Trust and the Commoditisation of Convenience: Determinants of Consumer Attitude and Usage Behaviour towards Online Food Delivery Applications.

Abstract

Online food delivery applications (OFDAs) have shifted from novelty to everyday utility in urban India, yet most empirical work on the sector models adoption intention rather than sustained use. This study asks which platform-level beliefs shape consumer attitude, and whether attitude drives usage behaviour, in one of the country’s most competitively saturated markets. Drawing on the belief–attitude–behaviour architecture common to the Technology Acceptance Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, and on the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework, convenience, trust and price are modelled as antecedents of attitude, and attitude as the proximal determinant of usage behaviour. Data were collected from 200 OFDA users in Delhi and the National Capital Region and analysed by covariance-based structural equation modelling. Trust was the only significant determinant of attitude, explaining half the variance in the construct. Neither convenience nor price contributed once trust was included, despite convenience showing a significant bivariate association with attitude. Attitude strongly predicted usage behaviour. The two null results are interpreted as evidence of competitive commoditisation: where every major platform offers comparable speed, accessibility and discounting, these attributes cease to differentiate and therefore stop carrying attitudinal weight. Credibility remains the one dimension on which platforms still vary in consumers’ eyes. The findings suggest that determinants established during a category’s growth phase should not be assumed stable into its maturity, and shift managerial emphasis from acquisition towards retention built on operational reliability.