FROM CRAVING TO CLICKING: EXPLORING GRATIFICATIONS, EMOTION, AND HABIT FORMATION IN ONLINE FOOD DELIVERY

Purpose– This study explores the psychological and behavioural factors that drive user engagement with Online Food Delivery platforms (OFDPs) in India. Drawing on the Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), it aims to understand how various gratifications influence user attitudes and behavioural intentions through analysis of user-generated content. Design/Methodology/Approach– The study analyses over 563,000 user reviews from leading Indian OFD platforms such as Zomato, Swiggy, and FoodPanda, using computational techniques. Natural Language Processing (NLP), Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) for topic modelling, sentiment analysis, and regression modelling are employed to identify key gratification themes and their relationship with user sentiment. Findings– The results reveal that app usability, meal quality, service excellence, and emotional fulfilment positively influence user attitudes and habitual usage. Conversely, negative experiences such as refund opacity, technological failures, and brand distrust contribute to user dissatisfaction.Regression analysis (R² = 0.91) indicates a strong correlation between thematic gratifications and user sentiments, validating the influence of these factors on consumer behaviour. Practical Implications- The findings offer valuable insights for OFDPs aiming to enhance user engagement, communication, and retention. Recommendations include improving app functionality,emotional engagement strategies, and transparent service mechanisms to foster trust and loyalty. Originality/Value- This research extends the scope of UGT by integrating computational methods for analysing large-scale user data. It contributes to the understanding of digital consumer behaviour in the evolving platform economy and provides a framework for developing emotionally intelligent and user-centric digital services. Keywords- online food delivery platforms, uses & gratification theory, user-generated content, text-sentiment analysis, consumer behaviour