International Journal of Hospitality Management 77 (2019) 108–116

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Hospitality Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhm

Differences in perceptions about food delivery apps between single-person T

and multi-person households
⁎
Meehee Choa, Mark A. Bonnb, Jun (Justin) Lic,
a
College of Hotel and Tourism Management, Kyung Hee University, 26, Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea
b
Dedman School of Hospitality, Florida State University, B4104 University Center, 288 Champions Way, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
c
School of Tourism Management, South China Normal University, Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, China, 510006

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The growth in mobile communications is a significant reason attributed to the O2O commerce explosion in
Food delivery apps China. Mobile applications have seized this opportunity adapting it to restaurants and food delivery services,
Mobile application quality attributes recognized as an alternative strategy to increase sales revenue and for consumers to conveniently receive pro-
User-perceived value ducts and services. This study was designed to specifically explore five salient quality attributes representing
Single-person households and multi-person
convenience, design, trustworthiness, price, and various food choices associated with food delivery apps in
households
consideration of their impacts upon user-perceived value, attitudes and intention to continuously use. Results
determined that user trustworthiness was the most important quality attribute of the food delivery app business.
Additionally, this study found that single-person households placed most importance upon quality attributes for
‘various food choices,’ ‘price’ and ‘trustworthiness.’ Comparatively, multi-person households placed most im-
portance upon ‘design,’ ‘convenience,’ and ‘trustworthiness.’ Managerial implications, limitations and re-
commendations for future research are provided.

1. Introduction percent of the population subscribing to a mobile service. In addition,

Rapid advances and developments in electronic commerce has
brought with it many changes to those traditional practices within the
work environment from which a new e-commerce model, called online
to offline (O2O) has now emerged (Liu et al., 2017a, b). Recognized as
O2O, this common symbol describes a platform allowing customers to
purchase a wide range of products or services online or from physical
brick-and-mortar stores (Li and Mo, 2015). This cost-effective solution
connects offline business opportunities with the Internet or enterprise
network, and makes the Internet become a fully integrated, compre-
hensive, and advanced e-trading platform (Chen et al., 2016). Managers
and markets have attempted to utilize the O2O business mode to attract
more online browsers to their physical offline stores by providing better
shopping environments equipped with convenience, a user-friendly
design and a vast variety of products and service choices (Hubert et al.,
2017).
According to the mobile economy report released by the Global
Association of Mobile Operators (GSMA), due to the ubiquity of
smartphones and high-speed connectivity, during 2017 the number of
global mobile phone users surpassed five billion. The report also
documented that Europe had the highest mobile penetration with 86
North America accounted for 292 million subscribers, but Asia was the
region with the most number of mobile subscribers (2765 million).
With the proliferation of smartphones and tablets, China accounts for
more than one billion of the world’s total mobile service subscribers
(GSMA, 2017). Thus, the ability for ease of and growth in mobile
communications is one of the most significant reasons for having led to
the O2O commerce explosion in China during recent years. Currently, a
very hot topic with O2O business managers in China involves how they
are examining their customers and in particular, what determinants
goes into their customers’ purchasing processes when selecting service
providers across numerous communication and sales channels, to begin
providing a variety of location-based services based on the penetration
of mobile applications and transaction scales of online retail markets
(Du and Tang, 2014). As a representative example, China’s emerging
“Internet Plus” catering businesses, featuring O2O food delivery ser-
vices has been undergoing an explosive growth period (Pressreader,
2017). Consequently, the food delivery service niche using mobile apps
has become a rapidly growing trend among Chinese take-out restau-
rants as a convenient way to allow those businesses to increase sales
revenue (Pressreader, 2017). Growing numbers of mobile users are
tapping into their smart phones or tablets to order food on major

