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1. Introduction
Consumers are constantly seeking to save time. The possibility of purchasing grocery products through retailers' websites, by simply clicking the mouse button for the required items and then receiving the products at home with minimal additional costs, such as for delivery, is perceived as a useful shopping method (Kurnia and Chien, 2003). Food-buying over the internet is a growing trend in many countries such as the UK (Grunert and Ramus, 2004), Brazil (Paulino, 2012), India (Naresh et al. , 2015) and others.
The tendency towards greater convenience in terms of time and space can be observed through the efforts produced by major restaurant chains (such as McDonald's and Domino's Pizza), as well as small shops. A restaurant, for instance, now has the ability to provide online delivery services on its website and to allow consumers to look at its menu, order and, perhaps, pay over the internet. According to Skallerud et al. (2009), convenience has been an increasingly important factor in the choice of foods in the context of contemporary society. There are also some websites that specialize in ready-to-eat food delivery, such as Web Restaurant, iFood and Gourmex. They work as centralizers for restaurants, offering food service entrepreneurs a place to publicize and market their menus, as well as tools, for online selling - working basically like an online food court (Albuquerque, 2011).
In order to understand this phenomenon, it is necessary to assess the consumer decision process. From the perspective of Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behaviour, consumer intentions are influenced by their attitude towards the product, subjective norms, perceived control and perceived difficulties. The decision-making process in buying food is influenced by a series of elements that vary according to the group (Kasem and Shamima, 2014), or even from person to person (Mazaheri et al. , 2012; Richard and Chebat, 2016). Food characteristics, both intrinsic and extrinsic, are fundamental in choosing a product or brand (Naresh et al. , 2015). Specific studies on eating habits (Almeida et al. , 2010; Hare, 2003) have discussed and presented the food attributes that are most relevant to consumers. Some authors have also assessed the importance of food appearance in relation to choice (Lima-Filho et al. , 2008).
Therefore, besides the two factors of...