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The speedy advancement of internet technology has created a motivating force for the development of online food delivery services (OFD), which has incurred the substainable transition in people’s lifestyles and community generally (Suhartanto et al., 2019). In the electronic commerce environment, online food delivery services (OFD) are of increasingly popular in recent years, suggesting that food or drink is prepared and delivered to customers from various restaurants/food establishments via websites or apps. This convenience helps customers to seek a favourite restaurant, selects the available menu items, and provides their delivery address (Pigatto et al., 2017). In other words, the rising popularity of internet providers and increasing usage of smartphones has sustained the development of various online food delivery applications, namely Foodpanda, Uber Eats, Zomato, etc.
Vietnam is a developing country with the high annual economic growth rate in Asia and around the world. Moreover, Vietnamese government also promotes the digital transformation in the economic activities, and Vietnam is transformed into a high-growth digital economic market in Southeast Asia (Ministry of Information and Communications of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 2021). The trend for digital transformation spreads across Vietnamese people’s daily life, especially the rise of mobile digital platforms on smartphone, such as ride-hailing apps and food delivery apps, which is also expedited by the high usage rate of internet and smartphone in Vietnam compared to the surrounding regions (Minh Ngoc Nguyen, 2021). For instance, the number of internet users in Vietnam reaches 69,24 million, while internet penetration rate and mobile internet penetration rate in Vietnam are 77,4% and 69% respectively (Minh Ngoc Nguyen, 2021). On the other hand, the market for OFD industry in Vietnam has experienced a growing trend in recent years, especially during the pandemic. According to Statista Report (2021a), Vietnam’s revenue in the food delivery market reaches US$274 million in 2020, paralleled with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR 2021 – 2024) of 16.5%, leading to an expected market volume of US$ 505 million by 2024. Within that, the online food delivery market has seen a fierce competition among several domestic and foreign investors, especially Grabfood, Shoppefood, Gojek, Baemin, etc. The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the OFD market to grow further as most Vietnamese people are currently adapting social distancing measures and thereafter transferring to home delivery, meaning a big business opportunity for delivery company. Consequently, Vietnam is an interesting research context and a study on Vietnam will provide the valuable findings about the predictors of using digital platforms on smartphone in general, online food delivery apps in particular.