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: chom2h2@khu.ac.kr (M. Cho), mbonn@dedman.fsu.edu (M.A. Bonn), justinli83@scnu.edu.cn (J.J. Li).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.06.019
Received 20 February 2018; Received in revised form 15 June 2018; Accepted 15 June 2018
Available online 19 June 2018
0278-4319/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Cho et al.
delivery apps such as Eleme, Meituan, Baidu, and Koubei Take out,
which makes it possible to order food from their favorite restaurants
right to their doorstep with just a few easy clicks. Food delivery app
businesses in China have been booming and now have become the ul-
timate platform for generating leads and increasing revenue (Li, 2017).
This major transformation in the way consumers are now beginning
to order food has already begun in many other countries. For example,
during 2017 in the US, when the population was about 320 million
persons, it was reported that about 95% of the entire restaurant de-
livery market still placed orders using paper menus. Additionally, at
that same time, an overall 80% of all total US restaurants did not even
offer a delivery menu option. However, in Los Angeles, California,
restaurants that began partnering with food delivery apps then, saw
their sales revenues rise on average, from 3% to 35%, or between
200–250 new orders per week. Managers today refer to the food app
delivery system in the US as “ghost kitchens,” because it is able to
generate so many more guests each week for their restaurants without
the need for them to incur the additional expense of having to invest in
a second property, or even having to add more dining space. In fact, the
big trend now in the US with food delivery app businesses has begun to
expand into much more than restaurant food delivery services. Food
delivery apps such as Postmates will now even deliver alcohol to your
door in 90 US cities. Sources predict that in 2–3 years, food delivery
apps will become as core to a US restaurant’s business as the take-out
windows are to the fast-food restaurant business (Lien, 2017). Thus, if
the opportunity for food delivery apps is ripe in the US, one can only
imagine what it would be like in China with its population of 1.4 billion
citizens.
Consumers share different preferences and priorities when it comes
to food. They also may hold different expectations regarding the quality
and services of specific food delivery apps, and further, may have dif-
ferent opinions about their levels of perceived value pertaining to using
those food delivery apps. To our knowledge, no relevant study has yet
to explore what represents those important quality attributes pertaining
to food delivery apps. Nor has any research to date, tested how those
quality attributes associated with food delivery apps affect user per-
ceptions and their behavioral intentions to use, re-use, and/or re-
commend those products and services to others. Hence, this study was
designed to specifically explore the most salient quality attributes as-
sociated with food delivery apps in consideration of their impacts upon
user-perceived value, attitudes and intention to continuously use and
recommend to others (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Research framework.
109
International Journal of Hospitality Management 77 (2019) 108–116
In China, changing household demographics could be a primary
reason attributed to the sudden increase in popularity for food delivery
apps, as the fastest-growing household segment is now represented by
individuals, or single-person households. Multi-person households
(more than one person per household), are no longer the majority de-
mographic segment in China. This is attributed to four factors that in-
clude: an ageing population, a documented decline in household mar-
riages, a remarkable fall in total fertility rates and a continued pattern
of Chinese citizens migrating internally from rural to urban areas
seeking improved employment opportunities (Yeung and Cheung,
2015). By 2020, China and India will soon lead the world in having the
highest numbers of single-person households (Euromonitor
International, 2012). Because of these generational factors, the reali-
zation that certain challenges face specific social groups of single-
person households is a certainty. Many single-households representing
consumers of older generations are particularly vulnerable and subject
to medical and social issues involving subsidized health care, welfare,
and housing (Podhisita and Xenos, 2015). On a more positive note, the
issue regarding single-person households representing younger gen-
erations of consumers has presented practitioners, scholars and espe-
cially the restaurant industry, an amazing opportunity to identify those
needs, and then develop new growth strategies, processes and practices
for an industry that has historically worked on small profit margins.
Single-person households representing younger generations of
consumers demanding home delivery via food apps has opened the door
to new ideas regarding product design and promotion in order to meet
the needs of these younger, tech-savvy individuals (Yeung and Cheung,
2015). As a result of the single-person household consumer’s lifestyle,
products and services developed and offered by the food service in-
dustry have been forced to either adapt to change, or decline into ir-
relevance. Thus, new products have been developed for the single-fa-
mily household consumer market to satisfy their needs representing
smaller, individually-portioned sized, fully cooked items, offered at
local convenience stores as packed, replacement boxed lunches (Jung,
2016). This is a result of research that found although single-person
households were found to do less grocery shopping, they were identi-
fied as using more food delivery services to order food (Lehmann,
2016). Thus, food purchasing and consuming patterns may differ sig-
nificantly between single-person and multi-person households. Single-
person household food app users and their perceptions and preferences
about food delivery app quality attributes may be significantly different
from multi-person household food delivery app users. Therefore, this
M. Cho et al.
study was designed to determine whether or not the effects of food
delivery app quality upon user-perceived value would be significantly
different between two specific user groups, representing single-person
and multi-person households.
2. Theoretical framework and hypotheses
Mobile apps are becoming a powerful way for business of all sizes to
reach potential consumers. A statistical report by App Annie (2017)
revealed that the average Chinese person accesses close to 40 apps per
month, surpassing those averages of other nations including the U.S.,
India and France. Gaming and entertainment apps followed by life
service apps and e-commerce apps are the three most popular app store
categories available for download (Business Insider, 2017). Among
them, food delivery related apps are becoming one of the most booming
e-commerce apps (Pressreader, 2017).
According to a 2016 report released by the Daxue consulting firm,
27.7 year-old, white-collar Chinese consumers are recognized as the
major group (63%) among the food delivery app users (Daxue
Consulting, 2016). Many of them are Chinese millennials whom spend
little time cooking for themselves, favor ordering food or eating out.
Students represent the second largest group (30.5%). The three most
popular food delivery apps include Eleme, Meituan, and Baidu Waimai,
which dominate over 80% of the business in China (Alltechasia, 2017).
The food app market has become a recent battleground for many new
start-up food delivery app companies seeking an opportunity for growth
by exploring and developing unique business models (Alltechasia,
2017). Thus, operators and their food app vendors need to focus on
maximizing the food app’s ease of service, utility, and product attri-
butes deemed most important by consumers.
2.1. Food delivery application quality attributes and the effects upon the
user-perceived value
Mobile apps are software especially designed for small, hand-held
portable devices, like tablets and smartphones, and are some of the
fastest growing sectors of downloadable enterprise applications/soft-
ware markets (Stoyanov et al., 2015). Especially because the rapid
development and proliferation of smartphone apps tends to occur
among critical domains of businesses commonly affiliated with e-pro-
curement, government, healthcare and foodservice, one research study
has documented that the most important success factor of mobile apps
is to ensure their product quality (Magrath and McCormick, 2013).
Product quality is assessed based on customer judgment concerning
the overall excellence or superiority of that product (Zeithaml, 1988).
One study by Kim and Cha (2002) has empirically identified that con-
sumers tend to rely on different information sources to confirm product
quality and enhance the likelihood of purchasing in an e-commerce
context. However, compared with the in-store shopping experience,
where service providers stand readily available to assist consumers lo-
cate products and answer questions about those items, the e-commerce
environment offers limited product information to consumers prior to
the transaction (Chen and Dubinsky, 2003). Supporting this, Lee and
Kozar (2006) argued that measuring product quality under the e-busi-
ness environment is not intrinsically objective in nature, but rather is
closely related to user-subjective perception. With the popular usage of
wireless handheld devices such as tablets and smart phones, increas-
ingly more businesses sell their goods and services via mobile apps
(Magrath and McCormick, 2013). Mobile apps are purchased or
downloaded through app stores which users can then rate and review.
Thus, user ratings and reviews are one of the most important triggers
for app discoverability and installs, and have now become core metrics
to gauge success (Khalid et al., 2015).
Scholars and practitioners tend to agree that identifying appropriate
quality attributes of mobile apps should be fully based upon the user-
evaluation and have begun to investigate what mobile app quality
110
International Journal of Hospitality Management 77 (2019) 108–116
attributes would be important to drive installs, boost adoption and gain
customer loyalty. As an example, Handel (2011) identified five essential
quality attributes that included ‘ease of use,’ ‘reliability,’ ‘information
quality’, information scope,’ and ‘aesthetics’ based upon user ratings of
35 health and well-being mobile apps. Another study by Al Dmour et al.
(2014) assessed mobile app quality and its association with user sa-
tisfaction. In this study, mobile app quality attributes were categorized
into two groups: technology-oriented quality attributes (convenience,
mobile features, technical adequacy and assurance) and product or
service-oriented quality attributes (trustworthiness, competitive price,
allowing customers to choose more options or customizations on their
products). Another recent study highlighted the importance of devel-
