Does Food Safety Build Customer Trust? The Mediating Role of Perceived Risk in Food Delivery Service in Bangkok during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This research investigated the role of perceived food safety on customer trust and its mechanism via perceived risk in the food delivery service business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey data were collected from 600 food delivery customers in the Bangkok area. However, only 505 sets of questionnaires were completed and returned to the researcher with a response rate of 84.16%. The data were proceeded using WarpPLS 7.0 program to perform partial least squares Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), which was proven suitable for this research. The results showed that perceived food safety could directly promote customer trust (β=0.528; p<0.001). On the other hand, it can also indirectly foster customer trust by decreasing perceived risk (β=-0.123; p=0.003), which will eventually promote customer trust (β=-0.179; p<0.001). In other words, perceived risk partially mediates the association between perceived food safety and customer repurchase intentions (t=2.273; p=0.022). Therefore, customers' trust can be built by providing food safety standards to foster their confidence and perceive minimal risk levels. The findings provided additional empirical evidence of marketing knowledge that the social exchange theory can explain. The results can be applied as a guideline for food delivery service businesses to escalate their service and standards to build customer trust and gain competitive advantages, particularly during pandemics when customers are more health-conscious than ever.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
References
Ab Hamid, M., Sami, W., & Sidek, M. M. (2017). Discriminant validity assessment: Use of Fornell & Larcker criterion versus HTMT criterion (pp. 1-5). In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Applied & Industrial Mathematics and Statistics 2017 (ICoAIMS 2017). Malaysia: IOP Publishing.
Aprilianti, I., & Amanta, F. (2020). Promoting food safety in Indonesia’s online food delivery services (pp. 1-36). In Aprilianti, I., & Amanta, F.(Eds.). Center for Indonesian Policy Studies, No. 28, Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS), Indonesia: Econster.
Ariffin, S. K., Mohan, T., & Goh, Y.-N. (2018). Influence of consumers’ perceived risk on consumers’ online purchase intention. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 12(3), 309-327.
Bouranta, N., Psomas, E., & Vouzas, F. (2019). The effect of service recovery on customer loyalty: the role of perceived food safety. International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 11(1), 69-86.
Božič, B., Siebert, S., & Martin, G. (2020). A grounded theory study of factors and conditions associated with customer trust recovery in a retailer. Journal of Business Research, 109, 440-448.
Carvalho, F. P. (2017). Pesticides, environment, and food safety. Food and Energy Security, 6(2), 48-60.
Casidy, R., & Wymer, W. (2016). A risk worth taking: Perceived risk as moderator of satisfaction, loyalty, and willingness-to-pay premium price. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 32, 189-197.
Cha, J., & Borchgrevink, C. P. (2019). Customers’ perceptions in value and food safety on customer satisfaction and loyalty in restaurant environments: moderating roles of gender and restaurant types. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 20(2), 143-161.
Chin, W. W. (1998). The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling. Modern Methods for Business Research, 295(2), 295-336.
Cook, K. S., Cheshire, C., Rice, E. R., & Nakagawa, S. (2013). Social exchange theory (pp. 61-88). In DeLamater, J., & Ward, A. (Eds.). Handbook of social psychology. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
Damghanian, H., Zarei, A., & Siahsarani Kojuri, M. A. (2016). Impact of perceived security on trust, perceived risk, and acceptance of online banking in Iran. Journal of Internet Commerce, 15(3), 214-238.
Fung, F., Wang, H.-S., & Menon, S. (2018). Food safety in the 21st century. Biomedical Journal, 41(2), 88-95.
Glaveli, N. (2020). Corporate social responsibility toward stakeholders and customer loyalty: Investigating the roles of trust and customer identification with the company. Social Responsibility Journal, 17(3), 367-383.
Ha, T. M., Shakur, S., & Do, K. H. P. (2019). Consumer concern about food safety in Hanoi, Vietnam. Food Control, 98, 238-244.
Hair, J.F. (2011). Multivariate data analysis: An overview (pp. 904-907). In Lovric, M. (Ed.). International encyclopedia of statistical science. Germany: Springer.
Hair, J. F., Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., & Mena, J. A. (2012). An assessment of the use of partial least squares structural equation modeling in marketing research. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40(3), 414-433.
Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J. (2014). Statistical mediation analysis with a multicategorical independent variable. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 67(3), 451-470.
Hodges Jr, J. R. (2020). Exploring food safety and occupational behaviors among platform-to-consumer online food delivery couriers (Bachelor’s thesis). USA: University of Houston.
Hussain, S., Ahmed, W., Jafar, R. M. S., Rabnawaz, A., & Jianzhou, Y. (2017). eWOM source credibility, perceived risk and food product customer’s information adoption. Computers in Human Behavior, 66, 96-102.
Iglesias, O., Markovic, S., Bagherzadeh, M., & Singh, J. J. (2020). Co-creation: A key link between corporate social responsibility, customer trust, and customer loyalty. Journal of Business Ethics, 163(1), 151-166.
Ilie, L., & Georgescu, M. (2019). The relationship between food safety, food quality and customer satisfaction. Animal Science, 62(1), 364-369.
Jalilvand, M. R., Vosta, L. N., Mahyari, H. K., & Pool, J. K. (2017). Social responsibility influence on customer trust in hotels: Mediating effects of reputation and word-of-mouth. Tourism Review, 7(1), 1-14.
