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Accepted manuscript

The potential of autonomous delivery services to increase fast food consumption

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2024

Simone Pettigrew Open the ORCID record for Simone Pettigrew [Opens in a new window] ,
Leon Booth ,
Victoria Farrar ,
Branislava Godic ,
Rajith Vidanaarachchi ,
Charles Karl  and
Jason Thompson
Simone Pettigrew
Affiliation:
The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, [email protected]
Leon Booth
Affiliation:
The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, [email protected]
Victoria Farrar
Affiliation:
The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia, [email protected]
Branislava Godic
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, [email protected]
Rajith Vidanaarachchi
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, [email protected]
Charles Karl
Affiliation:
ARRB, Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, [email protected]
Jason Thompson*
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Design, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Ph: +61 457 502 134
*
Corresponding author: E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Objective:

Technological innovations in the online food delivery sector include the use of autonomous delivery vehicles. The aim of the present study was to investigate consumers’ intentions to use these services once they are widely available and their motivations for using them to access unhealthy food.

Design:

Online survey including a vignette describing a future world where autonomous food deliveries are in common use in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas.

Setting:

Australia

Participants:

1078 Australians aged 18 years and older, nationally representative by sex, age, and location (metropolitan versus non-metropolitan residence).

Results:

Around half of the sample reported intending to use an autonomous food delivery service at least once per week for fast food (53%) and/or healthy pre-prepared food (50%). Almost two-thirds (60%) intended using autonomous vehicle deliveries to receive groceries. Around one in five (17%) anticipated an increase in their fast food intake as a result of access to autonomous delivery services compared to one in two (46%) expecting others’ total fast food intake to increase. The most common reason provided for using autonomous food deliveries was increased convenience. More frequent current fast food ordering, higher socioeconomic status, younger age, and regional location were significantly associated with an anticipated increase in fast food consumption.

Conclusions:

The emergence of autonomous food delivery systems may bring both benefits and adverse consequences that in combination are likely to constitute a substantial regulatory challenge. Proactive efforts will be required to avoid negative public health nutrition outcomes of this transport evolution.

Keywords

online food deliveryautonomous vehiclesfood availabilitypurchase intentions
Type
Research Paper
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Accepted manuscript , pp. 1 - 26
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Authors 2024