oping an essential set of mobile app quality attributes representing
‘convenience,’ ‘design,’ and ‘trustworthiness,’ in order to improve the
user-friendly experience. ‘Convenience,’ representing assurance to ac-
cess and use a mobile app at any convenient time and place, has been
addressed to monitor mobile app quality (Liu et al., 2017a, b). Another
quality attribute, ‘design’ represents logical structures of mobile apps
involving usability, understandability, and operability that users need
to put effort into in order to use (Yang et al., 2004). One study by Kim
and Hwang (2012) highlighted the importance of mobile app design
especially in the e-commerce environment where users expect to fina-
lize all searching, ordering and purchasing processes in a few clicks.
Trustworthiness in mobile apps has been widely accepted as a critical
quality attribute based on the previous literature’s proposition that
user-trustworthiness toward mobile apps plays an important role upon
their decision-making for online purchasing, which further leads to
greater loyalty for using mobile apps (Nilashi et al., 2015).
Adopting Al Dmour et al. (2014)’s position, this study posits that
product or service-oriented quality attributes should be addressed when
examining quality attributes of food delivery apps and their impact
upon user-perceptions. Cho and Park (2001) previously identified “a
suitable selection of products/services with a fair and reasonable price”
as one of the major online quality attributes that influences users’ at-
titudes and behavior. Thus, these five quality attributes representing
‘offering a reasonable and competitive price,’ ‘allowing users to choose
a variety of food to order,’ ‘convenience,’ ‘design’ and ‘trustworthiness’
are expected to be essential in food delivery apps.
Perceived value is conceptualized as the ratio between perceived
benefits obtained and perceived sacrifices made by consumers
(Zeithaml, 1988). Value can be regarded as a trade-off of all salient give
and get components, which are perceived as the interactions between
relevant benefits and sacrifices (Sweeney and Soutar, 2001). Identifying
antecedents of perceived value has received considerable attention in
recent years (Kang et al., 2015). Researchers have regarded consumer
evaluations about product or service quality as one of the important
determinants of positive perceived value (Wang and Wang, 2010).
Supporting this, it is necessary for practitioners and academics alike to
understand how mobile consumers’ perceived app quality attributes
influence their perceived value. A positive link between the five di-
mensional attributes of food delivery app quality and user value per-
ception is then proposed in foodservice business setting as follows:
H1. Convenience quality of food delivery applications has a positive
relationship with user-perceived value.
H2. Design quality of food delivery applications has a positive
relationship with user-perceived value.
H3. Trustworthiness quality of food delivery applications has a positive
relationship with upon user-perceived value.
H4. Price quality of food delivery applications has a positive
relationship with user-perceived value.
H5. Various food choices of food delivery applications has a positive
relationship with user perceived value.
M. Cho et al.
2.2. Relationships between user-perceived value, attitudes and intention to
continuously use
Perceived value has gained research attention in recent years be-
cause it plays an important role in predicting consumers’ behavioral
intention from the attitudes toward a specific act (Nasution and
Mavondo, 2008). From the standpoint of strategic marketing, creating
superior customer value (better benefits versus price) for consumers
means meeting potential customers’ wants and needs, improving
buying experience, and increasing repeat purchases. When perceived
value is seen as an overall judgement of the relative value-weights to
different products, it can be expressed as the total benefits a consumer
obtained; thus it is considered as one of the major antecedents of cus-
tomer attitudes and repurchase intention (Chen and Hu, 2010).
The preceding overview of the literature has highlighted the ex-
istence of mechanisms between perceived value, customer attitudes,
and behavioral intention. Several empirical models have been proposed
and empirically tested specifically to understand the relationships
among these three variables across a wide range of industries including
tourism (Žabkar et al., 2010). It is believed that high product quality
results in a positive attitude for the product which ultimately leads to
referral marketing and word-of-mouth (Kang et al., 2015). With regard
to O2O commerce, mobile users are competent to make sound purchase
choices based on the perceived values towards the quality of mobile
apps (Magrath and McCormick, 2013). For example, consumers will
have more positive attitudes when their expectations toward these food
delivery apps are matched or exceeded by their perceived value.
Moreover, customer attitudes toward the food delivery apps and their
intention to continuously use are significantly associated. Thus, the
following hypotheses are proposed in the food delivery app business
setting:
H6. User-perceived value has a positive relationship with attitudes
towards food delivery applications.
H7. User-perceived value has a positive relationship with intention to
continuously use food delivery applications.
H8. Attitudes towards food delivery applications has a positive
relationship with intention to continuously use food delivery
applications.
2.3. Single-person vs. multi-person households in China
The growth rate of single-person households in the major Asian
countries has been one of the most striking demographic shifts and is
expected to increase dramatically due to rapid urbanization, migration,
aging and changing demographic behaviors (Podhisita and Xenos,
2015). Yeung and Cheung (2015) estimated that single-person house-
hold will increase in China in the next few decades due to its sheer
population size, the unique demographic changes, and rapid socio-
economic transformation. Kim et al. (2018) stated that industrialization
and internal migration largely explain the changing spatial variation of
single-person households in South Korea.
Recent research provides evidence supporting key differences exist
between single-person and multi-person households in terms of their
shopping beliefs and behaviors such as consumption patterns, life styles
and grocery shopping habits (Kim et al., 2018). In support of this, one
earlier study (Ezell and Russell, 1985) analyzed the responses of single-
person and multi-person households regarding shopping, eating, and
food preparation. Test results demonstrated that there were statistically
significant differences between the two groups’ food selection choices,
grocery shopping attitudes and behavior, and social, economic and
demographic characteristics. What was interesting in this study was
that the single-person household shopper was concerned with price,
product assortment and relatively high value on discounts compared
with the multi-house household shoppers. Thus, based on the
111
International Journal of Hospitality Management 77 (2019) 108–116
significant differences between the two groups in terms of their shop-
ping attitudes and behaviors, single-person and multi-person house-
holds might differ in their perception of food delivery app quality. In
addition, single-person households might perceive value differently
than multi-person households regarding food delivery apps. Based upon
the rationale provided above, this study proposes that a significant
difference in the effects of food delivery app quality attributes upon
user-perceived value exists between single-person and multi-person
households.
H9. The relationships of food delivery application quality attributes and
user-perceived value are significantly different between single-person
and multi-person households.
3. Method
3.1. Data collection and sampling
Data were collected between December 2017 and February 2018
from 311 shoppers intercepted at the four largest shopping centers lo-
cated in Guangzhou, China, the largest metropolitan city in South
China. Before initiating the formal phase of data collection, the research
team conducted an online pretest of the questionnaire with a panel of
15 graduate students, all of whom were validated as having had proven
experience with ordering food using food delivery apps, in order to
check for ambiguities or vague items. A research team, led by one re-
searcher, and staffed by research assistants from a local university,
conducted semi- structured interviews with a convenience sampling of
consumers who were each screened to confirm they had at least one
previous online food delivery ordering experience within the past 12
months. During the interview, the research team members used tablets
to type notes due to time and cost constraints.
Based upon this, minor changes in wording and format were made
to the final version of the questionnaire. The original English version of
the questionnaire was translated into Mandarin. To verify its adherence
to the original document, the final questionnaire was then translated
back to English by two independent translators. The confidence interval
procedure has been widely used to determine an adequate sample size
in business and marketing research. Using a proportion of 50% variance
in a population (Burns and Bush, 1995), the final sample included 311
participants based upon a 25% response rate and an unusable rate of
5%. In addition, the sample was divided into two groups. One group
was comprised of respondents who lived alone (single-person house-
holds, n = 116). The other group consisted of respondents who lived
with others (multi-person households, n = 169).
3.2. Socio-demographic characteristics and food delivery app usage
patterns: single-person vs. multi-person households
Table 1 presents socio-demographic characteristics and food de-
livery app usage patterns of the study respondents. Socio-demographic
information provided by respondents from single-person households
indicated they were mostly single (75.9%) males (51.7%), between
21–30 years old (82.8%), with some college or earned college degrees
(61.2%), and having incomes between RMB 6,000–8,999 per month
(25.9%). In comparison, multi-person household respondents were
described as being predominantly married (56.4%) males (53.3%) be-
tween 21–30 years old (69.2%), with some college or earned college
degrees (48.7%), having an average family size of three persons per
household (39.0%) and earning between RMB 6,000–8,999 per month
(32.3%).
When examining food application usage behavior characteristics of
single-person vs. multi-person household respondents, it was noted that
single-person households used the Mei Tuan Wai Mai Food App more
frequently than all others (36.2%). Food App users from single family
households, on average, used those various food apps 5–6 times per
M. Cho et al. International Journal of Hospitality Management 77 (2019) 108–116

