Treat yourself: Food delivery apps and the interplay between justification for use and food well‐being

• Published date: 01 January 2023
• Author: Sabrina Capito,Albena Pergelova
• Date: 01 January 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12507

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Treat yourself: Food delivery apps and the

interplay between justification for use

and food well-being

Sabrina Capito | Albena Pergelova

Department of International Business,

Marketing, Strategy & Law, School of

Business, MacEwan University,

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Correspondence

Albena Pergelova, Department of

International Business, Marketing,

Strategy & Law, School of Business,

MacEwan University, 10700-104 Avenue,

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5J 4S2.

Email: pergelovaa@macewan.ca

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between

justification for use and well-being in respect to mobile

food delivery apps (FDA). Adopting an interpretivist qual-

itative approach, the study offers contributions to the

FDA and food well-being literature by uncovering four

groups of licensing effects that consumers use in justi-

fying FDA use. Those licensing effects can have either

positive or negative influence on consumers' well-

being depending on the degree to which consumers

engage in self-regulation, awareness, and conscious

managing of their relationship with food. The study

also unravels the importance of dealing with the ten-

sions between FDA use and well-beingbyshedding

light on feelings of guilt and financial anxiety related

to FDA use.

KEYWORDS

food delivery apps, food well-being, justification, licensing

effect

1|INTRODUCTION

Worldwide, there are over 704.7 M food delivery app (FDA) users (Statista, 2020). The COVID-19

pandemic has further fueled FDAs' rise to prominence in the food delivery market. Several factors

can explain this phenomenon, but primarily, FDAs use convenience as an umbrella term to

describe the salient qualities of the app that add to the user experience. Extant literature has

Received: 11 April 2022 Revised: 9 December 2022 Accepted: 19 December 2022

DOI: 10.1111/joca.12507

© 2023 American Council on Consumer Interests.

J Consum Aff. 2023;57:479–506. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/joca 479

identified that consumers value the app design, trustworthiness, price, and food choice (Cho

et al., 2019). Another reason consumers adopt this technology is that attitude toward the app

influences thoughts on ease and usefulness (Alagoz & Hekimoglu, 2012; Lee et al., 2019;Ray

et al., 2019). The scant FDA literature results and recommendations have focused largely on how

businesses can improve their technology to encourage continuous FDA use.

While this body of literature has provided examples of practical advice for businesses, it has

largely neglected the consumers' point of view. First, the explanations toward FDA use have

been mostly based on technology-related reasons via the use of, for example, the Technology

Acceptance Model (Alagoz & Hekimoglu, 2012; Lee et al., 2019; O'Cass & Fenech, 2003; Ray

et al., 2019), and second, the literature does not directly examine how these apps may affect the

user. It is well-established that food is not just fuel, but a significant contributor to well-being,

and there is a rich tradition in the field of marketing examining people's relationship with food

(Scott & Vallen, 2019). Within this tradition, food is considered not just nourishment, but

carries cultural and symbolic meanings that impact the way people feel about themselves and

their social context (Block et al., 2011). From this perspective, food well-being considers not

only the aspect of eating food, but includes shopping for ingredients, preparation, cooking

(knowledge/food literacy), sharing/social context, and the resulting emotions and mood (Mugel

et al., 2019), all of which impact consumers' well-being. Since ordering food via FDAs evidently

skips some of those steps, it is unclear how consumers' relationship with food is altered as a

result of FDA use. In using an FDA are consumers compromising food well-being by being less

involved in the whole consumption process, which includes food shopping, preparation, and

socialization? Alternatively, if an FDA complements the on-the-go mentality of the end users,

and if the new “social norm”formed around the convenience of FDAs provides value, perhaps

a new form of food well-being is being formed.

Against this backdrop, the central objective of this study is to examine why consumers decide

to use food delivery apps and how well-being influences (and is influenced by) those decisions.

Given our research objective's focus on understanding the lived experiences of consumers with

regard to their food choices, specifically the choice of ordering food via FDAs and their justifica-

tions for FDA use, we adopted a phenomenological perspective through a qualitative interpretive

approach (Mugel et al., 2019). Conceptually, we adopt two theoretical perspectives to help us

understand consumers' relationship with food and FDAs: a justification framework based on the

licensing effect (Kha n & Dhar, 2006), and eudaimonic theory of well-being applied to consumers'

relationship with food (Mugel et al., 2019). The purchase of indulgent or hedonic products, such

as choosing to order food via FDAs, even though it carries delivery fees and is more expensive

thanhomecooking(Ahujaetal.,2021; Lichtenstein, 2020; Parwez & Ranjan, 2021) can produce

negative self-attribution because consumers may have difficulties justifying this choice. In this

case, consumers may use a licensing effect to lessen the negative self-attribution, for example, by

being virtuous in other aspects of their life or by justifying the use of FDAs as a virtue instead of a

vice (Khan & Dhar, 2006). Additionally, we take the position of eudaimonic well-being to exam-

ine the relationship between food, FDA use, and well-being. A eudaimonic perspective to food

well-being goes beyond food pleasure (a hedonic aspect of satisfaction as a result of food inges-

tions). It incorporates a holistic food well-being standpointthat emphasizes immersion in the food

experience, including the acquisition and preparation of food, procedural knowledge and food lit-

eracy (such as mastery of skills), and attention to the whole process of meal preparation, inges-

tion, and social and relational aspects associatedwith it (Mugel et al., 2019).

Our study offers contributions to the FDA and food well-being literature by uncovering four

groups of licensing effects that consumers use in justifying FDA use. Those licensing effects can

480 CAPITO and PERGELOVA