Consumer Sentiment Towards Asians in the Early Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic (WP-25-22)
Kerwin Kofi Charles, Jonathan Guryan, and Kyung Park
The researchers revisit the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic to examine whether restaurant foot traffic reveals changes in sentiment towards ethnic groups. Their findings show reduced demand for dining at Asian restaurants located inside Asian enclaves, while outside enclaves, the decline in visits to Asian restaurants was comparable to non-Asian restaurants. In contrast, Italian restaurant enclaves did not experience similar declines in foot traffic after news of the outbreak in Italy and the first U.S. case linked to travel to Italy. The researchers also find suggestive evidence that the shift in consumption was associated with elevated negative sentiment towards Asians rather than efforts to avoid exposure to international travelers.