CHAPTER TWO

Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

In this literature review, I will review the theoretical and empirical aspects of the literature on the

Eat Out to Help Out (EOTHO) programme. I will include some background detail, then illustrate

some praise of the EOTHO, including the increasing in demand for food services and impacts on

employment. I will then explore some criticisms of the literature, including the scheme resulting

in some COVID-19 cases that resulted in some economic damage. Before summarising the

literature review, I will explore an interesting point made by the literature; that rainfall had a

significant impact in where the EOTHO scheme was successful in helping out small businesses.

2.2 Background detail

The COVID -19 outbreak, which was first recorded in China (Lau et al., 2020), spread swiftly to

the entire globe, resulting in unpreparedness to many states. Moreover, it sternly obstructed

economic activities, particularly the hospitality area was the most hit as attempts were

formulated to curb the spread. Almost all governments and relevant urgencies sort solutions to

mitigate its spread by adopting containment measures. For instance, the government of the UK

formulated a scheme that could see its citizens cope favorably with the new normal. The 'Eat Out

to Help Out' project was intended to motivate citizens to eat out in cafes in the wake of the first

2020 COVID 19 outbreak in the UK (Francis-Devine, Powell and Foley, 2021), among other

countries (McGowan, 2020). However, there were no restrictions on how it could be described

for each distinct. The latest finding confirmed that nearly a hundred million covers (individual

meal claims) were demanded within the four weeks the plan was rolled (Fetzer, 2020), reflecting

a whole cost of £849 million to the taxpayers (Hutton, 2020).

2.3 Praise of EOTHO in the literature

The scheme is praised in the literature in facilitating economic recovery after imposing COVID-

19 containment measures such as lockdowns (Unsworth et al., 2020). This program seemed to

have worked from the onset; restaurants recorded a substantial increase in the number of visits of

between 10 and 200 % compared to the succeeding years (Fetzer, 2020). The two indicators, job

posts, and footfalls impacted demand for food services. The data used in Hearne’s study (2020),

which uses data from the public domain, as well as data from the databases of businesses that

took part in the study. The data provided for the number of partakers who participated in the

forum against the number of days in August can be interpreted as Figure 1 below.

Date of the month Number of participants

(in thousands)
3-August 56
14-August 60
23- August 63
31- August 64

Number of Participants in EOTHO scheme

Number of participants in (thousands

Series1
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5
Days in the month of August

Figure 1: Showing the progress of the total number of food creations registered in EOTHO (Hearne, 2020).

From Figure 1, it can be deduced that there were fifty-six thousand participants by the third day

of August in this study alone, the time when the discount was first available to customers, which

consistently increased to sixty-four thousand by the end of the first week (Figure 1).

The impact of EOTHO on job creation in the foodservice section and food business was

commented on. Fetzer (2020) confirms that some companies started enlisting as they looked
forward to an increased demand due to the program even when the impact seemed insignificant.

The plan gradually corresponded suggestively from the available statistics, indicating that

EOTHO continued to have a positive slope on the recruitment for weeks before the program

ended in late September. However, after that, the program becomes insignificant in terms of

ensuring that these employment positions persisted long-term.

Furthermore, using the quasi-experimental method and timely pointers, the assessment of the

EOTHO scheme on its economic impact and the relation on the works on labor market

influences the financial inducements which in turn impacts consumption (Iacobucci, 2020).

Essentially, because the restaurant servers are receiving pay for longer hours due to the scheme,

the workforce will be motivated to spend money due to the longer hours of pay. Jobs positions in

the service and food preparation trade increased by half, increasing from 7% to 14% as per

Gonzalez Pampillion et al. (2020).

2.3 Criticisms

The scheme was criticized in the literature due to inadequate preparedness, rainfall, COVID

cases, and changes in customer behaviour. Places with significant take-up recorded a rise in new

COVID 19 cases within the initial stages of the programme. This is a point much of the literature

focuses on. As stated in Fetzer (2020, p. ??), “The empirical estimates suggest that the EOHO

scheme may be responsible for around 8 to 17% of all new detected COVID19 clusters emerging

during August and into early September in the UK”. It was observed that a later rise in cases

would potentially deter customers and minimize the effectiveness of the scheme. Moreover,

Fetzer raises the question that if the scheme itself caused a spike of cases, which would cause a

shift in consumer behaviour that would lead to economic damage. He emphasizes that “ensuing

economic damage this generates suggests that the EOHO scheme may have indirect economic-

and public health costs that vastly outstrip its short-term economic benefits” (Fetzer, 2020).
Essentially, the economic benefit would not even be a clear benefit of the scheme as it may cause

damage through the cases affecting consumer behaviour.

2.4 Rainfall and the scheme (and COVID-19)

It is repeatedly pointed out in the literature that there was a connection between rainfall, and how

many customers were recorded, as well as COVID-19 cases (Sil and Kumar, 2020). In times of

heavy rainfall, there would be fewer covers (meals ordered) in lunch and dinner. There would

also be fewer COVID-19 cases subsequently (Sil and Kumar, 2020; Fetzer, 2020; Blakely,

2020).

To validate the underlying assembly between 'Eat Out to Help Out' and the impact on the general

contaminations in places of increased uptake, Fetzer considered some crucial and practical

variables like rough flexibility data and rainfall data from Google's Community Mobility Reports

(Handscomb, 2020). His findings reveal that sophisticated rainfall around and within lunch and

dinners hours during the scheme’s initial stages recorded a substantive drop and lowers the new

fatality rate associated with other areas with favorable climatic conditions. However, the rainfall

had a relatively insignificant effect on the lunch and dinner hours in certain locations.

