What shapes consumers’ food evaluation in online food delivery: Evidence from social media reviews

The research on technology such as Online food, grocery, and related meal kit delivery on our table started over two decades ago. The tremendous increase in online and food delivery happened after the pandemic hit the world. This paper investigates the previous literature published on online food delivery from Scopus and the Web of Science database and discusses various avenues for future research. The authors conducted a bibliographic study using R studio and detailed text analysis. Network and citation analysis is done using Vos viewer software. Along with the quantitative bibliometric research, a user sentiment analysis is done to identify the user sentiments of online food and grocery delivery apps in India. Significant research has been done on the gig economy; hence, new avenues of research are proposed in the paper. Overall, the sentiment we received from the reviews was negative, a common phenomenon called polarized negative sentiments on social media.

The smartphone penetration in India is growing rapidly and online buying through mobile apps for products and services is growing at a faster pace. Restaurants in brick and mortar format in order to increase their customer base are trying to get their feet wet in an online mode. Though India has attracted food tech companies due to majority of population being millennial consumers, not many studies have focused on consumer behavior towards online food delivery and ordering through mobile apps especially pertaining to students’ market. Hence this study in an initiative to study the effect of mobile app design features on decision making stages of consumers pertaining for online food ordering and delivery sector. The study adopted SEM analysis through Smart PLS-3 with sample being students studying in Manipal Academy of Higher Education campus from across the globe. The result of study reveals that design features of mobile apps has huge impact on the students’ behavior design, with features, namely, ‘‘Security towards the retention of personal information of students’’, ‘‘Secure and accessible payment gateways”, “Option of tracking real time order status of food and beverages ordered”, ‘‘Access to customer service to respond to customers query without any hindrances”, ‘‘Pop up of trending information of food and beverages”, “Easy navigation of app features”, ‘‘Search function to quickly access the information”, and ‘‘Delivery services which are flexible”. This study could be used as a base by organizations to enhance the design features of mobile apps in food ordering sector for engaging customers and enhancing their business.

The market size of food industry across Southeast Asia has recorded a tremendous and robust surge especially in the food delivery sector during 2020 due the global pandemic. As far back as previous years reports show that the dynamic use of the current innovative mobile technologies in the Food and Service industries has orchestrated a vast array of innovative entrepreneurial opportunities and start-up business ventures for app developers and accrued tremendous growth for the restaurant and food businesses such as Zomato, Uber Eats and Food Panda Statista (2018) Food delivery applications (FDAs are mobile application that account for food delivery platform that account for daily used by an estimated 15 million deliveries solely in China and over a million in India. (Jindal, 2018). Online Food Delivery (OFD) platforms and Online-to-Offline (O2O) in collaboration are the two means by which mobile food apps curate the ecommerce of food business especially those in the restaurant-to-consumer markets through their platforms through online orderings which transcend into offline deliveries (Statista, 2019). However, regardless of how online mobile applications have curated a compelling yet significant paradigm shift in online shopping and ecommerce as well as the food and hospitality, it leaves much to understand how consumers attribute, relate and perceive these innovative services. Scholarly research and existing literature aimed at ensuring the apprehension across the various aspects of these mobile applications and platform is imperative. So as to give insight on how consumer behavior is appreciated with regards to the use of these Food Delivery Application (FDAs) and Online Food Deliveries (OFDs). Nevertheless, there is a crucial need to apprehend the ever evolving nature of these technologies and the dynamic nature of consumer behavior related to FDAs and OFDs that elicit a continuous scholarly overview into ascertaining an enriched accumulation of research jeered at facilitating a better and enriched understanding of the ever-changing area of food commerce. Since extensive similar research predominantly in the global markets spanning across Americas, Middle East, and Europe have been propounded to highlight the remarkably impetus the said food market through FDAs and OFDs have for significant investment (Hirschberg et al., 2016). In the wake of the global manner of how business is now conducted through online-to-offline all contained around deliveries, notably the food commerce of offering food and services (Roh and Park, 2019). This study seeks to stray from the convention of merely studying the consumer’s attribute and behavior towards these food delivery applications and the impact e-service, customer loyalty and food quality thereof (Suhartanto et al., 2019), but rather culminate a better insight of the acceptance of these food ordering and delivery platforms with the inherent awareness of the current global Corona Virus pandemic raging across the world and south-east Asia with emphasis to the country Malaysia. Inherent to the above research study one theory led is the consumer attitude and the end result aimed at leveling the intricacies of understanding the behavioral intention to use OFD services so as to investigate the notion of information system theory of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), serving as a framework to highlight the average consumers apprehension and acceptance and continuous use of these FDAs and OFDs. (Yeo et al., 2017). Alagoz and Hekimoglu (2012) also significantly explored the technology acceptance model ascertain the decision making processes entailed prior and during the online ordering of food through OFDS & FDAs while highlighting the consumers insight in this process as well as the role the theoretical model plays (Kang and Namkung, 2019a). Also , notable proposed study which hallmarks the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) has been implored to comprehend the psychological factors that be and their impact to the use of mobile diet apps for ordering food online (Okumus et al., 2018). Consequentially, this study seeks to merged the prior knowledge of consumer attitudes and behavior with insight of the cited Technology Acceptance Model so as to delve into an in-depth comprehension of how these two propound a better understanding of why consumers ought to use or will use FDAs or OFDs during this health safety and conscious era of the global Corona Pandemic.

