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Food-Away-From-Home Expenditure of Senior Households in the United States: A Double-Hurdle Approach

Purdue University, jang12{at}purdue.edu

Sunny Ham

University of Kentucky, sham2{at}uky.edu

Gong-Soog Hong

The Ohio State University, hong.177{at}osu.edu

This study investigated the association of demographic and socioeconomic variables with food-away-from-home (FAFH) expenditures in senior households in the United States. Using the Consumer Expenditure Survey, the two-step decision process for FAFH consumption was examined using Heckman's double-hurdle approach. The first step was a probit regression to estimate the probability of FAFH participation. The second step was to predict FAFH expenditure using a truncated regression with the inverse Mills ratio for correcting sample selection bias. The results indicated that sociodemographic characteristics were more useful in understanding the participation decision of senior households about FAFH, whereas access to and availability of restaurants as well as financial resources are better predictors of FAFH expenditures. This approach provided in-depth information on the unique role of each variable in the decision-making process for eating out and for how much to spend. This information will be valuable in understanding senior consumers in the restaurant industry.

Key Words: food away from home (FAFH) • senior household • senior market • expenditure pattern • Heckman's double-hurdle model

Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Vol. 31, No. 2, 147-167 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1096348006297287


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