Introduction/objective: the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped food consumption patterns worldwide. This study examines the attitudinal and behavioral changes reported by consumers in Ecuador’s two main cities (Quito and Guayaquil) toward food delivery apps (FDA) across three periods—pre-pandemic (2019), pandemic (2020-2021) and post-pandemic (2022-2025)—using retrospective questions.

Methodology: a cross-sectional study with a retrospective approach and non-experimental design. A questionnaire grounded in the extended UTAUT2 model with perceived trust and perceived COVID-19 risk was applied to a convenience sample of 468 consumers (n = 250 Quito; n = 218 Guayaquil). Data were analyzed using PLS-SEM and multi-group analysis (MGA).

Results: the model explains 67.3 % of the variance in continuance intention (R² = 0.673). The strongest significant predictors were habit (β = 0.52), performance expectancy (β = 0.41) and perceived trust (β = 0.29). City-level differences emerged: habit weighed more in Quito (β = 0.58 vs. 0.47) and social influence in Guayaquil (β = 0.46 vs. 0.31).

Conclusions: participants reported usage that remains above pre-pandemic levels. The study provides the first systematic empirical evidence on the determinants of FDA continuance intention in the two cities that concentrate this market in Ecuador, documenting intra-country differences with implications for differentiated marketing strategies.

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Keywords:
Food delivery apps,
continuance intention,
UTAUT2,
trust,
COVID-19;
Ecuador.

RSN_17(37)_56_Confinamiento

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