The Gig economy in Thailand: an exploration of behavior, motivation, and turnover intention among motorcycle riders

Abstract

The study aimed to examine the factors affecting the work experiences, well-being, and turnover intention of Thai gig workers in online delivery services. It looked at the effect of job insecurity, perceived behavioral control, and social influence on job embeddedness, extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, and intention to turnover. Based on quantitative research conducted with 399 gig workers, the study identified that these factors are interconnected. Surprisingly, job insecurity is positively related to extrinsic motivation and turnover intention, while perceived behavioral control is positively related to intrinsic motivation and turnover intention. Social influence can be seen as a moderator, affecting the relationship between job insecurity and job embeddedness. Also, job embeddedness helps mediate the effects of job insecurity on turnover intention, thus playing a mediating role. These findings enrich the understanding of gig work characteristics in Thailand as well as provide useful recommendations for platform companies, the government, and gig workers. A survey research method employing questionnaires was applied to develop and test a conceptual model. The participants of the study were gig workers from various online delivery applications in Thailand. To test the proposed hypotheses and the relationships between the variables, quantitative analysis methods such as structural equation modeling (SEM) were used. The results indicated that job insecurity and perceived behavioral control affected both the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation of the employees. However, the role of social influence was more complex, as it only acted as a moderator for the relation between job insecurity and job embeddedness and did not directly affect the level of turnover intention. Among the findings, it was established that job embeddedness mediates the relation between job insecurity and turnover intention, thus emphasizing its significance in the context of gig workers’ retention. Therefore, it is recommended that job insecurity be managed and perceived behavioral control be enhanced to improve gig workers’ well-being and decrease turnover intentions. It also stresses the need to enhance the social context to prevent the adverse consequences of job insecurity. These findings have significant implications for platform companies and policymakers to inform interventions and policies for improving the experience of gig workers and the sustainability of the Thai gig economy.