In discussing the outcome of the program on recreation and footfall in retail, the examination

focuses on the extent to which the plan has amplified the number of visiting different formations

in this group. For instance, when examining the footfall, which includes the fixed effects and

allows the understanding of the general impact of the EOTHO plan on the results variable within

a given period. There is proof of a 95% confidence level in this correlation. This ratio confirms

that even before the available data was not significantly viable, implying no convincing evidence

of divergent trends before the scheme's commencement. Therefore, the details provided are

dependent and justifiable (Avari et al., 2020) claim that footfall increased from the program's

start. As the scheme approached the end, the footfall was at its climax. As the month ended, the

footfall decreased significantly.

Other policy actions, for instance; increasing statutory sick pay, extending the furlough scheme,

and improving the livelihood of low-income families through intensifying free foodstuffs, proved

to be far more cost-effective than the EOTHO demand-motivating events that inspire monetary

events while simultaneously aggressively causing COVID-19 to spread (Tsioulakis, 2020).

2.4 Research methods used to study EOTHO

Investigators in qualitative research should ensure the integrity of the study (Fetzer, 2020). The

protocols for the interview will provide trustworthiness for the survey. For validity and

credibility, triangulation ought to be used. Triangulation assists in explaining human behaviors

using a variety of methods that provides thorough explanations for the reader (Fetzer, 2020).

Another method that has been used previously is thematic analysis. Gonzalez et al. (2021)

illustrates how the thematic examination was used to analyze qualitative data. After the

participant of the study completes the interviews, the researcher identifies the common themes.

This approach will be through familiarizing with the data collected. The researcher transcribes

the data collected during the discussion. Transcription by wide margins will occur within 24

hours of the interview. Themes and patterns will be identified using NVivo. The articles and

practices will be determined by content analysis and sentence structure. NVivo uses a process

that involves nodes. According to Swygart-Hobaugh (2019), a node is an assortment of

references about specific themes and relationships. Using the nodes is a way for the researcher to

engage in denoting and connoting. Denoting can be described as singling out relevant and

irrelevant information, whereas connoting links the indicated text with an analytical concept

(LaRossa, 2012b).

2.6Similar Strategies Amidst Past Pandemics

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome broke out in South Korea in May 2015. This had

significant detrimental effects on the economy which included the closure of schools and

hospitals. The outbreak was the largest of MERS to spread outside the Middle East.
Consequently, the South Korean government settled on an economic forecast cut in that year

from 3.8% to 3.1%.The tourism sector was affected by more than 10,000 visit cancelations. In

addition to this, sales decreased by 3.4% and 16.5% for retail and departmental stores

respectively. For this reason, the South Korean Government responded with an economic

strategy of passing a stimulus package of more than $13.5 billion. This was coupled by a

decrease in interest rates by 0.25% which was provided for by the Central bank to help boost the

economy amidst the MERS outbreak (Jung et. al, 2016).The stimulus package served as an

injection of finances into the economy which increased government spending to boost

businesses. The interest rate cut increased the finances available for businesses to run in the

middle of a pandemic. This economic approach is similar to EOTHO since both served as

opportunities for adding back more finances into the economic to heighten economic stability of

business operations. The decrease in sales for these traditional stores stemmed from different

sources such as a decrease in consumer expenditure and decreased visits to the physical stores

for repeated purchases. An indication that traditional stores ought to move to an electronic

commerce platform as one of the ways of staying afloat economically even in the event of such a

pandemic. Relatively, in the global COVID-19 condition, most businesses invested in online

shops and remote hires to continue their operations and maximize on performance for

productivity

Relative to this, is the Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak that was experienced in the

United Kingdom in 2001.As a result, the FMD outbreak incurred losses for the UK agricultural

and general economy which approximated to £3.1 billion. The tourism economy in the United

Kingdom suffered losses that were approximately £2.7 to £3.2 billion. This resulted from a

significant decrease in the number of tourists. The UK government increased its expenditure into

the affected sectors to boost the economy. Inclusive of this was the compensation for slaughter,
disposal and clean-up costs that were incurred by the government to boost the agricultural sector

hence reducing the weight of incurred loses. However, this decreased government expenditure

in the productive sector. Revenue that was collected from the tourism sector operation at that

time was injected into other sectors of the economy to augment the general economy of the

country. This approach also uplifted the economy to ease the general consequences of the Foot

and Mouth Disease which approximated a 0.2% decrease in the country’s Gross Domestic

product. Government intervention on compensation for slaughter and disposal as a subsidy

increased agricultural sector savings hence more to invest. With this, the government help meet

the costs of the FMD that would have been an economic burden to the agricultural industry. This

intervention harbored an expected estimated loss of £ 355 million, a significant 20% estimated

portion of revenue collected from farming in 2001.

2.7 Summary

Deductively, the economic impact of the COVID-19 contagion and the successive containment

measures acted unevenly across and around sections. The standard directly and severely

influenced firms that depend largely on social interactions and footfall. For instance, the

foodservice industry was partly affected but plans to restore and ensure food security, and the

food industry benefited from the EOTHO. The EOTHO plan was good on paper to protect and

regain customer assurance for visiting sites by supporting the cost of getting food for the first

three days of August. The plan increased the regeneration and retail class from the analysis,

where the concentration was on the discounted days. However, the program failed to inspire

people to seek other alternative and basic services even after the discount.
Moreover, the scheme increased the number of jobs dispatched on the food preparation and

outside catering services. However, the challenge in the job formation provides limited data, thus

made it difficult to assess the level of growth in terms of job creation and persistence even after

the program.

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