PurposeThis research aims to explore the interactions of stakeholders in online food delivery (OFD) platforms, including restaurants, the delivery system and the platform, and the effect on total sales. In order to comprehensively analyze the service of stakeholders, the authors adopted the time duration which provides a unified metric for assessing service performance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model analysis to verify the interactions among restaurants, the delivery system, and the platform itself, and to assess their effects on the sales. Data were collected from one of the biggest OFD service platforms in China – Eleme.com.FindingsFirst, the findings confirmed that the service performance of restaurants, the delivery system and the platform itself influence one another. There is a bidirectional causality between food preparation time (FPT) and actual delivery time (ACDT), as well as between FPT and advance arrival time (ADAT), ACDT and ADAT. Second, the service performance of restaurants, the delivery system, and the platform itself all positively affect sales, thus demonstrating unidirectional causality.Originality/valueThe current research is a pioneering empirical study, as it confirms the dynamic interactions between participants in OFD platforms and the dynamic influence of their respective service performances on sales. The findings of this research have a number of implications for the management and operation of online food ordering and delivery platforms.

BackgroundOnline food delivery services (OFDS) enable individuals to conveniently access foods from any deliverable location. The increased accessibility to foods may have implications on the consumption of healthful or unhealthful foods. Concerningly, previous research suggests that OFDS offer an abundance of energy-dense and nutrient-poor foods, which are heavily promoted through deals or discounts.ObjectiveIn this paper, we describe the development of the DIGIFOOD dashboard to monitor the digitalization of local food environments in New South Wales, Australia, resulting from the proliferation of OFDS.MethodsTogether with a team of data scientists, we designed a purpose-built dashboard using Microsoft Power BI. The development process involved three main stages: (1) data acquisition of food outlets via web scraping, (2) data cleaning and processing, and (3) visualization of food outlets on the dashboard. We also describe the categorization process of food outlets to characterize the healthfulness of local, online, and hybrid food environments. These categories included takeaway franchises, independent takeaways, independent restaurants and cafes, supermarkets or groceries, bakeries, alcohol retailers, convenience stores, and sandwich or salad shops.ResultsTo date, the DIGIFOOD dashboard has mapped 36,967 unique local food outlets (locally accessible and scraped from Google Maps) and 16,158 unique online food outlets (accessible online and scraped from Uber Eats) across New South Wales, Australia. In 2023, the market-leading OFDS operated in 1061 unique suburbs or localities in New South Wales. The Sydney-Parramatta region, a major urban area in New South Wales accounting for 28 postcodes, recorded the highest number of online food outlets (n=4221). In contrast, the Far West and Orana region, a rural area in New South Wales with only 2 postcodes, recorded the lowest number of food outlets accessible online (n=7). Urban areas appeared to have the greatest increase in total food outlets accessible via online food delivery. In both local and online food environments, it was evident that independent restaurants and cafes comprised the largest proportion of food outlets at 47.2% (17,437/36,967) and 51.8% (8369/16,158), respectively. However, compared to local food environments, the online food environment has relatively more takeaway franchises (2734/16,158, 16.9% compared to 3273/36,967, 8.9%) and independent takeaway outlets (2416/16,158, 14.9% compared to 4026/36,967, 10.9%).ConclusionsThe DIGIFOOD dashboard leverages the current rich data landscape to display and contrast the availability and healthfulness of food outlets that are locally accessible versus accessible online. The DIGIFOOD dashboard can be a useful monitoring tool for the evolving digital food environment at a regional scale and has the potential to be scaled up at a national level. Future iterations of the dashboard, including data from additional prominent OFDS, can be used by policy makers to identify high-priority areas with limited access to healthful foods both online and locally.