Table 1
Socio-demographics and behavioral characteristics of food delivery application users.
Socio- demographic Single-person Multi- person User- behavior Single-person Multi-person
n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%)

Gender Application used the most

Male 60 (51.7%) 104 (53.3%) E Le Ma 38 (32.8%) 45 (23.1%)
Female 56 (48.3%) 91 (46.7%) Mei Tuan Wai Mai 42 (36.2%) 75 (38.5%)
Age Bai Du Wai Mai 29 (25.0%) 53 (27.2%)
21 – 30 96 (82.8%). 135 (69.2%) Kou Bei Wai Mai 7 (6.0%) 22 (11.3%)
31 – 40 13 (11.2%) 48 (24.6%) Monthly usage frequency
41 – 50 4 (3.4%) 10 (5.1%) 1-2 times 4 (3.4%) 6 (3.1%)
51 – 60 3 (2.6%) 2 (1.0%) 3-4 times 24 (20.6%) 65 (33.2%)
Marital Status 5-6 times 74 (63.7%) 101 (51.8%)
Married 28 (24.1%) 110 (56.4%) 7-8 times 12 (10.3%) 19 (9.8%)
Unmarried 88 (75.9%) 85 (43.6%) 9 times or more 2 (1.7%) 4 (2.1%)
Educational level Place used the most
High school graduate 30 (25.9%) 66 (33.8%) At home 74 (63.8%) 103 (52.8%)
Some college/College degree 71 (61.2%) 95 (48.7%) At school 11 (9.5%) 17 (8.7%)
Graduate studies/Graduate degree 15 (12.9%) 34 (17.4%) At work 20 (17.2%) 42 (21.5%)
Family size Others (park, stadium) 11 (9.5%) 33 (16.9%)
1 person, alone 116 (100.0%) – Monthly spending
2 persons – 62 (31.8%) < RMB 500 4 (3.7%) 10 (5.1%)
3 persons – 76 (39.0%) RMB 500 – 999 33 (26.6%) 65 (29.3%)
4 persons or more – 57 (29.2%) RMB 999 – 1499 77 (66.3%) 124 (63.7%)
Monthly income RMB 1500 ≤ 5 (1.7%) 4 (2.1%)
< RMB 3000 48 (41.4%) 27 (13.8%) Time used the most
RMB 3000 – 5,999 19 (16.4%) 53 (27.2%) 11am-2pm 55 (47.4%) 104 (53.4%)
RMB 6000 – 8999 30 (25.9%) 63 (32.3%) 5pm-8pm 41 (35.4%) 63 (31.7%)
RMB 9000 – 11,999 15 (12.9%) 45 (23.0%) 9pm-midnight 20 (17.2%) 28 (14.4%)
RMB 12,000 ≤ 4 (2.5%) 7 (3.6%)

Table 2
Results of confirmatory factory analysis.
Constructs Standardized CCR AVE Cronbach’s α
Factor loadings

Convenience .866 .722 .810

Using the food delivery app would be convenient for me .802
The food delivery app would allow me to order food any time .878
The food delivery app would allow me to order food any place .866
Design .912 .776 .856
The food delivery app’s structure is logical and easy to follow .881
The food delivery app’s design is concise and easy to understand .855
All the terms and conditions (e.g., payment, warranty) of the food delivery app are easy to read/ understand .907
Trustworthiness .879 .709 .793
I trust the food delivery app .783
I felt secure in ordering food through the food delivery app .867
The information provided by the food delivery app is reliable .872
Price .889 .728 .814
When I order food through the delivery app, the food is a good product for the price .877
When I order food through the delivery app, the food is economical. .849
When I order food through the delivery app, the food is reasonably priced .833
Various food choices .886 .722 .809
The food delivery app offers a variety of restaurant choices .891
The food delivery app offers a variety of food choices .845
I can order food with a wide range of prices through the food delivery app .812
Perceived value .870 .691 .777
I feel I am getting good food products with a reasonable price when I use the food delivery app .844
Using the food delivery app is worthy for me to devote my time and efforts .824
Compared with conventional food purchasing ways, it is wise to use the food delivery app .826
Attitudes towards food delivery apps .824 .611 .745
Using the food delivery app is useful .850
I am strongly in favor of ordering food through the delivery app .784
I desire to use the delivery app when I purchase food .705
Intent to continuously use food delivery apps .839 .634 .712
I intend to use the food delivery app .806
If I have an opportunity, I will order food through the delivery app .893
I intend to keep ordering food through the delivery app .790

Notes: χ2 = 290 df = 224 (p < 0.001), CFI = 0.974, GFI = 0.930, TLI = 0.967, RMSEA = 0.031; CCR = composite construct reliability; AVE = average variance
extracted.

