Digital Dining and Grocery Shopping: Consumer Behaviour Change in Covid-19 Pandemic-Era in South Korea

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic changed conventional consumption habits profoundly and pushed the development of digital food and grocery delivery services around the world. The present study investigates changes in South Korean consumer behaviours in the usage of food delivery and online grocery apps before and during the pandemic, and whether these changes will be sustained. Survey results were gathered from 200 respondents using a quantitative, deductive approach, and evaluated by descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, and chi-square tests of homogeneity. The results show a statistically significant increase in usage for both types of applications. The number of respondents who used food delivery apps at least three times a week jumped from 8.5% pre-pandemic to 44.5% during the pandemic (χ²(2, N = 393) = 93.97, p < .001, Cramér's V = .49). Similarly, weekly online grocery usage considerably increased (χ²(2, N = 211) = 47.01, p < .001, Cramér's V = .47). Convenience was the primary self-reported rationale for increasing use, and not infection worries or social distancing rules, and 80.5% of respondents said they intended to continue using at least one sort of delivery app after the pandemic. The results indicate that the pandemic served as a large-scale forced experiment that shifted from situational adoption to habitual use motivated by convenience. This study provides theoretical implications for the consumer behaviour change during the crisis, and practical suggestions for delivery platforms that want to convert the pandemic-acquisition to long-term retention.