Eating Good Food and Helping the Community: The Drivers of Online Local Food Purchasing

Abstract

Literature indicates that local food has enjoyed a surge in popularity partly due to increasing consumer awareness of its positive impact on both the economy and the environment of rural communities. However, little research has been dedicated to examining customer purchasing of local food in an e-commerce context. The objective of this research is to develop a model that draws from the sense of community theory and quality-based intention model to assess how a sense of community influences customer experience in purchasing local food via e-grocery. Data was collected from 404 customers in West Java, Indonesia via an online survey. The dataset was analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling, and the results show that a sense of community combined with food quality and e-grocery quality contributes to a new approach to understanding and predicting satisfaction and behavioral intention. Specifically, a sense of community influences satisfaction and behavioral intention, and food quality drives satisfaction.