112
M. Cho et al.
month (63.7%), at home (63.8%), spending an average of RMB
999–1499 per month (66.3%) typically between 11 a.m.−2 pm.
(47.4%) when doing so. Similarly, multi-person households also used
the Mei Tuan Wai Mai Food App more frequently than all others
(38.5%). Food app users from multi-person households, on average,
used those various apps 5–6 times per month (51.8%), at home
(52.8%), spending an average of RMB 999–1499 per month (63.7%),
typically between 11 a.m.−2 pm. (53.4%) when doing so.
Interesting to note was that both single and multi-family household
food delivery app users are skewed toward younger males having a
college education. Both groups prefer the Mei Tuan Wai Mai app over
all others, and both groups order between 5–6 times per month at
home, spending between RMB 999-1499 and ordering between 11am-
2pm. According to a survey conducted in November 2016, 20% of U.S.
respondents reported that they use a food delivery app once per week,
and 48% of them said that they enjoy using food delivery app services
“very much” (Statista, 2016). The same report documented that young
males were found to use food delivery app services more frequently
than females.
3.3. Measures
The survey instrument was developed to test the study’s hypothe-
sized relationships through a comprehensive literature review process.
The first five sections of the survey were designed to examine user
perceptions of the food delivery app quality composed of five attributes
representing: convenience, design, trustworthiness, price, and various
food choices. A total of 15 items were used to assess these dimensions
based upon Yang et al. (2004) and Al Dmour et al. (2014). Respondents
were asked to provide a specific name of the food delivery app that they
have used the most, and then to assess those five quality attributes
associated with it. The next section of the survey instrument was de-
veloped to evaluate ‘perceived value’ for using the food delivery app by
employing three items based upon Sweeney and Soutar (2001). The last
two survey sections assessed user attitudes towards the food delivery
app and intention to continuously use them by employing six items
(three per each construct) based upon Lu et al. (2005). All of the study’s
constructs were measured on a seven-point Likert scale (1= “strongly
disagree” and 7 = “strongly agree”) (see Table 2).
The final survey instrument included items to examine the re-
spondents’ socio-demographics (gender, age, marital status, education
level, family size, occupation and monthly income) and their behavioral
patterns in terms of frequency of using the food delivery app, monthly
spending on the food delivery app, and where and when they used the
food delivery apps).
4. Results
4.1. Validity and reliability of measurements
A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to validate
internal and external consistency of the study’s constructs. Internal
consistency among the measures within each construct was supported
by Cronbach’s α coefficients ranging from 0.712 to 0.856 (Nunnally,
1978). As seen in Table 2, the CFA results found a satisfactory goodness
of fit indices (χ2/df = 1.368, CFI = 0.965, IFI = 0.966, TLI = 0.959,
RMSEA = 0.034) (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). All factor loadings
(greater than 0.70), average variance extracted (AVE) (greater than
0.50), and composite construct reliability (CCR) (greater than 0.70)
were considered acceptable (Fornell and Larcker, 1981). Thus, con-
vergent validity and reliability of the study constructs were supported.
The means, standard deviations and correlations are presented in
Table 3. The five attributes of food delivery app quality were positively
corrected with user-perceived value, attitudes and intention to con-
tinuously use. User-perceived value was also positively correlated with
attitudes and intention to continuously use. All square root of AVEs
113
International Journal of Hospitality Management 77 (2019) 108–116
ranging from 0.781 to 0.881, were greater than those correlation
coefficients among the constructs. Thus, discriminant validity of the
constructs was supported (Fornell and Larcker, 1981).
4.2. Results of testing hypotheses 1 through 8
Structural equation modeling (SEM) was developed to simulta-
neously test our hypothesized relationships between the eight con-
structs. The overall fit of the SEM met the appropriate levels (χ2/
df = 1.368, p < 0.01, CFI = 0.965, GFI = 0.923, TLI = 0.959,
RMSEA = 0.034) (Fornell and Larcker, 1981).
Hypotheses 1 through 8 were first tested. Results are illustrated in
Fig. 2. Among the five quality attributes of food delivery apps, four
quality attributes (convenience, design, trustworthiness, and various
food choices) were found to have a significant and positive effect upon
user-perceived value. In particular, the quality attribute of trust-
worthiness had the most positive influence upon user-perceived value
(β = 0.233, p = 0.002), followed by design (β = 0.200, p = 0.006),
various food choices (β = 0.169, p = 0.012), and convenience
(β = 0.152, p = 0.021). However, the price attribute had no significant
influence on user-perceived value (β = 0.096, p = 0.143). Hence, hy-
potheses 1, 2, 3, and 5 were supported, but hypothesis 4 was not sup-
ported.
In addition, hypotheses 6, 7, and 8, expecting the positive re-
lationships between user-perceived value, attitudes toward using food
delivery applications, and intention to continuously use were tested.
Results found that user-perceived value significantly led to positive
attitudes (β = 0.676, p < 0.001) and intention to continuously use
(β = 0.252, p = 0.034). Further attitudes towards using food delivery
applications had a positive relationship with intention to continuously
use food delivery applications (β = 0.278, p = 0.026). Thus, hy-
potheses 6, 7 and 8 were supported.
4.3. Results of testing hypothesis 9
To test hypothesis 9, expecting that the relationships between food
delivery app quality and user-perceived value would be significantly
different between single-person and multi-person households, the
multiple group analysis approach was utilized. A total of 311 responses
were divided into two groups: single-person (n = 116) and multi-
person households (n = 169). Path coefficients of the effects of food
delivery app quality upon user-perceived value between those two
groups were tested using the χ2 test in the SEM. Results revealed that
the relationships between convenience, design, price and various food
choices, and user-perceived value were found to be significantly dif-
ferent between single-person and multi-person households (see
Table 4). Specifically, the effect of convenience upon perceived value in
the multi-person household group (β = 0.307, p < 0.001) was more
positively stronger than in the single-person household group
(β = 0.068, p > 0.05). This result was significantly supported by the χ2
difference (Δχ2 (1) = 5.182, p < 0.05). This same situation was viewed
in the link of design–perceived value. The effect of the design quality
attribute upon user-perceived value was significantly different (Δχ2
(1) = 4.572, p < 0.05) between single-person (β = 0.147, p > 0.05)
and multi-person households (β = 0.554, p < 0.001). Our findings
implied that if respondents from the multi-person household group
positively evaluate the convenience and design quality attributes of
food delivery apps, they are more likely to perceive more value than
those from the single-person household group.
In contrast, the effect of the quality attribute of price upon per-
ceived value in the single-person household group (β = 0.365,
p < 0.01) was more positively stronger than in the multi-person
household group (β = 0.089, p > 0.05). This difference was also sig-
nificantly supported (Δχ2 (1) = 3.903, p < 0.05). Similarly, the re-
lationship between various food choices and perceived value in the
single-person household group (β = 0.263, p < 0.001) was more
M. Cho et al. International Journal of Hospitality Management 77 (2019) 108–116

Table 3
Correlations and discriminant validity.
Mean S.D. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

a
(1) Convenience 5.02 1.06 .850
(2) Design 5.55 0.92 .088 .881
(3) Trustworthiness 5.80 0.61 .109 .337 .842
(4) Price 4.72 0.97 .068 .069 .030 .853
(5) Various food choices 5.24 1.34 .026 .116 .007 .058 .850
(6) Perceived value 4.89 0.82 .123 .268 .271 .163 .175 .831
(7) Attitudes 5.67 0.74 .098 .195 .106 .060 .077 .500 .781
(8) Intention 5.37 0.59 .014 .308 .139 .017 .023 .319 .330 .796

a
Note: Diagonals: Square root of AVE from the observed variables by the latent variables.

