Purpose

This study attempts to explore major attributes of food delivery applications in consideration of their impacts upon perceived service quality, satisfaction and usage intention. A multi-group analysis is performed to examine the hypothesized relationships in the structural models for the millennials and non-millennials.

Design/methodology/approach

The data was collected from 311 food delivery application users. The structural equation model (SEM) was designed to examine the interrelationships among variables.

Findings

The findings indicate that five salient dimensions that include ease of use, facility aesthetics, trustworthiness, value for money and product portfolio have a significant impact on overall service quality. Results further demonstrate that differences in generational difference partially moderate the relationship between each attribute of the food delivery application service quality as well as overall service quality.

Originality/value

The rapid evolution of the Internet and mobile communication has resulted in the proliferation of food delivery applications in China. However, to the best of our knowledge, only a few studies have focused on measuring the key dimension of service quality of food delivery applications.