Purpose of the study: This study examines how social media reviews affect service providers' brand perceptions, focusing on how positive and negative reviews impact consumer perceptions, trust, and loyalty. Through a comprehensive literature review and analysis of current trends, the study explores how social media reviews enhance or detract a brand's reputation. Methodology: A quantitative study methodology was employed to examine the impact of social media reviews on the perception of tourism service providers' brands.Out of the 148 firms approached for data collection, valid responses were obtained from 125 firms, indicating a response rate of approximately 84.5%. Principal Finding: Findings indicate that positive reviews significantly support brand image by increasing credibility and fostering consumer trust, while negative reviews can damage brand reputation but also offer opportunities for service recovery and improvement. Applications of the study: This research provides valuable insights for marketers and service providers looking to improve brand reputation and customer loyalty by navigating the complicated world of social media, this report offers insightful information. Novelty: The study is highly valuable for marketing strategies, as social media platforms and reviews have a powerful impact on effective marketing strategies.

Purpose: The outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 compelled consumers to abstain from dining out and instead use online food delivery (OFD) services. This study aims to examine the determinants of OFD sales in a restaurant during the COVID-19 crisis. Design/methodology/approach: We analyzed 139,812 restaurant-level credit card OFD transaction data from January 2019 to June 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. Findings: During COVID-19, many restaurants participated and experienced sales growth through the OFD platforms. On the demand side, the composition of customers using OFD services has changed, replacing the demand for dining out. Our estimation results show that the food category, customer composition ratio, and past performance significantly affected restaurants’ OFD revenue during the pandemic. Research limitations/implications: The results suggest implications for the restaurant industry responding to changing customer needs on OFD platforms. Restaurants with high-performing OFDs before the pandemic experienced higher sales during the pandemic period. The results imply that experiences to fit customers’ needs toward OFD are likely to help restaurants overcome the losses incurred due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Originality/value: This study empirically revealed the effect of store category, past performance, demographic, and geographical customer profile on OFD demand for external shocks such as COVID-19.

Online food ordering and delivery service are the platforms that provide a system and service to the consumer to order and buy food products from foodservice or restaurant operators. The service is an up-and-coming trend among Millennials and the trend has ballooned with the introduction of movement control order (MCO) due to the pandemic COVID-19. The consumer’s demand towards online food ordering and delivery service has increased markedly due to the prohibition of dine-in at restaurant premises. This study focuses on highlighting the factors that influence consumer’s intention to use online food ordering and delivery service. The survey questionnaires were distributed among 384 respondents that represent the customers of restaurants in Shah Alam, Selangor. Data analyses were conducted using SPSS and multiple regression analysis. Findings revealed that usefulness, ease of use, and consumer’s enjoyment are the factors that influence consumer’s intention to use online food ordering service and conclusively, usefulness is the most significant factor that affects consumer’s intention to order food via online food ordering and delivery service. The findings from this study are beneficial for foodservice or restaurant operators in improving their businesses and staying competitive. Recommendations for future studies are included based on the findings of this study.
 Keywords: consumer intention, consumer demands, online food ordering, service, restaurant operators

