Antecedents of behavioral intention to use online food delivery services: an empirical investigation

Abstract

The online food delivery market in India perseveres to grow at a sustained pace. The business has unique dynamics and challenges with the spike in orders during weekends, meeting delivery schedules during peak demand, offering deep discounts to address wavering customer loyalty, reducing cash burns, and managing food quality inconsistency. In contrast, the fast-paced life and the rise of millennials in the workforce is likely to assure a promising future for the food aggregators. The above backdrop has led the researchers to pursue this study. An empirical study was carried out to explore the consumption occasion and the antecedents of online food ordering in the select cities in Karnataka, India. The data was collected from 385 respondents through telephonic and mail survey using a structured questionnaire. The responses were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression. The result of the study indicated a positive association between the constructs ‘buying motives’, ‘aggregator attractiveness’, and customer satisfaction. The variation in customers` satisfaction is largely attributable to the convenience of order placing, food quality, availability of food and restaurant reviews, offers and discounts, faster home delivery, and the wide choice of restaurants listed on the aggregator’s website. Additionally, the aggregator attractiveness showed a higher impact on customer satisfaction as compared to buying motives.