Fig. 2. Results of testing Hypotheses.1–8.

positively stronger than in the multi-person household group
(β = 0.066, p > 0.05). This result was also significantly supported (Δχ2
(1) = 3.825, p < 0.05). These findings indicated that when respondents
from single-person households positively evaluate the price and various
food choice quality attributes of food delivery apps, they would have
higher perceived value than those from multi-person households.
However, the effect of trustworthiness quality upon user-perceived
value was not significantly different (Δχ2 (1) = 0.001, p > 0.05) be-
tween single-person (β = 0.317, p < 0.01) and multi-person house-
holds (β = 0.246, p < 0.01). This result implied that because trust-
worthiness quality of food delivery apps would be very important to
both groups, its effect upon user-perceived value had no significant
difference between those two groups.
5. Conclusions and implications
Our findings provide empirical support as to the important roles
that mobile applications must provide to today’s Chinese consumer
when applied within the context of the food delivery business. Food
delivery has become a trending business in China due to the rapidly
growing O2O business model, combined with the proliferation of mo-
bile Internet application usage. Thus, our study’s findings provide very
timely and useful information for restaurants and communications
providers on how to develop effective operations strategies for the food
delivery business in China. We address the important marketing issue
pertaining to China’s increasing number of single-person households,
and what this may imply for the food app business and for restaurants
in the Chinese society, and perhaps in other Asian countries. We then

Table 4
Results of testing a multi-group analysis (single-person vs. multi-person households) for Hypothesis 9.
Family Size χ2 difference Supported

Single-person Multi-person
(n = 116) (n = 195)

Coefficient t-value Coefficient t-value

Convenience → Perceived value 0.068 0.651 0.307 3.671*** Δχ2 (1) = 5.182, p < 0.05 Yes
Design → Perceived value 0.147 1.774 0.554 4.063*** Δχ2 (1) = 4.572, p < 0.05 Yes
Trustworthiness → Perceived value 0.317 2.581** 0.246 2.702** Δχ2 (1) = 0.001, p > 0.05 No
Price → Perceived value 0.365 3.786** 0.089 0.746 Δχ2 (1) = 3.903, p < 0.05 Yes
Various food choices → Perceived value 0.263 3.357*** 0.066 0.586 Δχ2 (1) = 3.825 p < 0.05 Yes
Baseline model fit: χ2 (132) = 581.71 (p < 0.01); CFI = 0.959; GFI = 0.923, IFI = 0.961, RMSEA = 0.028

Note: *p < .05, **

p < .01, ***
p < .001.