Di Indonesia, layanan pesan antar makanan atau online food delivery (OFD) terdiri dari 2 (dua) jenis yaitu OFD by Platform dan OFD by restaurant apps. Data menunjukkan bahwa pengguna layanan OFD by restaurant apps lebih unggul dari tahun ke tahun dibandingkan pengguna OFD by Platform. Hal ini membuktikan bahwa walaupun 2 (dua) jenis aplikasi ini berada di industri yang sama dan menyediakan layanan yang sama yaitu online food delivery (OFD) namun keduanya tetap memiliki perbedaan yang dipengaruhi oleh faktor-faktor tertentu. Penelitian bertujuan untuk menganalisis perbedaan Purchase Intention pada Aplikasi Online Delivery Food Berbasis Platform (Gofood, Grabfood dan Shopeefood) dan Restaurant (KFCKU, Pizza Hut Indonesia dan McDelivery) dengan melibatkan variable online customer review, Sales Promotion dan Website Quality serta variable intervening e-trust. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan 100 responden. Teknik pengumpulan sampel dalam penelitian ini menggunakan teknik purposive sampling. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif dan uji analisis jalur (path analysis). Hasil dalam penelitian ini menjelaskan terdapat pengaruh secara langsung antara Online Customer Review (X1) dan Website Quality (X3) terhadap E-Trust (Z) pada aplikasi OFD by Platform dan aplikasi OFD by restaurant. Pada OFD by Platform, tidak terdapat pengaruh secara langsung antara Sales Promotion (X2) dan Website Quality (X3) terhadap Purchase Intention (Y). Pada OFD by restaurant, tidak terdapat pengaruh secara langsung antara Online Customer Review (X1) dan Sales Promotion (X2) terhadap Purchase Intention (Y). Selain itu, terdapat pengaruh secara tidak langsung antara Online Customer Review (X1) dan Website Quality (X3) terhadap Purchase Intention (Y) melalui E-Trust (Z).

Now a day the technology innovation has changed a consumer habits specifically rabidly increase the food eating habits, after covid 19 online food ordering methods more influence to the consumer. It has transformed our daily routines, including how we order food. The concept of online food ordering was pioneered by Zomato, which was established in 2008.and evolved from a restaurant directory to a food delivery service. Competing with Swiggy was founded in the year of 2014. Pursued by more online food ordering and delivering platforms are introduced. While traditional dining services provided by various restaurants and hotels continue to dominate, the emergence of online food delivery is rapidly gaining traction. This shift is especially noticeable in urban centers across India. Therefore, this study aims to examine the rising preference for online food delivery in emerging cities like Erode and the key determinants driving this transformation.

PurposeFood service establishments and online food delivery companies use a revenue share model based on a commission rate. Because of the asymmetry of bargaining power, many food service establishments are vulnerable to a high commission rate. What is missing in the ongoing discussion about the revenue share model is the perspective of food consumers, who are the third party in the multi-sided market.Design/methodology/approachWithin a willingness-to-pay (WTP) framework, we study if food consumers have preferences for the commission rate charged by food delivery companies to food service establishments. With 456 random consumers in the United States, we conduct a controlled experiment in which information is used as treatment in two groups. In the first group, the provided information only relates to the revenue share model (i.e. economic). In the second group, participants also received information about price control initiatives (i.e. economic and political).FindingsBased on WTP-space mixed logit model results, there is a significant effect of information on preferences for the commission rate. While participants in the control group exhibited no aversion to the commission rate, participants who received treatment had a significant and negative WTP. The magnitude of the effect is estimated at -$1.08 for participants in the first treatment and -$2.28 for participants in the second treatment.Originality/valueTo date there is no applied research on the preferences of consumers in the online food order and delivery industry with respect to upstream conditions (i.e. commission rates).

The gig economy has seen exponential growth in recent years with online food delivery (OFD) services emerged as a prominent segment. Online food delivery (OFD) platforms offer a wide range of cousins from different restaurants, convenience, financial benefits like coupons and discounts which are the main factors of its popularity. Due to this popular trend, researchers are also interests in doing research in this field. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis to map global research patterns in the domain of online food delivery within the gig economy. Using a systematic search on dimension.ai database, 335 publications from 1994 to December, 2024 were extracted using the key terms like “gig economy”, “gig”, “food delivery”, “online food delivery”, and “OFD” to analyze key trends, influential authors, leading journals, most cited articles and dominant research countries. For bibliometric analysis, networks of collaboration and thematic clusters visualization bibliometric tool i.e. VOSviewer software and MS-Excel were used. The results of this study highlighted that the number of publications has increased since 2019-20 and in the publication patterns regional differences were observed, with Asia and North America contributed the most research. This study has also a limitation that the data extraction source (dimension.ai, an open access database) may not contain high quality literature in comparison with Scopus and Web of Science database. However, by providing a comprehensive overview of existing research, this bibliometric study served as a foundation for future investigations into online food delivery within the gig economy. KEYWORDS- Gig Economy, Gig Work, Online Food Delivery, Digital Revolution, Bibliometric Analysis

