Enhancing the usage of mobile food delivery applications special reference to cloud kitchens

Abstract

The growing popularity of online food delivery in India, driven by lifestyle changes and extensive use of mobile phones and internet, has resulted in an increased presence of food aggregators and cloud kitchen-based mobile food delivery services. Given the novelty of cloud kitchens, there is very little information available on the factors and drivers of consumer use of such services. There is, thus, a critical need to understand the factors that influence consumersand#8223; intentions to use and their actual use of kitchen-based mobile food delivery apps. A deductive approach is followed in this research. In this work, ten hypotheses were framed based on a survey of literature and a quantitative approach was used to examine the factors that affect the behaviour intention and use of cloud kitchen-based mobile food delivery apps. A theoretical model was developed and data was collected using an online questionnaire survey. Fifty responses were obtained during the pilot phase and 674 in the final phase. The collected data were analysed using SPSS and AMOS. All ten hypotheses were supported, with four factors facilitating conditions, social influence, online coupons and various food choices being the most influential ones in determining user intention to use cloud kitchen-based mobile food delivery apps. The other factors performance expectancy, effort expectancy, online rating and delivery experience also impacts the behavior intention towards cloud kitchen- based mobile food delivery apps. The moderating effect of health consciousness in the relationships were also tested. It was found that health consciousness have a negative effect on intention towards and use of cloud kitchen-based mobile food delivery apps. The contributions of this research include identification and understanding of the factors that induce or inhibit cloud kitchens use among users of mobile-based food delivery apps. The results from this research help cloud kitchen operators and mobile food delivery aggregators address the factors that would enha