Decoding the Consumers of Hawker Food

Singapore’s Hawker Culture has gained increasing attention in the last few years, not just due to its inscription on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, but also due to growing concern about its preservation. A central dilemma Singapore faces is that although hawker food is acclaimed both domestically and internationally as a unique part of Singaporean cultural heritage, its practice is declining. Pre-existing studies focus on supply-side cost drivers or purely qualitative cultural narratives. In contrast, this study aims to apply quantitative methods to the lived experiences of current consumers of hawker food to better understand underlying demographic differences and their potential significance in the effort to preserve this piece of intangible cultural heritage. An online survey was conducted among Singaporean respondents, collecting data on demographics, taste preferences, and price-sensitivity scenarios to examine relationships among age, income, and price sensitivity. The findings reveal a U-shaped relationship between age and price sensitivity, driven by factors including affordability, access to home-cooked substitutes, social value, health considerations, and cultural value. Income exhibits a negative relationship with price elasticity of demand; however, even high-income consumers remain price elastic. The study also considers behavioral factors, including loss aversion, that influence consumer decision-making. These findings suggest that demographic characteristics can be used to tailor targeted preservation strategies and could provide a foundation for more consumer-centric quantitative research to sustain hawker culture.