114
M. Cho et al.
address the moderating roles that household size plays upon the re-
lationships between key food delivery app quality attributes and user-
perceived value. Based upon our findings, several important implica-
tions are provided.
Study results documented that the most significant and positive
quality attribute for improving the consumer’s perceived value and
their ultimate successful implementation of the online food delivery
business was trustworthiness. This is in line with the extant literature’s
position that trust plays an essential role in generating expected and
satisfied online transactions (Li and Yeh, 2010). Thus, food delivery app
operators and their food vendors should focus on what determines user-
trustworthiness in using food delivery apps. In doing so, we cannot
ignore the fact that building trust with respect to the ever-increasing
presence of food delivery app businesses involves a more complicated
process than does building trust in bricks-and-mortar restaurants. Trust
in food delivery app businesses can be categorized into two groups:
trust in mobile technology and trust in food vendors (Siau and Shen,
2003). This implies that the competence of food delivery apps and the
competence of their food vendors directly affect one another, and fur-
ther highlights the importance of cooperation between food delivery
app operators and their vendors. This situation can be best managed by
effectively creating trustworthiness in all partners involved in the food
delivery business process, which includes both food delivery apps and
vendors. For example, truthful and regularly updated information about
food vendor menu items, prices, and minimum order fees can greatly
alleviate any confusion to the end user. Thus, we expect that the ac-
curate usage of information technology on food delivery apps assists the
mobile food shopping environment in operating as a more efficient
transactional procedure, eliminating the human element for the most
part, creating a seamless experience, which further facilitates user-
trustworthiness.
Design was also found to significantly and positively influence the
consumer’s perceived value of food delivery apps, followed by two
other attributes representing various food choices and convenience.
Grøtnes (2009) noted that the most common reason for using mobile
apps is convenience and user-friendly design to browse and purchase
products. This same notion was viewed in the food delivery app con-
text. Functionality and efficiency of mobile apps have been widely
identified as fundamental design elements in the previous literature
(Lee et al., 2011). Thus, it can be agreed upon that mobile apps should
be designed for ease of ordering, and should be available at any time
and at any place. However, it should not be overlooked that consumers
access food delivery apps to order “food” differently than they do
compared to when purchasing commodity products. Commodity pro-
ducts ordered using mobile apps can be easily returned, whereas food
orders cannot. Before the mobile app era, food-ordering decisions in-
volved browsing through pamphlets, flyers or discount coupons at-
tached to refrigerators for phone numbers of restaurants. Concerns
often arose pertaining to food taste, price, and value for the money to
be spent. These examples provide some consideration as to how food
delivery apps should be appropriately designed. Similar to what Yelp
Eat24 as created in the US based upon Yelp and the ability of consumers
to provide feedback about their dining experiences, food delivery apps
are now beginning to offer a more user-friendly shopping environment
by allowing consumers to post/easily browse reviews about restaurants
and then order and pay by clicking a few times. This is becoming a
major design and convenience quality attribute of food delivery apps
that offers a much more positive experience to users.
Another finding noteworthy of mentioning involves the effect of
various food choices now available on food delivery apps and how that
contributes to improving user-perceived value. Prior to the arrival of
food delivery apps, food delivery service was extremely limited to only
a few menu items such as pizza, Chinese, and fried chicken. Given that
the numbers of food delivery app users have been rapidly growing and
that ordering food using mobile apps is now occurring more frequently,
allowing users to choose a variety of food items from an expanding
115
International Journal of Hospitality Management 77 (2019) 108–116
number of restaurant types is becoming a very important quality at-
tribute issue affecting the sustainability of today’s restaurant environ-
ment. This also represents a formidable challenge for food delivery app
operators and food vendors. This is because food delivery apps will
have to manage business arrangements with many food vendors and
address issues regarding the vast array of unique food products and
their quality aspects. As well, a broad price spectrum will directly affect
the mobile app businesses as specific markets will be less willing to
indulge in higher-priced dinners. Similarly, food vendors engaged in
mobile app markets must face more O2O competition and invest more
revenue into advertising and marketing in order to be placed at the top
of the food delivery app list of proprietary vendors, similar to how
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies operate in online adver-
tising programs for other commodities. It is important to understand
that the restaurant industry operates on extremely small profit margins.
Annual sales increases ranging from 2 to 6% for many restaurant
properties are considered to be enviable in their highly competitive
marketplace (Lien, 2017).
Based upon demographics and usage research findings related to
food delivery apps, many very interesting and managerial implications
of high utility can be from our research. Focusing upon differences
between single and multi-person household users of food delivery app
users, it was found that single-person households placed the importance
upon the quality attributes of food delivery apps for ‘various food
choices,’ ‘price’ and ‘trustworthiness.’ Comparatively, multi-person
households placed most importance upon ‘design’, ‘convenience’, and
‘trustworthiness’ as related to food delivery app quality attributes. We
can immediately see that ‘trust’ is important to both households. Thus,
security in all food app ordering systems should always be paramount.
Trustworthiness also relates to accuracy and reliability in terms of what
is reported by restaurant partners and viewed by consumers.
Addressing the single-person household is somewhat challenging for
food delivery app marketing purposes, but some suggestions can be
made pertaining to ‘various food choices,’ which turned out to be a very
important quality attribute for this segment along with ‘price.’
Considering that limited household income may also limit a variety of
food choices, managerial implications abound as to opportunities that
may appeal to the single-household food app delivery user. Perhaps
smaller portion sizes of greater varieties of products could be offered to
this consumer segment eager to branch out for unique food delivery
experiences able to be ordered for reasonable value.
The quality attribute ‘price’ is one of great interest for several rea-
sons. From the perspective of the single-person household, this segment
represents the largest segment of the unmarried market (75.9%), but in
terms of income, most singles earn less than RMB 3000 per month.
Thus, price must be very reasonable for the single-person household
group, more so than for the multi-person household group.
When addressing ‘design’ for the multi-person household group,
simplicity of use is the formula for success with this user group. This
was the top quality attribute for the food service deliver app upon
perceived value. Given this segment’s reported lower level of educa-
tional attainment in comparison to the single-household user group,
app programs with simple click-through options for ordering and card
payment processing are essential. As well, ‘convenience’ was also a very
integral quality attribute for food delivery apps. Ordering food using
their app any time or place is very important to the multi-person
household user group, as more of these individuals tend to order food
while on the go, meaning in venues other than at their homes or at their
places of employment.
Slight nuances in the behavioral data allow for restaurant managers
to take advantages of opportunities for developing strategies to boost
sales during slow times through direct promotions to both segments. As
an example, targeting single-person households with late night features
that ordinarily would not be promoted could possibly generate new
business to that market using databases of credit card information from
previous consumers. As well, creating special rewards for heavy users of
M. Cho et al.
a food delivery app would build brand loyalty to those individuals
faithful to the food app. Finally, continue to obtain feedback from
consumers about their experience with the food app, the product and
the service and also continue to ask customers what services it is they
would like to receive that they are not yet getting from you or the
competition.
6. Limitations and future research
This was a first attempt to investigate a new phenomenon related to
restaurants: the take-out food delivery service using mobile app devices
in China. Although data were collected from the largest shopping area
in South China, only four shopping locations were used over a very
limited period of time. As well, the sampling frame used was not taken
at random. Thus, results from this research cannot be generalized to the
