Coffee shops visiting during the pandemic: Moderating effects of process and physical evidence.

Abstract

Purpose- This study investigated the impact of factors affecting the decision of consumers to purchase coffee products during the COVID-19 pandemic. The coffee retail sector has been coping with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to provide a safe and hygienic environment inside shops. Design/methodology/approach- A quantitative method was applied to the data set of 428 collected from an online survey in Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings- The finding suggests that the impacts of the key antecedents ‘Promotion’, ‘People’ and ‘Price’ are accelerated by the moderating effect of ‘Process’. On the other hand, the moderating effect of ‘Physical Evidence’ is found to be influential only via the interactive impact of ‘People’ and ‘Price’. As for the four antecedents, ‘Price’ and ‘People’ have significant impact on purchase intentions, whereas with moderators, especially, ‘Process’ demonstrates a significant impact with ‘Price’ on consumer purchase intention. Originality- This study revealed the impact of the moderating effects of ‘Process’ and ‘Physical Evidence’ on selling coffee products during the pandemic. The finding suggests it is particularly important for the coffee shops to provide customers with good service process which meets the requirements of the safe and hygienic environment inside shops, as ‘Process’ is the key element to sustain businesses during the pandemic. The original contribution was that the moderating effect of ‘Process’ and ‘Physical Evidence’ on the consumers’ purchase decisions, and the implication should be a practical guidepost for the coffee shops’ marketers during pandemic. Implications and contributions- In addition to contributing to the development of practical measures, this research is expected to further stimulate debate in the field of marketing by opening up possibilities for marketing theory and academic discussion and practice through a close examination of moderating relationships.