IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v134y2023icp217-230.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How has COVID-19 impacted customer perceptions and demand for delivery services: An exploratory analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Kaplan, Marcella
  • Hotle, Susan
  • Heaslip, Kevin

Abstract

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic created an environment where nearly all aspects of mobility changed to ensure the health and safety of the public. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that people quarantine for 14 days if they were potentially exposed to the virus, stay at least six feet apart from others, and stay at home as much as possible. Delivery via third-party restaurant app, grocery, and package delivery quickly became an essential service. This study assesses customer's changes in use and perceived quality of delivery services in Southwest Virginia, via an online stated-preference survey (n = 423). The responses were analyzed using ordered logit and generalized ordered logit models to identify which population segments had changing delivery behavior and perceptions due to the pandemic. Findings include that before the pandemic, only households with an income greater than $100,000 had a significantly higher demand for package delivery services than those making less than $25,000. During the pandemic, all income brackets had a significantly higher demand for package delivery “weekly” than households with less than a $25,000 income, with a 19.50%, 22.54%, and 45.59% greater chance of use for income levels $25,000 to $50,000, $50,000 to $100,000, and over $100,000, respectively. This trend highlights that package delivery became necessary during the pandemic. Respondents who lived within town limits were statistically significantly more likely to use third-party restaurant delivery apps at least once a week before (3.10%), during (9.20%), and after (4.50%) the pandemic compared to those outside town limits. The results also found people who lived within town limits were 7.77% more likely to be satisfied with delivery services in general than those who lived outside town limits. The findings from this paper identify expanding delivery equity gaps within the population and provide recommendations for policymakers and delivery agencies. Some limitations include that low sample size did not allow for fully segmented models and meant that the study should be considered exploratory in nature.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaplan, Marcella & Hotle, Susan & Heaslip, Kevin, 2023. "How has COVID-19 impacted customer perceptions and demand for delivery services: An exploratory analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 217-230.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:134:y:2023:i:c:p:217-230
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2023.02.020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X23000513
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2023.02.020?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sanchez-Diaz, Ivan & Altuntas Vural, Ceren & Halldórsson, Árni, 2021. "Assessing the inequalities in access to online delivery services and the way COVID-19 pandemic affects marginalization," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 24-36.
    2. Jasper Grashuis & Theodoros Skevas & Michelle S. Segovia, 2020. "Grocery Shopping Preferences during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-10, July.
    3. Groth, Sören, 2019. "Multimodal divide: Reproduction of transport poverty in smart mobility trends," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 56-71.
    4. Zhang, Junyi & Hayashi, Yoshitsugu & Frank, Lawrence D., 2021. "COVID-19 and transport: Findings from a world-wide expert survey," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 68-85.
    5. Velaga, Nagendra R. & Beecroft, Mark & Nelson, John D. & Corsar, David & Edwards, Peter, 2012. "Transport poverty meets the digital divide: accessibility and connectivity in rural communities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 102-112.
    6. Richard Williams, 2006. "Generalized ordered logit/partial proportional odds models for ordinal dependent variables," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 6(1), pages 58-82, March.
    7. John Lai & Nicole O. Widmar, 2021. "Revisiting the Digital Divide in the COVID‐19 Era," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 458-464, March.
    8. Cohen, Tom & Jones, Peter, 2020. "Technological advances relevant to transport – understanding what drives them," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 80-95.
    9. Yeo, Vincent Cheow Sern & Goh, See-Kwong & Rezaei, Sajad, 2017. "Consumer experiences, attitude and behavioral intention toward online food delivery (OFD) services," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 150-162.
    10. Yang, Senyan & Ning, Lianju & Jiang, Tingfeng & He, Yingqi, 2021. "Dynamic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the regional express logistics: Evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 111-124.
    11. Özden, Aybike Tuba & Celik, Erkan, 2021. "Analyzing the service quality priorities in cargo transportation before and during the Covid-19 outbreak," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 34-46.
