Examining consumers' continuance and sharing intention toward food delivery apps

Abstract

Purpose A food delivery app (FDA) is a technological advancement connecting restaurants and consumers, making it possible to deliver food home conveniently. The current study seeks to identify the factors affecting consumers' continuance intention and sharing intention toward the FDA in the USA and Canada using an integrated framework built using trust transfer theory and a variety of constructs. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected data/inputs from 476 respondents in the USA and Canada who had used FDAs in the past and analyzed them using the structural equation modeling technique. Findings The results indicate that trust in FDA, trust in the user community and commitment affect continuance intention and sharing intention. Interestingly, trust in the seller does not influence commitment, continuance intention and sharing intention. Additionally, the trust disposition and reputation of the FDA play an important role in building trust in FDA. Research limitations/implications The present study combines the trust transfer theory with various important constructs such as commitment, trust disposition and reputation of the FDA to build an integrated framework to elucidate the continuance intention and sharing intention toward FDAs. Practical implications This study facilitates the FDA providers to understand how trust disposition, the reputation of the FDA and trust in the Internet build trust among FDA consumers. The study also helps them to fine-tune their trust-building strategy by considering several trust targets. It further enables them to appreciate how commitment results in continuance intention and sharing intention toward FDA. Originality/value It is an original study investigating the role of various constructs and trust transfer theory in shaping the consumers' continuance intention and sharing intention toward the FDA.