A novel extended design thinking approach and predicting antecedents of food friend application acceptance during the COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a prototype of Online Food Delivery Application that addresses the actual needs of the user and to study the factors affecting the acceptance of Food Friend Application (FFA). Design/methodology/approach This is an applied research study using design thinking to study the real needs of consumers when ordering food online during the COVID-19 outbreak. The real needs of customers were used to create FFA. Then, the key predictors of FFA adoption were studied by integrating psychological variables, including Alertness to distinction, Openness to novelty, Orientation in the present; and Technological variables Design, Information Quality and Mobility, with comprehensive data analysis. Initially, Structural Equation Modeling was used to study the statistical relationships toward FFA acceptance, while a neural network model was used to validate the first step analysis. Findings Analysis results from both methods confirmed that Alertness to distinction, Orientation in the present, Mobility and Openness to novelty affected FFA at statistically significant levels. Surprisingly, technological variables in terms of Design and Information Quality had no statistical relationship toward FFA. Originality/value In addition to dealing with digital disrupts, the current business world also needs to deal with the pandemic and the rapidly changing consumer behavior. COVID-19 is a clear catalyst for digital business trends, for example, food delivery that has to deal with dramatic changes in consumer behavior. The strong methodological results of this research are greatly beneficial to academics, food online delivery service providers, application developers and government agencies.