    12. Hensher, David A. & Beck, Matthew J. & Wei, Edward, 2021. "Working from home and its implications for strategic transport modelling based on the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 64-78.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sangchul Hwang & Cassandra M. Johnson & Joni Charles & Lesli Biediger-Friedman, 2024. "Food Delivery Apps and Their Potential to Address Food Insecurity in Older Adults: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(9), pages 1-16, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Beckers, Joris & Weekx, Simon & Beutels, Philippe & Verhetsel, Ann, 2021. "COVID-19 and retail: The catalyst for e-commerce in Belgium?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Zha, Wenbin & Ye, Qian & Li, Jian & Ozbay, Kaan, 2023. "A social media Data-Driven analysis for transport policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Wuhan, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    3. Kimiagari, Salman & Asadi Malafe, Neda Sharifi, 2021. "The role of cognitive and affective responses in the relationship between internal and external stimuli on online impulse buying behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    4. Ahmed Karam & Abdelrahman E. E. Eltoukhy & Ibrahim Abdelfadeel Shaban & El-Awady Attia, 2022. "A Review of COVID-19-Related Literature on Freight Transport: Impacts, Mitigation Strategies, Recovery Measures, and Future Research Directions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-27, September.
    5. Erpeng Wang & Zhenzhen Liu & Zhifeng Gao & Qin Wen & Xianhui Geng, 2022. "Consumer preferences for agricultural product brands in an E‐commerce environment," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(2), pages 312-327, April.
    6. Chuenyindee, Thanatorn & Ong, Ardvin Kester S. & Ramos, Jon Pauline & Prasetyo, Yogi Tri & Nadlifatin, Reny & Kurata, Yoshiki B. & Sittiwatethanasiri, Thaninrat, 2022. "Public utility vehicle service quality and customer satisfaction in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    7. Mengyuan Zhou, 2022. "Does the Source of Inheritance Matter in Bequest Attitudes? Evidence from Japan," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 867-887, December.
    8. D'Alberto, R. & Targetti, S. & Schaller, L. & Bartolini, F. & Eichhorn, T. & Haltia, E. & Harmanny, K. & Le Gloux, F. & Nikolov, D. & Runge, T. & Vergamini, D. & Viaggi, D., 2024. "A European perspective on acceptability of innovative agri-environment-climate contract solutions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    9. Yuri Reina-Aranza, 2015. "Violencia de pareja y estado de salud de la mujer en Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo Sobre Economía Regional y Urbana 13964, Banco de la República, Economía Regional.
    10. Mengyuan Zhou, 2019. "The Effect of the Source of Inheritance on Bequest Attitudes: Evidence from Japan," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2019-018, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    11. William Magee, 2023. "Earnings, Intersectional Earnings Inequality, Disappointment in One’s Life Achievements and Life (Dis)satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 373-396, January.
    12. Cristina Chaminade & Monica Plechero, 2015. "Do Regions Make a Difference? Regional Innovation Systems and Global Innovation Networks in the ICT Industry," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 215-237, February.
    13. Dirk Crass & Franz Schwiebacher, 2017. "The importance of trademark protection for product differentiation and innovation," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 44(2), pages 199-220, June.
    14. Bruno Amable, 2009. "The Differentiation of Social Demands in Europe. The Social Basis of the European Models of Capitalism," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 91(3), pages 391-426, May.
    15. Giuseppina Guagnano & Elisabetta Santarelli & Isabella Santini, 2016. "Can Social Capital Affect Subjective Poverty in Europe? An Empirical Analysis Based on a Generalized Ordered Logit Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(2), pages 881-907, September.
    16. Richard Williams, 2009. "Using Heterogeneous Choice Models to Compare Logit and Probit Coefficients Across Groups," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 37(4), pages 531-559, May.
    17. Tscharaktschiew, Stefan & Reimann, Felix, 2021. "On employer-paid parking and parking (cash-out) policy: A formal synthesis of different perspectives," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 499-516.
    18. Hanna Dudek & Joanna Landmesser, 2012. "Income satisfaction and relative deprivation," Statistics in Transition new series, Główny Urząd Statystyczny (Polska), vol. 13(2), pages 321-334, June.
    19. Elvire Guillaud, 2013. "Preferences for redistribution: an empirical analysis over 33 countries," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(1), pages 57-78, March.
    20. Yahui Wang, 2019. "What Affects Participation in the Farmland Rental Market in Rural China? Evidence from CHARLS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-15, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:134:y:2023:i:c:p:217-230. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.