Tweeting on an Empty Stomach: Unpacking Food Price Hikes and Inflation via Twitter

Maija Kāle; Matīss Rikters

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-81596-6_7

Tweeting on an Empty Stomach: Unpacking Food Price Hikes and Inflation via Twitter

Maija Kāle^*
, Matīss Rikters

^*Corresponding author for this work

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference paper › Research › peer-review

Abstract

This research focuses on food price-related discussions on Twitter, specifically in the Latvian context, with the aim of tracing the impact of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which caused a global food crisis. Analysing the Latvian Twitter Eater Corpus (LTEC), the research reveals 12 years of food price-related data and includes the effect of COVID-19 on food price discourse in the recent past. The research highlights that meat price-related tweets dominate other discussions during the food crisis caused by Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. The Latvian Twitter community tends to share food shopping experiences rather than just discussing prices, while sentiment has shifted towards more negativity, reflecting the impact of rising food costs. Although the study acknowledges limitations in the representation of vulnerable groups and the importance of contextual factors, it highlights the role of social media in capturing public sentiment during economic crises and reveals the most price-sensitive product discussions. This information can be useful for public policy makers.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing - 23rd International Conference, ICAISC 2024, Proceedings
Editors	Leszek Rutkowski, Marcin Korytkowski, Rafal Scherer, Ryszard Tadeusiewicz, Witold Pedrycz, Jacek M. Zurada
Pages	77-91
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81596-6_7
Publication status	Published - 2025

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Volume	15166 LNAI
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 2 Zero Hunger

Keywords

Sentiment Analysis
Social Media Analysis

OECD Field of Science

1.2 Computer and Information Sciences

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-81596-6_7

Cite this

Kāle, M., & Rikters, M. (2025). Tweeting on an Empty Stomach: Unpacking Food Price Hikes and Inflation via Twitter. In L. Rutkowski, M. Korytkowski, R. Scherer, R. Tadeusiewicz, W. Pedrycz, & J. M. Zurada (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing - 23rd International Conference, ICAISC 2024, Proceedings (pp. 77-91). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 15166 LNAI). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81596-6_7

Kāle, Maija ; Rikters, Matīss. / Tweeting on an Empty Stomach: Unpacking Food Price Hikes and Inflation via Twitter. Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing - 23rd International Conference, ICAISC 2024, Proceedings. editor / Leszek Rutkowski ; Marcin Korytkowski ; Rafal Scherer ; Ryszard Tadeusiewicz ; Witold Pedrycz ; Jacek M. Zurada. 2025. pp. 77-91 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science).

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title = "Tweeting on an Empty Stomach: Unpacking Food Price Hikes and Inflation via Twitter",

abstract = "This research focuses on food price-related discussions on Twitter, specifically in the Latvian context, with the aim of tracing the impact of Russia{\textquoteright}s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which caused a global food crisis. Analysing the Latvian Twitter Eater Corpus (LTEC), the research reveals 12 years of food price-related data and includes the effect of COVID-19 on food price discourse in the recent past. The research highlights that meat price-related tweets dominate other discussions during the food crisis caused by Russia{\textquoteright}s invasion in Ukraine. The Latvian Twitter community tends to share food shopping experiences rather than just discussing prices, while sentiment has shifted towards more negativity, reflecting the impact of rising food costs. Although the study acknowledges limitations in the representation of vulnerable groups and the importance of contextual factors, it highlights the role of social media in capturing public sentiment during economic crises and reveals the most price-sensitive product discussions. This information can be useful for public policy makers.",

keywords = "Sentiment Analysis, Social Media Analysis",

author = "Maija Kāle and Matīss Rikters",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1007/978-3-031-81596-6\_7",

language = "English",

isbn = "9783031815959",

series = "Lecture Notes in Computer Science",

pages = "77--91",

editor = "Leszek Rutkowski and Marcin Korytkowski and Rafal Scherer and Ryszard Tadeusiewicz and Witold Pedrycz and Zurada, \{Jacek M.\}",

