Drone Food Delivery: A Solution to Crowding During the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the retail landscape and introduced new risks for customers. Customers, in turn, are increasingly turning toward technology to reduce pandemicassociated risks. This study investigates the impact of crowding at food retail outlets on customers' willingness to utilize drone food delivery. Data were collected using an online survey and analyzed using covariance-based structural equation modeling. The results confirm that crowding is positively associated with social withdrawal tendency and mortality threat. Perceived vulnerability and perceived severity act as moderators to strengthen the positive association of crowding with mortality threat and social withdrawal tendency. Social withdrawal tendency and mortality threat, in turn, are positively associated with customers' attitudes toward drone delivery. A positive attitude toward drone delivery positively impacts customer willingness to utilize drone delivery, while a negative attitude has a negative impact. This study provides novel insights into technology adoption driven by crowding as an environmental factor during a global pandemic. It also offers evidence that technology adoption is driven by threat perceptions. Our findings have important implications for retailers, who can consider drone food delivery as a possible solution to reduce customers' threat perception.

Food Retail Resilience Pre-, during, and Post-COVID-19: A Bibliometric Analysis and Research Agenda

“…Only a few have employed a theoretical model, with the theory of planned behavior being the most commonly used [12,14,15]. Other theories, such as the risk calculus theory [16], threat appraisal theory [16], stream of sustainable development theory [17], and spatial and relational resilience theories [18], have also been used. However, it is apparent that there is a lack of theoretical foundation for the new approach aimed at measuring the impact of COVID-19 on the food retail sector.…”

“…Pre-COVID-19 [21][22][23][24][25][26][27] During COVID-19 [10][11][12]14,[16][17][18][21][22][23][24] Post-COVID-19 [14,24,39,66,75,[78][79][80] Studies on the pandemic period are of great importance as they provide insight into how the pandemic has affected different aspects of society. The studies mentioned above highlight some key areas that have been the focus of research during the pandemic, including price changes [32,36,38,65], policy implications [40,48,49,55], food safety [17,30,43], and consumer behaviors [12,71,81].…”

“…In addition, it is important to consider the impact of external factors such as government policies, economic conditions, and technological advancements on the B2C sector. Studies on purchasing behavior have explored the adoption and usage of new technologies, particularly delivery services, that were necessitated by the pandemic [15,16,53,[83][84][85], as well as identifying factors that have influenced changing consumer behavior [62,68,70,73,86,87]. In contrast, the pandemic has brought sustainability-related issues to the forefront, including food waste and security from a consumer perspective.…”

Digital Technologies for Food Loss and Waste Prevention and Reduction in Agri-Food Supply Chains: A Systematic Literature Review and Research Agenda

“…However, despite the recognized importance of I4.0 in the agri-food sector, the application of digital technologies for achieving FLW prevention and reduction goal is still under investigation. Indeed, the literature outlines that the majority of efforts and investments in digitalization of the AFSCs are directed toward production process innovation and optimization through smart agriculture [15] and precision farming [14], [16], [17] or for enhancing food logistics management through solutions, such as robotics and automation, drones, IoT, and AI [18], [19], [20], [21]. Nevertheless, increasing and optimizing food production and delivery through digital technologies would represent just a partial effort if FLW prevention and reduction are not effectively addressed [17], [22].…”

Drone Routing for Drone-Based Delivery Systems: A Review of Trajectory Planning, Charging, and Security

“…This can significantly improve the drone-based food delivery service. To understand the customers’ mentality towards adopting drone-based logistics systems in a pandemic situation such as COVID-19 [ 27 ], the authors in [ 28 ] particularly focused on the determining factors that encourage or discourage the adoption of such services. In particular, the authors aimed to investigate the customers’ mindset to enable the policymakers to decide whether they should shift towards drone-based delivery from the traditional delivery system.…”