
A consistent finding across both groups was that students who felt hopeless about the future tended to change how they shopped for food, often becoming more active in comparing prices or seeking deals. At the same time, those with higher levels of fear tended to reduce their actual food consumption, perhaps skipping meals or eating less variety. This suggests that while anxiety might drive people to hunt for better prices, it can also lead to a reduction in what they actually eat. The study also highlighted that income levels mattered significantly in Türkiye, where students with lower incomes reported higher fears of the future, whereas in Hungary, the year of study was a more relevant factor, with older students expressing more hopelessness.
The researchers were careful to note that because they collected all the data at a single point in time, they could not determine if anxiety caused the changes in shopping or if the stress of shopping caused the anxiety. They also clarified that while the two countries have different cultural backgrounds, the study did not directly measure national culture as a cause for the differences found. Instead, the variations likely stem from a mix of economic conditions, such as the much higher inflation rate in Türkiye compared to Hungary, and the different social support systems available to students in each country. The findings suggest that young adults do not react to economic stress in a uniform way; their responses are filtered through their personal circumstances, their gender, and the specific economic environment they inhabit.
Ultimately, this research adds a layer of psychological depth to our understanding of consumer behavior during crises. It shows that when prices rise, the reaction is not just a mathematical adjustment of a budget but a response driven by fear, hope, and the perception of the future. For policymakers and educators, the study implies that supporting young people during inflationary periods requires more than just financial advice; it demands an awareness of the emotional toll that economic instability takes on their daily lives and their sense of security. By recognizing that anxiety and spending are deeply intertwined, communities can better design interventions that address both the wallet and the mind.
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