*4.6. Hypothesis Testing*

The results of the hypotheses testing are presented in Table 5. Hypothesis 1 suggests that perceived ease of use has a positive effect on attitude, which has been accepted (β = 0.097, *p* = 0.038) since the significant value was less than 0.05. Hypothesis 2 proposing the positive influence of perceived ease of use on perceived usefulness was rejected (β = −0.096, *p* = 0.127). The positive impact of perceived usefulness on attitude proposed in hypothesis 3 was supported (β = 0.334, *p* = 0.000). Subjective norms had a significant positive impact on the perceived usefulness (H4: β = 0.274, *p* = 0.000), and attitude (H5: β = 0.275, *p* = 0.000) was accepted. The results of hypotheses 6 and 7 revealed that product processing innovation (H6: β = 0.147, *p* = 0.016), and information processing innovation (H7: β = 0.173, *p* = 0.001) have a positive impact on attitude. Hypotheses 8 to 10 posits the positive influence of attitude on intention to use (H8: β = 0.418, *p* = 0.000), word of mouth (H9: β = 0.327, *p* = 0.000), and willingness to pay more (H10: β = 0.437, *p* = 0.000) respectively, which were accepted. Hence, it could be concluded that all of the proposed

hypotheses were accepted except hypothesis 2. The results of the structural model are shown in Figure 3.

**Figure 2.** Measurement model.

**Table 3.** Descriptive Statistics and Discriminant Validity Analysis.


Notes: The bold diagonal values refer to the square root of the AVE of each construct. All correlations are statistically significant (*p* < 0.01). SD = Standard deviation.

**Table 4.** Heterotrait-Monotrait Ratio (HTMT) Results.



**Table 4.** *Cont.*

**Table 5.** Hypotheses assessment summary.


Notes: Beta 5 standardized coefficient path, SE 5 standard error, path coefficient is significant if *p* < 0.05 for two-tailed tests. ATD = Attitude, IPI = information processing innovation, ITU = intention to use, PEOU = perceived ease of use, PU = perceived usefulness, PPI = product processing Innovation, SN = subjective norms, WTP = willingness to pay more, WOM = word of mouth.

**Figure 3.** Structural model.

#### **5. Discussions and Implications**

The results revealed that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness significantly affect customers' attitudes towards drone delivery services which is consistent with prior studies [4,21,76]. However, the positive influence of perceived ease of use on perceived usefulness was insignificant which matches with the findings of [89]. Customers' are unable to assess the practical impact of drone food delivery services because these services are not fully commercialized in developing nations. In the study of [49], they integrated subjective norms into TAM and found a significant and positive influence of subjective norms on the perceived usefulness of technology. The result of this study confirms that subjective norms have a positive influence on the perceived usefulness of drone food delivery services. Further, the study confirms the positive influence of subjective norms on attitude towards drone food delivery services which is consistent with the study of [90]. Further, the findings of the study revealed that product processing innovativeness and information processing have a significant impact on attitude towards drone food delivery services. These findings are consistent with prior studies which indicate the significant product processing innovative and information processing innovativeness on attitude towards emergent technologies [58,63,67]. Finally, the results depict that attitude towards drone food delivery services has a positive influence on three dimensions of behavioral intention: intention to use, word of mouth, and willingness to pay. These findings are consistent with previous studies that argued that customers with a positive attitude will say positive things about technology, use the technology, and pay extra money to avail the services of technology [4,67,68]. The results of the current study are in line with past studies except for the positive relationship between perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Further, unlike other studies, this study extends TAM by incorporating both constructs of domain-specific innovativeness that help to understand customers' acceptance of drone technology in the context of food delivery services.

Theoretically, this study has contributed to the TAM by confirming the significant impact of innovativeness in the adoption of drone technology [63,66]. Further, some studies found a weak and insignificant impact of domain-specific innovativeness on the adoption of novel technologies [64,91], particularly an insignificant effect of product processing innovativeness [56]. Further, the study also finds that subjective norms are significant predictors of attitudes in the adoption of drone technology in the context of food delivery services. Previous researchers also found that subjective norms have a significant effect on attitude towards the adoption of drone technology [42,49]. The addition of subjective norms in the context of drone food delivery services provides strong empirical evidence related to the significance of the construct. Hence the current research confirms the findings of previous studies and validated the significance of extended TAM in the context of drone food delivery services. Further, unlike previous studies in the context of drone food delivery services [1,2,4], the current study has extended TAM and assessed the behavioral intention into three dimensions (word of mouth, intention to use, and willingness to pay more). The results demonstrate that attitude significantly influenced the dimensions of behavioral intention.

There are several practical implications of this study. First, the marketing managers should extensively promote the usage of drone food delivery services since the results revealed the positive influence of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness on attitude towards the drone food delivery service. In the context of developing markets such as Pakistan, the traditional food delivery system, which is normally operating through motorbikes and cars, has many issues due to heavy traffic jams and personnel management [4,10]. Therefore, the introduction of drone food delivery services improves the efficiency of the process and food delivery system. Further, the current delivery system is based on gasoline-powered vehicles (cars and motorcycles) causing environmental pollution. Therefore, marketers should focus on the environmentally friendly aspect of new technology to encourage the adoption of drone food delivery services. Secondly, the positive influence of product processing innovativeness and information processing innovativeness on attitude

denotes the significance of drone food delivery service technology. Therefore, it is suggested that marketers need to focus on the benefits of innovative technology to customers to build a positive image of drone foodservice technology. Additionally, the advertising should focus on cost-effective and efficient delivery services of the drone to customers to generate a positive perception regarding the adoption of innovative drone technology. Thirdly, the results of the study indicate the positive influence of subjective norms in the adoption of drone technology. In a collective society such as Pakistan, subjective norms have huge importance regarding the adoption of the technology [92], therefore, marketers should emphasize the attributes of drone delivery services that offer benefits to the extended family system in a collective culture. Fourthly, the results of the study depict that customer's attitude leads to three forms of behavioral intentions: word of mouth, intention to use, and willingness to pay more. Therefore, it is recommended that food delivery service providers should focus on the encouragement of word of mouth to promote the adoption of drone food delivery services [67,93]. They posited that potential customers' word of mouth has greater influence and reach than other forms of marketing communication. In this regard, practitioners and marketers may host several competition programs to experiment with the drone food delivery system that would eventually help the association between subjective norm and behavioral intention. Lastly, the positive relationship between attitude towards drone food delivery service and customers' willingness to pay more denote the acceptance of innovative technology. Therefore, marketers should start extensive advertisements to penetrate the market and increase customers' involvement in drone food delivery services [66].