Online Food Delivery is a food delivery service carried out by an application that serves online ordering, the use of online food delivery is very popular among Indonesian people such as students or university students. This research is a study conducted to find out "the influence of a consumptive lifestyle and Online Food Delivery. The method used in this study is a quantitative method using Google form. We conducted research on Digital Technology University students with a research sample of 39 respondents from semester III - V semester students of the Digital Technology University management study program aged between 20-23 years. The technique in collecting data uses a questionnaire technique which contains questions about the Online Food Delivery platform then the results of the information are analyzed using a descriptive qualitative method. The results of the research show that there is a significant correlation and influence between Online Food Delivery on consumptive behavior actually 46.2% meaning that Online Food Delivery has an effect positive and significant impact on consumptive behavior among students in using the Online Food Delivery platform, besides that consumptive behavior of students is shown to female students which cannot be avoided without awareness to be wise in using the Online Food Delivery platform. Furthermore, the average student does Online Food Delivery because it is practical, there are lots of promos and invitations from friends to buy food that is currently viral. Keywords: Consumptive Behavior, Food, Platform, Students ,Technology

Background and Purpose: The increase of mobile phone usage in Malaysia had contributed to the increasing habit of purchasing food through online food delivery (OFD) service platforms. Sensory marketing is a conceptual strategy that helps to appeal to human five senses. It is utilized as promotion made on social media using ads or attractive photos in order to attract customers to order food through the social media platform. This study aims to investigate the role of sensory marketing (sight and touch) and perceived benefits (convenience and product variety) to predict university students’ online food delivery (OFD) usage intention. Methodology: Structural equation modelling is used to accomplish the objectives of this study with the analyses of 400 university students who were surveyed through Google form application. Findings: The findings concluded that both sensory marketing and perceived benefits influence university students’ OFD usage intention. The strongest predictor of OFD usage intention among students is ‘touch’ element representing sensory marketing followed by convenience (perceived benefits), product variety (perceived benefits) and sight (sensory marketing). Contributions: The findings contribute to the relevant literature by improving the knowledge of online food delivery (OFD) usage intention and it may be beneficial to the foodservice providers for continuous improvement of their business. Keywords: Sensory marketing, perceived benefits, online food delivery app. Cite as: Shun Han, K., Abdul Rais, A. R., Tamby Chik, C., & Jaafar, S. N. (2024). University students’ online food delivery (OFD) usage intention: Investigating the role of sensory marketing and perceived benefits. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 9(2), 297-317. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol9iss2p297-317

PurposeWhile the usage of social media reviews has become increasingly popular in recent years, few studies in this context of Bangladesh have investigated its impact on restaurant visit intention. Therefore, this study aims to explain the role of attitude toward social media reviews in customers' restaurant visit intention from the perspective of Bangladesh. In doing so, predictors of attitude toward social media reviews were also ascertained and their indirect effects on restaurant visit intention were investigated.Design/methodology/approachA survey questionnaire was administered to 300 university students. A six-factor based measurement model was proposed, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in testing the hypotheses represented by the model. Furthermore, a focus group discussion with 12 respondents was also held to assess how negative reviews on social media affect the customers' restaurant visit intention.FindingsThis study reveals that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trustworthiness and information quality of social media reviews are positively related to attitude toward using positive social media reviews for choosing a restaurant. Furthermore, attitude toward positive social media reviews directly contributes to the intention to visit restaurants. Besides, attitude toward social media reviews fully mediates the relationship of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and trustworthiness with restaurant visit intention, whereas it partially mediates the relationship between information quality and restaurant visit intention. Besides, results from focus group discussion revealed that customers typically trust negative reviews which reduce their intent to visit restaurants.Research limitations/implicationsThe samples chosen for this study belong only to a particular stratum of the population (students from a specific institution/university). Hence, the outcomes should be generalized with caution.Practical implicationsThis study provides practical guidelines for the restaurant marketers to formulate improved strategic decisions by tracking the restaurant customers' attitudes, behavioral intentions, sentiments and share of voice on social media platforms. The results of this study will encourage the restaurant marketers to build sustainable relationships with influential food bloggers to spawn positive electronic word of mouth (e-WOM).Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies in Bangladesh that have covered up a timely and untouched research area, providing empirical evidence regarding the effects of attitude toward social media reviews on restaurant visit intent in the context of a South Asian country like Bangladesh.