Adoption and frequency of early morning delivery of food in Korea: an empirical analysis

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers’ online grocery purchases have steadily increased in Korea. This study aimed to ascertain consumers’ characteristics that affect the frequency of using an innovative food delivery service, ‘early morning delivery (EMD)’. We make estimations based on the ordered probit model with sample selection that analyses the frequency of EMD use after selecting consumers with an online food purchase experience from all consumers. The empirical results show similarities and differences in the determinants of conventional online grocery shopping and EMD services. The social trend of increasing single-person households might have a negative influence on the spread of EMD services, even though consumers of the two services have common socio-demographic factors and lifestyles. Moreover, according to the marginal effects, the influences of the explanatory variables differ considerably depending on the category of EMD users.