broad population, and are only limited to the sample of this study.
Results do not represent those of the characteristics reflected of the
greater Chinese population. Thus, future research must be conducted in
randomly selected cities throughout China to reflect the true demo-
graphic characteristics of the population. Patterns related to marital
status, age and residential composition of households constitute un-
knowns that warrant investigation in future research addressing this
topic.
Quality measurements used in this research to assess food apps were
developed from existing scales previously used by scholars that were
interested in investigating quality attributes associated with general
mobile app quality, and not specific to food delivery applications.
Therefore, future research in this area should begin to investigate more
specific mobile application qualities related to food delivery, restau-
rants, consumers and their search behavior associated with that pro-
cess.
Finally, it would be worthwhile for future studies to investigate the
service setting from the standpoint of food vendors to determine if other
important quality attributes may possibly exist. Certainly from the
standpoint of consumer evaluations of their service experiences, feed-
back would be important for improvement, and for ratings scores to
post for strategic marketing purposes. However, the identification of
new services, or opportunities to repair service failures would be in-
teresting research areas to explore.
References
Al Dmour, H., Alshurideh, M., Shishan, F., 2014. The influence of mobile application
quality and attributes on the continuance intention of mobile shopping. Life Sci. J. 11
(10), 172–181.
Alltechasia, 2017. The 5 Most Popular Food Delivery Apps in China. Available from:.
https://alltechasia.com/5-popular-food-delivery-apps-china/.
Anderson, J.C., Gerbing, D.W., 1988. Structural equation modeling in practice: a review
and recommended two-step approach. Psychol. Bull. 103 (3), 411–423.
App Annie, 2017. App Annie Launches Comprehensive China Android App Metrics, Offers
Rare Data Visibility into the World’S Largest mobile App Economy. Available from:.
https://www.appannie.com/en/about/press/releases/app-annie-launches-
comprehensive-china-android-app-metrics-offers-rare-data-visibility-worlds-largest-
mobile-app-economy/.
Burns, A.C., Bush, R.F., 1995. Marketing Research. Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
Chen, Z., Dubinsky, A.J., 2003. A conceptual model of perceived customer value in
e‐commerce: a preliminary investigation. Psychol. Mark. 20 (4), 323–347.
Chen, P.T., Hu, H.H., 2010. The effect of relational benefits on perceived value in relation
to customer loyalty: an empirical study in the Australian coffee outlets industry. Int.
J. Hosp. Manag. 29 (3), 405–412.
Chen, X., Wang, X., Jiang, X., 2016. The impact of power structure on the retail service
supply chain with an O2O mixed channel. J. Oper. Res. Soc. 67 (2), 294–301.
Cho, N., Park, S., 2001. Development of electronic commerce user-consumer satisfaction
index (ECUSI) for internet shopping. Ind. Manag. Data Syst. 101 (8), 400–406.
Consulting, Daxue, 2016. O2O Food Delivery Market in China: Transforming From a Price
War to Service Differentiation. Available from:. http://daxueconsulting.com/o2o-
food-delivery-market-in-china/.
Du, Y., Tang, Y., 2014. Study on the development of O2O e-commerce platform of China
from the perspective of offline service quality. Int. J. Bus. Soc. Sci. 5 (4), 308–312.
Euromonitor International, 2012. Special Report: Rise in Single-Person Households
Globally Impacts Consumer Spending Patterns. Euromonitor International, London.
Ezell, H.F., Russell, G.D., 1985. Single and multiple person household shoppers: a focus on
grocery store selection criteria and grocery shopping attitudes and behavior. J. Acad.
Mark. Sci. 13 (1-2), 171–187.
116
International Journal of Hospitality Management 77 (2019) 108–116
Fornell, C., Larcker, D., 1981. Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable
variables and measurement error. J. Mark. Res. 18 (February), 39–50.
Grøtnes, E., 2009. Standardization as open innovation: two cases from the mobile in-
dustry. Inform. Technol. People 22 (4), 367–381.
GSMA, 2017. Number of mobile Subscribers Worldwide Hits 5 Billion. Available from:
https://www.gsma.com/newsroom/press-release/number-mobile-subscribers-
worldwide-hits-5-billion/.
Handel, M.J., 2011. mHealth (mobile health)—using apps for health and wellness.
EXPLORE 7 (4), 256–261.
Hubert, M., Blut, M., Brock, C., Backhaus, C., Eberhardt, T., 2017. Acceptance of smart-
phone‐based Mobile shopping: Mobile benefits, customer characteristics, perceived
risks, and the impact of application context. Psychol. Mark. 34 (2), 175–194.
Insider, Business, 2017. This is the Current State of China’s App Market. Available from:.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/china-app-market-2017-8.
Jung, F., 2016. Single-Person Households Drive Changing Consumption Patterns.
Available from. http://koreabizwire.com/single-person-households-drive-changing-
consumption-patterns/51931.
Kang, J., Jun, J., Arendt, S.W., 2015. Understanding customers’ healthy food choices at
casual dining restaurants: using the value–attitude–behavior model. Int. J. Hosp.
Manag. 48, 12–21.
Khalid, H., Shihab, E., Nagappan, M., Hassan, A.E., 2015. What do mobile app users
complain about? IEEE Softw. 32 (3), 70–77.
Kim, W.G., Cha, Y., 2002. Antecedents and consequences of relationship quality in hotel
industry. Int. J. Hosp. Manag. 21 (4), 321–338.
Kim, D.J., Hwang, Y., 2012. A study of mobile internet user’s service quality perceptions
from a user’s utilitarian and hedonic value tendency perspectives. Inform. Syst.
Frontiers 14 (2), 409–421.
Kim, S., Lee, K., Lee, Y., 2018. Selection attributes of home meal replacement by food-
related lifestyles of single-person households in South Korea. Food Qual. Prefer.
Lee, Y., Kozar, K.A., 2006. Investigating the effect of website quality on e-business suc-
cess: an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach. Decis. Support Syst. 42 (3),
1383–1401.
Lee, S., Ha, S., Widdows, R., 2011. Consumer responses to high-technology products:
product attributes, cognition, and emotions. J. Bus. Res. 64 (11), 1195–1200.
Lehmann, R., 2016. Shopping for One: A Dozen Grocery Hacks for Living Single.
Available from. https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Saving-Money/2016/0228/
Shopping-for-one-A-dozen-grocery-hacks-for-living-single.
Li, T., 2017. Dinner at Your Door: Inside China’s US$37 Billion Online Food Delivery
Services Market. Available from. http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/
article/2111163/dinner-your-door-inside-chinas-us37-billion-online-food-delivery.
Li, J., Mo, W.J., 2015. The O2O mode in electronic commerce. Development 1 (3),
246–249.
Li, Y.M., Yeh, Y.S., 2010. Increasing trust in mobile commerce through design aesthetics.
Comput. Hum. Behav. 26 (4), 673–684.
Lien, T., 2017. How Food Delivery Apps Have Changed the Game for Restaurants.
Available from. http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-app-
restaurants-20170313-story.html.
Liu, W., Batra, R., Wang, H., 2017a. Product touch and consumers’ online and offline
buying: the role of mental representation. J. Retail. 93 (3), 369–381.
Liu, F., Xiao, B., Lim, E.T., Tan, C.W., 2017b. The art of appeal in electronic commerce:
understanding the impact of product and website quality on online purchases.
Internet Res. 27 (4), 752–771.
Lu, H.P., Hsu, C.L., Hsu, H.Y., 2005. An empirical study of the effect of perceived risk
upon intention to use online applications. Inform. Manag. Comput. Secur. 13 (2),
106–120.
Magrath, V., McCormick, H., 2013. Marketing design elements of mobile fashion retail
apps. J. Fash. Market. Manag. 17 (1), 115–134.
Nasution, H.N., Mavondo, F.T., 2008. Customer value in the hotel industry: what man-
agers believe they deliver and what customer experience. Int. J. Hosp. Manag. 27 (2),
204–213.
Nilashi, M., Jannach, D., bin Ibrahim, O., Ithnin, N., 2015. Clustering-and regression-
based multi-criteria collaborative filtering with incremental updates. Inform. Sci.
293, 235–250.
Podhisita, C., Xenos, P., 2015. Living alone in South and Southeast Asia: an analysis of
census data. Demogr. Res. 32, 1113–1146.
Pressreader, 2017. Delivering the Market. Available from:. https://www.pressreader.
com/china/china-pictorial-english/20170808/282544428423387.
Siau, K., Shen, Z., 2003. Building customer trust in mobile commerce. Commun. ACM 46
(4), 91–94.
Statista, 2016. Food Delivery Industry in the U.S.-Statistics & Facts. Available from.
https://www.statista.com/topics/1986/food-delivery-industry-in-the-us/.
Stoyanov, S.R., Hides, L., Kavanagh, D.J., Zelenko, O., Tjondronegoro, D., Mani, M., 2015.
Mobile app rating scale: a new tool for assessing the quality of health mobile apps.
JMIR mHealth uHealth 3 (1).
Sweeney, J.C., Soutar, G.N., 2001. Consumer perceived value: the development of a
multiple item scale. J. Retail. 77 (2), 203–220.
Wang, H.Y., Wang, S.H., 2010. Predicting mobile hotel reservation adoption: insight from
a perceived value standpoint. Int. J. Hosp. Manag. 29 (4), 598–608.
Yang, Z., Jun, M., Peterson, R.T., 2004. Measuring customer perceived online service
quality: scale development and managerial implications. Int. J. Oper. Prod. Manag.
24 (11), 1149–1174.
Yeung, W.J.J., Cheung, A.K.L., 2015. Living alone: one-person households in Asia.
Demogr. Res. 32, 1099–1112.
Žabkar, V., Brenčič, M.M., Dmitrović, T., 2010. Modelling perceived quality, visitor sa-
tisfaction and behavioural intentions at the destination level. Tour. Manag. 31 (4),
537–546.
Zeithaml, V., 1988. Consumer perceptions of price, quality and value: a means-end model
and synthesis of evidence. J. Mark. 52, 2–22.