Online Food Shopping: Determinants and Profile of Portuguese Buyers in the Pandemic Context

Abstract

The covid-19 pandemic brought the opportunity to accelerate the acceptance and usage of existing behaviors and innovations by society and the market. Amongst these innovations, e-commerce food stands out, allowing food companies to redesign their models to face the demand during the pandemic. This research aims to recognize the profile of online food buyers within Portugal and understand the determinants of online food purchase intention in the context of the pandemic. The methodology applied is quantitative, using the Partial Least Squares method to test the hypotheses formulated by the proposed structural model. The data used resulted from applying an online questionnaire to 358 food consumers in Portugal. The results show that situational factors directly related to eating behavior positively impact the online food shopping experience, increasing the intention to purchase food online during covid-19. Concerning the profile of the e-consumer, it seems that owning a vehicle negatively influences the intention to purchase food in e-commerce, as opposed to the level of income, which is a positive factor. On the theoretical side, this research contributes to the literature by contributing on the theme of food e-commerce in a pandemic time, which is currently very scarce. As for practical contributions, through the identification of the trends in consumer behavior during and after the pandemic, companies can better anticipate and prepare for new consumer needs and profiles, consequently developing new strategies and increasing their e-commerce sales. Since Portugal has a small digital population and less than 35% of digital natives, the prominence of studies in this area is minor. The current research is original and innovative, as studies that analyze consumer behavior in food e-commerce in this country, specifically during a pandemic, are scarcer.