Consumer Purchase Intention for Food Products in Facebook E-Commerce Platforms During COVID-19 Lockdowns

This work employs the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) analysis in elucidating the holistic relationships among the factors that affect the intention of consumers to purchase products via e-commerce. In demonstrating the DEMATEL, a case study evaluating 13 factors of consumer purchase intention of food products via Facebook e-commerce platforms, derived from a focus group discussion, was carried out in this work. The context of the analysis is positioned during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, where strict physical distancing measures were implemented. The findings of this work suggest that reliability, food product quality and safety, and convenience are the key factors influencing consumer purchase intention, with reliability as the most prominent. These results offer practical insights that would aid decision-makers in food enterprises in allocating resources and designing initiatives to attract consumers to purchase food products through e-commerce platforms. Some managerial takeaways are outlined in this work.