Shipping Cost and Delivery Waiting Time as Barriers to Online Food Purchases: A Qualitative Exploration of Student Experiences
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17977/um003v11i32025p234Keywords:
Affective Commitment, Customer Engagement, Customer Loyalty, Perceived Value, RetireesAbstract
This study investigates psychological thresholds, trade-off mechanisms, and behavioral responses of university students facing shipping costs and delivery wait times as barriers to completing online food delivery purchases. A qualitative phenomenological design was employed, using semi-structured interviews with 15 university students in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, selected through purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis with ATLAS.ti 24, drawing on prospect theory, expectation-disconfirmation theory, and mental accounting. Five themes emerged: shipping costs exceeding Rp10,000–Rp15,000 trigger cancellation; waiting time tolerance of 25–45 minutes is undermined by systematic estimation inaccuracies; fourteen of fifteen informants prioritized cost over speed, reflecting price-dominant decision logic under economic constraint; free shipping and discounts of 30–50% function as behavioral moderators overriding cost and time barriers; and platform-switching occurs at fee differentials as low as Rp5,000, indicating weak transactional loyalty. The three integrated theories most explain student OFD decision-making. Platform operators are advised to maintain shipping costs below Rp10,000 and deploy targeted promotional triggers aligned with identified consumer tolerance boundaries. This study is among the first to establish specific monetary and temporal purchase-barrier thresholds in an Indonesian student OFD context using a multi-theoretical qualitative framework.References
Aguinis, H., & Bradley, K. J. (2014). Best practice recommendations for designing and implementing experimental vignette methodology studies. Organizational Research Methods, 17(4), 351–371.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology: Vol. 2.
Chiu, W., Badu‐Baiden, F., & Cho, H. (2024). Consumers’ intention to use online food delivery services: A meta‐analytic structural equation modeling approach. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 48(3), e13052. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.13052
Chowdhury, R. (2023). Impact of perceived convenience, service quality and security on consumers’ behavioural intention towards online food delivery services: The role of attitude as mediator. SN Business & Economics, 3(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43546-023-00422-7
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.
Dsouza, D., George, A., Khawatmi, R., & Rehman, S. U. (2025). Factors influencing students’ satisfaction with online food delivery services: a=An empirical study. Sage Open, 15(3), 21582440251378024. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251378022
Eriyani, E., & Amalia, V. (2025). What drives generation Z to purchase on Shopee: digital marketing, pricing, or online reviews? (Study on Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, UNNES). Journal of Economic Education, 14(1), 96–109. https://doi.org/10.15294/jeec.v14i1.24229
Fitrisam, S. A., Iradat, M. I., Iskandar, R., Utami, A. P., & Rhamadhani, R. F. (2025). Digital natives and deferred payments: A qualitative study of young consumers’e-commerce BNPL behaviors. Priviet Social Sciences Journal, 5(9), 47–65. https://doi.org/10.55942/pssj.v5i9.575
Harter, A., Stich, L., & Spann, M. (2025). The effect of delivery time on repurchase behavior in quick commerce. Journal of Service Research, 28(2), 211–227.
Hasan, M. (2026). The power of entrepreneurial innovation capital in higher education: A diffusion of innovation approach to Generation Z entrepreneurship education. The International Journal of Management Education, 24(2), 101383. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2026.101383
Hasan, M., Abrar, A. K., Tahir, T., Budiwati, N., & Sulistyowati, R. (2026a). Unleashing dual literacies through digital growth mindset: A multitheoretical study of entrepreneurship learning in higher education for Generation Z. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 13, 102451. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2026.102451
Hasan, M., Januddin, T., & Tahir, T. (2026b). “I’m gen Z—Can I become a Technopreneur?” the mediating power of digital business and financial literacy in entrepreneurship education. Entrepreneurship Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41959-025-00168-3
Hasan, M., Supatminingsih, T., Thamrin Tahir, M. I., & Said Ahmad, M. I. (2025). Entrepreneurship education in higher education: Can we create entrepreneurial readiness through the power of agility in Generation Z students? The International Journal of Management Education, 23(3), 101264. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijme.2025.101264
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (2013). Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. In Handbook of the fundamentals of financial decision making: Part I (pp. 99–127). World Scientific. https://doi.org/10.2307/1914185
Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 159–174. https://doi.org/10.2307/2529310
Lin, P. M. C., Au, W. C. W., & Baum, T. (2024). Service quality of online food delivery mobile application: an examination of the spillover effects of mobile app satisfaction. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(3), 906–926. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTT-03-2023-0089
Lincoln, Y. (1980). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills: Sage. LincolnNaturalistic Inquiry1985.
Momentum Works. (2024). Food delivery platforms in Southeast Asia 2024. Momentum Works Pte Ltd.
Nivornusit, R., Kraiwanit, T., & Limna, P. (2024). Food delivery competition in the digital economy: Price war strategy in a developing country. Digital Business, 4(1), 100076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.digbus.2024.100076
Okada, E. M., & Hoch, S. J. (2004). Spending time versus spending money. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(2), 313–323.
Oliver, R. L. (1980). A cognitive model of the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction decisions. Journal of Marketing Research, 17(4), 460–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378001700405
Patton, M. Q. (2014). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice. Sage publications.
Pillai, S. G., Kim, W. G., Haldorai, K., & Kim, H.-S. (2022). Online food delivery services and consumers’ purchase intention: Integration of theory of planned behavior, theory of perceived risk, and the elaboration likelihood model. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 105, 103275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2022.103275
Pourrahmani, E., Jaller, M., & Fitch-Polse, D. T. (2023). Modeling the online food delivery pricing and waiting time: Evidence from Davis, Sacramento, and San Francisco. Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 21, 100891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2023.100891
Safira, M., & Chikaraishi, M. (2023). The impact of online food delivery service on eating-out behavior: a case of Multi-Service Transport Platforms (MSTPs) in Indonesia. Transportation, 50(6), 2253–2271.
Statista. (2024). Online food delivery – Indonesia: Market data & analysis 2024. Statista Market Insights.
Swantari, A., Aditya, M. K., & Pramanik, P. D. (2025). Consumer behavior of generation z students: The influence of using lazada e-commerce, promotions and social media (Case study of Trisakti Institute of tourism students). International Journal Management and Economic, 4(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.56127/ijme.v4i1.1777
Tandon, A., Kaur, P., Bhatt, Y., Mäntymäki, M., & Dhir, A. (2021). Why do people purchase from food delivery apps? A consumer value perspective. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 63, 102667.
Thaler, R. (1985). Mental accounting and consumer choice. Marketing Science, 4(3), 199–214.
Tran, K. H., Van Nguyen, K., & Ly, T. T. (2024). Understanding the determinants of decision making among online food delivery app users in Can Tho City, Vietnam. Aurora: Journal of Emerging Business Paradigms, 1(1), 6–11.
Uddin, M. A., Talukder, Md. A., Ahmed, Md. R., Khraisat, A., Alazab, A., Islam, Md. M., Aryal, S., & Jibon, F. A. (2024). Data-driven strategies for digital native market segmentation using clustering. International Journal of Cognitive Computing in Engineering, 5, 178–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcce.2024.04.002
Van Manen, M. (2023). Phenomenology of practice: Meaning-giving methods in phenomenological research and writing. Routledge.
Yeo, V. C. S., Goh, S.-K., & Rezaei, S. (2017). Consumer experiences, attitude and behavioral intention toward online food delivery (OFD) services. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 35, 150–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2016.12.013
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Puji Novita Sari, Sholeha Tri Asih, Ni Luh Sinta Yani, Damas Gianlugi Alrizqi, Muhammad Hasan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
