Ozempic reduced grocery spending by an average of 5.3% in the US

Summary

When Americans begin taking appetite-suppressing drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, the changes extend well beyond the bathroom scale. According to new research, the medications are associated with meaningful reductions in how much households spend on food, both at the grocery store and at restaurants.The study, published Dec. 18 in the Journal of Marketing Research, links survey data on GLP-1 receptor agonist use – a class of drugs originally developed for diabetes and now widely prescribed for weight loss – with detailed transaction records from tens of thousands of U.S. households. The result is one of the most comprehensive looks yet at how GLP-1 adoption is associated with changes in everyday food purchasing in the real world.The headline finding is striking: Within six months of starting a GLP-1 medication, households reduce grocery spending by an average of 5.3%. Among higher-income households, the drop is even steeper, at more than 8%. Spending at fast-food restaurants, coffee shops and other limited-service eateries falls by about 8%.Among households who continue using the medication, lower food spending persists at least a year, though the magnitude of the reduction becomes smaller over time, say co-authors, assistant professor Sylvia Hristakeva and professor Jura Liaukonyte, both in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. “The data show clear changes in food spending following adoption,” Hristakeva said. “After discontinuation, the effects become smaller and harder to distinguish from pre-adoption spending patterns.”Unlike previous studies that relied on self-reported eating habits, the new analysis draws on purchase data collected by Numerator, a market research firm that tracks grocery and restaurant transactions for a nationally representative panel of about 150,000 households. The researchers matched those records with repeated surveys asking whether household members were taking GLP-1...