A Review of Psychological Factors Contributing to University Students’ Usage of Online Food Delivery Services During Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Online food delivery (OFD) services are increasingly common in Malaysia. Many people are drawn to use OFD in their daily lives because of its benefits for customers. Consumers have the option of ordering food online and using a delivery service rather than doing so in person. People from all walks of life are able to order food with just one click from their gadgets in the information technology (IT) era. A developing new trend in Malaysia's food and beverage business is online food delivery (OFD). Online food ordering has replaced eating out, which is no longer solely limited to takeout and dining out. The development of online food delivery services may be ascribed to the evolving urban customer. Even though OFD services are significant and Malaysian consumers' attitudes toward them are changing, research on the factors that influence university students' attitudes toward OFD services is scarce. There was little use of online food delivery services during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Hence, customers' constantly shifting demographics have necessitated adjustments in marketing strategies, particularly in the area of food ordering and delivery. The way customers interact with merchants has changed significantly, notably in the area of ready food. However, some restaurants have been compelled to change their business models to adopt creative strategies for Online Food Delivery (OFD) services as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. This paper seeks to study the factors contributing to university students' usage towards online food delivery service during Covid-19 pandemic. A quantitative approach was used in this study. Questionnaires used to collect the data from all respondents via Google Form. The respondents were university students aged 18 to 24 who used online food delivery services during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with the number of samples as many as 360 people. Therefore, Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) will be used to evaluate the research data. Finally, this study can be applied and extended to determine factors contributing to university students’ usage towards OFDS during the new normal of COVID-19 in other countries. Moreover, the results found how online food delivery services had an impact on service providers in giving excellent service and fulfil their customers' desires.

Keywords: Online food delivery (OFD), perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, social influence