Kasikorn Research Center. (2020). Food delivery businesses set to expand due to intensifying competition post-COVID-19; while big operators set sight on shaping their platforms into ‘Super Applications’ (Current Issue No.3128). Retrieved from https://www.kasikornresearch.com/en/analysis/k-econ/business/Pages/z3128-Food-Delivery.aspx
Kock, N. (2017). WarpPLS user manual: Version 6.0. Laredo, Texas, USA: ScriptWarp Systems.
Kock, N., & Lynn, G. (2012). Lateral collinearity and misleading results in variance-based SEM: An illustration and recommendations. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 13(7), 546-580.
Kumar, P., Mahato, D. K., Kamle, M., Mohanta, T. K., & Kang, S. G. (2017). Aflatoxins: a global concern for food safety, human health and their management. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7, 1-10.
Lam, A. Y., Lau, M. M., & Cheung, R. (2016). Modeling the relationship among green perceived value, green trust, satisfaction, and repurchase intention of green products. Contemporary Management Research, 12(1), 47-60.
Leninkumar, V. (2017). The relationship between customer satisfaction and customer trust on customer loyalty. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(4), 450-465.
Li, M.-W., Teng, H.-Y., & Chen, C.-Y. (2020). Unlocking the customer engagement-brand loyalty relationship in tourism social media: The roles of brand attachment and customer trust. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 44, 184-192.
Liao, C., Luo, Y., & Zhu, W. (2020). Food safety trust, risk perception, and consumers’ response to company trust repair actions in food recall crises. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(4), 1-16.
Lin, H. M., Lee, M. H., Liang, J. C., Chang, H. Y., Huang, P., & Tsai, C. C. (2020). A review of using partial least square structural equation modeling in e‐learning research. British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(4), 1354-1372.
Marriott, H. R., & Williams, M. D. (2018). Exploring consumers perceived risk and trust for mobile shopping: A theoretical framework and empirical study. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 42, 133-146.
McNeish, D. (2018). Thanks coefficient alpha, we’ll take it from here. Psychological Methods, 23(3), 1-22.
Mittendorf, C., & Ostermann, U. (2017). Private vs. business customers in the sharing economy-The implications of trust, perceived risk, and social motives on Airbnb (pp. 5827 - 5836). In Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. USA: The Association for Information Systems.
Nam, N. K., Nga, N. T. H., & Huan, N. Q. (2019). The consumers’ intention to purchase food: The role of perceived risk. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 18(1), 1-12.
Office of Trade Competition Commission (2020). Food delivery service, the most watched business right now: Insights into the competitive behavior that may be illegal: Unveil competition behavior in food delivery service business. Office of Trade Competition Commission Journal, 60, 1-7.
Paparoidamis, N. G., Katsikeas, C. S., & Chumpitaz, R. (2019). The role of supplier performance in building customer trust and loyalty: A cross-country examination. Industrial Marketing Management, 78, 183-197.
Pattanapomgthorn, J., Sutduean, J., & Keohavong, B. (2020). Impact of genetically modified food knowledge, environmental, and food safety concerns on purchase intention of genetically modified food in mediating role of perceived risk: An empirical study in Thailand. World Food Policy, 6(1), 23-41.
Rafiq, M. Z., Jun, J. C., Ali, R., Majeed, M. K., & Mohsin, M. (2020). Impact of corporate image, switching cost and customer trust on customer satisfaction: Evidence from listed banking sector. SMART Journal of Business Management Studies, 16(1), 26-34.
Ratasuk, A. (2021). The impact of the no-plastic-bag campaign on customer repurchase intentions and its mechanism in the modern trade business in Bangkok. Asia Social Issues, 15(2), 1-17.
Ratasuk, A., & Buranasompob, A. (2021). Contributions of marketing factors on customer repurchase intentions in convenience store coffee shops in Bangkok and mediating role of brand image. Asian Administration and Management Review, 4(2), 11-21.
Ratasuk, A., & Charoensukmongkol, P. (2019). The role of team trust and team conflict on innovative performance of multicultural teams in the restaurant. Thammasat Review, 22(2), 1-18.
Rossi, M. d. S. C., Stedefeldt, E., da Cunha, D. T., & de Rosso, V. V. (2017). Food safety knowledge, optimistic bias and risk perception among food handlers in institutional food services. Food Control, 73, 681-688.
Senaviratna, N., & Cooray, T. (2019). Diagnosing multicollinearity of logistic regression model. Asian Journal of Probability and Statistics, 5(2), 1-9.
Setiawan, H., & Sayuti, A. J. (2017). Effects of service quality, customer trust and corporate image on customer satisfaction and loyalty: an assessment of travel agencies customer in South Sumatra Indonesia. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 19(5), 31-40.
Shim, M., & You, M. (2015). Cognitive and affective risk perceptions toward food safety outbreaks: mediating the relation between news use and food consumption intention. Asian Journal of Communication, 25(1), 48-64.
Wang, E. S.-T., & Tsai, M.-C. (2019). Effects of the perception of traceable fresh food safety and nutrition on perceived health benefits, affective commitment, and repurchase intention. Food Quality and Preference, 78, 1-7.
Ye, S., Ying, T., Zhou, L., & Wang, T. (2019). Enhancing customer trust in peer-to-peer accommodation: A “soft” strategy via social presence. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 79, 1-10.
Yu, H., Neal, J. A., & Sirsat, S. A. (2018). Consumers’ food safety risk perceptions and willingness to pay for fresh-cut produce with lower risk of foodborne illness. Food Control, 86, 83-89.