Analysis of online food purchase behavior and factors determining online purchases by adult consumers

This study examined online food purchase behavior and factors determining online purchases using data from the ‘Consumer Behavior Survey for Food in 2017’ conducted by the Korea Rural Economic Institute. The main reasons for online food purchases were ‘delivery service’, followed by ‘low price’, and ‘good quality’, whereas the reasons for non-purchase of food online were ‘difficulty in internet use’ followed by ‘distrust in quality’, and then ‘difficulty in getting enough information’. In the frequency of online food purchases, ‘less than once a month’ was the highest response rate. The percentage of mobile orders using a smart phone or tablet was higher than that of internet orders using a PC. The main places of online food purchases were ‘online shopping mall’, ‘online large discount store’, and ‘online eco-friendly food store’ in order. The factors determining online food purchases were gender, educational level, occupation, monthly household income, living area, taste-seeking dietary lifestyle, and food purchase competency. Therefore, the results of this study imply that it is necessary to establish confidence and safety in quality to facilitate online food purchases.