Exploring young people's online food shopping behavior during the COVID-19 epidemic in China

ABSTRACT

The sudden escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic contributes to Chinese young people's online food shopping behavior changes. Because of the government decree restricting going out and further outbreaks of COVID-19, young people select e-shopping, which offers contactless payments and delivery, to avoid risks. Furthermore, young people prefer to purchase food such as snacks or raw materials online to get rid of boredom. With the occurrence of COVID- 19, this chapter aims to explore Chinese young customers' online food shopping behavior, including types of products, the quantity of products, frequency of purchases by using food delivery apps during this time. Considering Information Quality, Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and UTAUT 2, eight main variables, including information quality, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, hedonic motivation, price value, and habit, are used to indicate customers' continuous intention of applying takeaway delivery apps as mediums. Based on the 203 survey results, the Chinese young people's online food shopping behavior using food delivery apps has been examined. The findings provide practical cases for the e-commerce and catering industry to predict or prepare emergency plans. It can primarily reduce the reaction time and can have a specific prevention ability to solve force majeure, such as coronavirus diseases. This research can help to reduce the loss of the e- commerce and catering industry, especially food retailers, by understanding customers' online purchasing behavior during epidemic diseases. © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Berlin 2021. All rights reserved.