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Kāle, M & Rikters, M 2025, Tweeting on an Empty Stomach: Unpacking Food Price Hikes and Inflation via Twitter. in L Rutkowski, M Korytkowski, R Scherer, R Tadeusiewicz, W Pedrycz & JM Zurada (eds), Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing - 23rd International Conference, ICAISC 2024, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 15166 LNAI, pp. 77-91. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81596-6_7

Tweeting on an Empty Stomach: Unpacking Food Price Hikes and Inflation via Twitter. / Kāle, Maija; Rikters, Matīss.
Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing - 23rd International Conference, ICAISC 2024, Proceedings. ed. / Leszek Rutkowski; Marcin Korytkowski; Rafal Scherer; Ryszard Tadeusiewicz; Witold Pedrycz; Jacek M. Zurada. 2025. p. 77-91 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 15166 LNAI).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference paper › Research › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Tweeting on an Empty Stomach: Unpacking Food Price Hikes and Inflation via Twitter

AU - Kāle, Maija

AU - Rikters, Matīss

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - This research focuses on food price-related discussions on Twitter, specifically in the Latvian context, with the aim of tracing the impact of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which caused a global food crisis. Analysing the Latvian Twitter Eater Corpus (LTEC), the research reveals 12 years of food price-related data and includes the effect of COVID-19 on food price discourse in the recent past. The research highlights that meat price-related tweets dominate other discussions during the food crisis caused by Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. The Latvian Twitter community tends to share food shopping experiences rather than just discussing prices, while sentiment has shifted towards more negativity, reflecting the impact of rising food costs. Although the study acknowledges limitations in the representation of vulnerable groups and the importance of contextual factors, it highlights the role of social media in capturing public sentiment during economic crises and reveals the most price-sensitive product discussions. This information can be useful for public policy makers.

AB - This research focuses on food price-related discussions on Twitter, specifically in the Latvian context, with the aim of tracing the impact of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which caused a global food crisis. Analysing the Latvian Twitter Eater Corpus (LTEC), the research reveals 12 years of food price-related data and includes the effect of COVID-19 on food price discourse in the recent past. The research highlights that meat price-related tweets dominate other discussions during the food crisis caused by Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. The Latvian Twitter community tends to share food shopping experiences rather than just discussing prices, while sentiment has shifted towards more negativity, reflecting the impact of rising food costs. Although the study acknowledges limitations in the representation of vulnerable groups and the importance of contextual factors, it highlights the role of social media in capturing public sentiment during economic crises and reveals the most price-sensitive product discussions. This information can be useful for public policy makers.

KW - Sentiment Analysis

KW - Social Media Analysis

UR - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-81596-6_7

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105010181245

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-81596-6_7

DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-81596-6_7

M3 - Conference paper

SN - 9783031815959

T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science

SP - 77

EP - 91

BT - Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing - 23rd International Conference, ICAISC 2024, Proceedings

A2 - Rutkowski, Leszek

A2 - Korytkowski, Marcin

A2 - Scherer, Rafal

A2 - Tadeusiewicz, Ryszard

A2 - Pedrycz, Witold

A2 - Zurada, Jacek M.

ER -

Kāle M, Rikters M. Tweeting on an Empty Stomach: Unpacking Food Price Hikes and Inflation via Twitter. In Rutkowski L, Korytkowski M, Scherer R, Tadeusiewicz R, Pedrycz W, Zurada JM, editors, Artificial Intelligence and Soft Computing - 23rd International Conference, ICAISC 2024, Proceedings. 2025. p. 77-91. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science). doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-81596-6_7

Tweeting on an Empty Stomach: Unpacking Food Price Hikes and Inflation via Twitter

Abstract

Publication series

UN SDGs

Keywords

OECD Field of Science

Access to Document

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