Ms. Anne-Sophie Kagel's master's thesis entitled "The Impact of Digitization on Urban "Food Deserts" - An Investigation of Food Deserts and Online Food Delivery Services in Los Angeles, California" was awarded for the year 2022 with the first Prize of the Working Group on Geographical Trade Research.
Under the title, she combined the current research topic of digitization with the well-known problem of food shortages in urban socio-economically weak regions (so-called "food deserts"). The aim was to find out whether online food delivery services can have a positive impact on the food supply in these regions. For this purpose, Ms. Kagel independently collected quantitative and qualitative data during a research stay in Los Angeles in the USA in 2019. She carried out various analyzes with geographic information systems (GIS) as well as qualitative content analyzes of problem-centered interviews. The application of the mixed-method approach served to compensate for the respective weaknesses of the individual methods and to create the most comprehensive possible picture of the object of investigation. She found out that there is a theoretical possibility of using online food delivery services in urban, socio-economically weak regions. However, there are various barriers, such as the limitation of the accepted means of payment, delivery costs and a lack of technical equipment, which currently stand in the way of use and only allow this to remain theoretical. In order to improve the supply situation with food through online food delivery services in socio-economically weak urban regions, measures to simplify the accessibility and use of these services would be necessary.
In addition, the results of Ms. Kagel's master's thesis were published in an article together with Dr. Robert Kitzmann in the magazine reports. Geography and regional studies published in 2020.
