Blood donors' usage intentions of donation appointment-scheduling systems during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, online appointment-scheduling systems have become standard procedure in blood donation practice. This study develops and empirically tests a comprehensive conceptual model of blood donors' usage intentions of a donation appointment-scheduling system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online survey data are collected from blood donors (n = 3269) and analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. The results provide evidence that intentions to use the system in the post-COVID-19 future are high. Together with high-perceived usefulness and ease of use, this indicates generally high-system acceptance among active donors during the pandemic and beyond. The study identifies a number of factors that influence this acceptance. The results show that different aspects of service quality perceptions in the context of the system drive its acceptance. The strongest positive effect is exerted by blood donors' pre-donation planning convenience, followed by an enhanced actual donation experience. Reduced flexibility as a result of the system has a strong negative effect. The authors derive managerial implications for blood donation services regarding preserving the acceptance level and suggest future research prospects.