No Mask, No Service: Customer Reaction to Walmart’s 2020 National Mask Mandate

Multi-location firms face a complex series of economic tradeoffs when deciding whether to implement standard processes or allow processes to vary across establishments. One element of this tradeoff is customer response. This paper explores customer reaction to a prominent standardized policy, Walmart’s national instore mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic. I find that, in the two weeks after Walmart’s corporate mask mandate was enacted, foot traffic at stores in counties with no government mask mandates declined by 1-2% relative to stores in other counties. This effect was driven by stores in heavily Republican counties, where the decline was approximately 5%. However, analysis of a spending panel suggests there was little impact on sales conducted via credit and debit cards. This study provides evidence about the scope for customer reaction in response to corporate policies which in turn informs decisions about the relative merits of standardization or variance of policies across establishments.