Beyond Convenience: The Hidden Drivers Behind Food Delivery App Adoption

Epistemic value (visibility) is the main driver of purchase intentions toward food delivery apps (FDAs), followed by conditional (affordances), price (part of functional value), and social value (prestige). Contrary to popular belief and media reports, health consciousness and food safety concerns were surprisingly not significantly associated with purchase intentions toward food delivery apps.?

The Why's? ??

Food delivery app (FDA) is a rapidly growing business model of the new economy, known as online-to-offline (O2O) services, attracting massive investments globally. However, the existing literature on consumer behaviour toward FDA is limited, with most studies focusing on the technological aspects rather than the broader consumer behaviour perspectives.?

This study provides a comprehensive, theory-driven examination of the consumption values that drive consumer intentions to use FDAs. Understanding these underlying values is crucial for FDA service providers to develop effective strategies to influence consumer choices and increase their market share. The findings offer valuable insights that can guide practitioners in the hospitality sector, as the use of mobile apps and online platforms to access hospitality services has become a key consideration in consumer behaviour and marketing, and by uncovering the consumption values that influence purchase intentions, businesses can tailor their marketing strategies, product offerings, and service delivery to align with the specific values that resonate most with their target audience.?

Understanding consumer values is a key differentiator in a crowded market, allowing businesses to connect with their customers on a deeper level and build stronger brand loyalty. By addressing the values that truly matter to consumers, businesses can enhance customer satisfaction, foster positive word-of-mouth, and ultimately drive business success. By gaining a deeper understanding of consumer values, businesses can make more informed decisions regarding product development, marketing campaigns, and customer experience strategies, which can help them stay ahead of competitors and position themselves as industry leaders in meeting their target audience's evolving needs and preferences.?

Furthermore, this research challenges common assumptions and media narratives surrounding health consciousness and food safety concerns as significant deterrents to food delivery app usage. The findings suggest that consumers may prioritize other factors, such as convenience, pricing, affordance, and social status, over these concerns. This insight can help businesses reevaluate their assumptions and prioritize the factors that substantially impact consumer behaviour in this domain.?

The Findings ??

The research findings unveil novel insights into the consumption values that drive consumer intentions to use food delivery apps (FDAs). Notably:?

• Epistemic value ("visibility"), which represents the novelty, curiosity, and influence of seeing others use food delivery apps, was the strongest driver of purchase intentions. In other words, observing advertisements or witnessing friends and acquaintances using food delivery apps could pique an individual's curiosity and interest, which in turn strongly influenced their intentions to adopt and use these services themselves.?

• Conditional value ("affordances"), such as free delivery, promotional incentives, and listing of preferred restaurants, positively influenced purchase intentions. Simply put, the presence of certain extrinsic factors or advantages offered by food delivery apps, like free or discounted delivery, special offers, and the availability of one's favorite restaurants on the platform, increased the likelihood that consumers would intend to order food through these apps.?

• Price value, reflecting reasonable prices, benefits, and value for money, had a positive association with purchase intentions.?

• Social value ("prestige"), representing the enhanced self-image and social approval derived from using food delivery apps, positively impacted purchase intentions.?

• Health consciousness and food safety concerns did not have a significant association with purchase intentions toward food delivery apps.

The Actionable Recommendations ?

The research findings provide several actionable recommendations for food delivery app (FDA) service providers to enhance consumer intentions and drive business success. Key among these are:?

• Increase visibility through advertising, word-of-mouth, referrals, and endorsements, highlighting existing users to leverage the epistemic value.?

• Offer affordances, such as free and fast delivery, competitive promotional incentives, and partnerships with preferred restaurants.?

• Maintain reasonable prices, discounts, and value-added benefits to enhance price value.?

• Position food delivery apps as a source of prestige and social approval through targeted marketing campaigns.?

• Address health consciousness and food safety concerns proactively, as these factors may gain importance in the future, particularly in the post-COVID-19 era.

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The Theory ??

The research is grounded in the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV), a seminal theory in consumer behaviour research. The TCV explains consumer choice behaviour based on five consumption values: functional, emotional, social, epistemic, and conditional values.?

The study adapts and extends the TCV to the food delivery app context, providing a theoretical foundation for understanding the specific consumption values that drive consumer behaviour in this domain. The empirical testing of these adapted values contributes to a broader understanding of consumer choice behaviour, potentially reshaping the future of the rapidly evolving online-to-offline (O2O) business models.?

The Methods ??

The research employed an exploratory mixed-method approach, including focus group discussions with 20 target users to develop the questionnaire and a cross-sectional survey (pen and pencil) with 423 complete responses from food delivery app users aged 22-65 years in India. The data were analyzed using structural equation modelling.

The Caveat and Limitations ???

• The study focused solely on food delivery apps in the Indian market, limiting generalizability to other cultural contexts or different mobile apps.?

• The cross-sectional design and self-reported data may introduce biases.?

• The data were collected before the COVID-19 pandemic, which could have altered consumer perceptions and behaviours.?

• The research used age and gender as moderators, but future studies could explore their potential roles as control variables or mediators.?

• The study did not consider variables such as moral obligations in meal preparation, technology anxiety, or subscription types (freemium/premium), which could provide additional insights.?

Full Reference

Kaur, P., Dhir, A., Talwar, S., & Ghuman, K. (2021). The value proposition of food delivery apps from the perspective of theory of consumption value. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 33(4), 1129-1159.?

The Consumer Research Lab is an award-winning research team at Curtin University specialising in providing evidence-based and actionable consumer insights for industry partners. Apart from traditional market research methods, it specialises in the use of consumer neuroscience, machine learning, and digital innovations to address different industry challenges. Get in touch to find out more by emailing [email protected]