MALANG — The utilization of Cash on Delivery or COD payment systems across various e-commerce platforms is currently at the center of intense public criticism from social media users. A popular scientific study utilizing natural language processing technology released in 2026 by researchers Ahmad Tibrizi Soni Wicaksono, Sudarmiatin, and Heri Pratikto from Universitas Negeri Malang reveals a shocking reality behind this cash-based shopping feature. Based on an in-depth analysis of thousands of digital interactions on TikTok, this study uncovers that the COD payment method is perceived as a failure in facilitating secure transactions and has instead triggered a wave of widespread public frustration.
As a major pillar within the online retail marketplace ecosystem, the COD method was initially introduced as an inclusive innovation tailored for consumers who lack access to digital banking systems or face a trust crisis regarding non-cash transactions. By selecting the pay-on-arrival option, buyers gain immediate control to verify that their package has safely arrived before any money is transferred. Over time, however, this transactional ease has generated massive operational challenges and real-world social friction, ranging from severe financial losses for business sellers due to arbitrary order cancellations to increased workloads for delivery couriers who must suddenly act as payment collection officers.
To accurately map genuine public perspectives, the research team from Universitas Negeri Malang systematically gathered substantial digital data via text mining techniques from 12 highly engaging TikTok videos specifically discussing the operational dynamics of COD transactions during the 2025 to 2026 period. Using an analytical quantitative design, a total of 1,023 authentic user comments were extracted and processed using Natural Language Processing or NLP algorithms. The text datasets were filtered to remove insignificant grammatical connectors, and then statistically mapped to discover both core keyword frequencies and the general direction of public emotional polarity.
The empirical structural word mapping showed that public conversations heavily revolved around core terms such as COD, package, goods, pay, money, and return. This proves that user discussions remain directly focused on the fundamental aspects of physical commerce transactions. More alarmingly, the visual configuration of these digital interactions was dominated by highly negative expressions such as poor, complicated, problem, difficult, cheated, fake, afraid, cruel, sad, and refuse. These terms explicitly capture frequent bad user experiences, the proliferation of counterfeit goods sent by fraudulent sellers, and traumatic interpersonal conflicts between couriers and buyers.
This critical condition is further validated by the empirical breakdown of the final sentiment scores, which show an extreme statistical disparity. Public digital dialogue concerning the e-commerce COD system is overwhelmingly dominated by negative sentiment, reaching a substantial 86.37 percent or 336 absolute text occurrences. Conversely, positive feedback only managed to account for 13.63 percent or 53 text occurrences. This sentiment drop exceeding 80 percent serves as a strong red flag that the public firmly considers the current COD layout to be a source of structural trouble rather than a functional shopping convenience.
The practical implications of these scientific findings demand radical structural adjustments from e-commerce tech executives. This permanent degradation of consumer trust implies that digital platforms must swiftly upgrade their operational COD safety protocols or completely remove the option to safeguard ecosystem branding. Stringent transaction policies must be implemented to shield logistics couriers from displaced consumer anger, alongside firm penalties for negligent merchants distributing fake products and bad-faith buyers executing fictitious orders to resolve social friction.
Research Source:
TikTok User Sentiments: Uncovering Perceptions of Cash on Delivery Method in E-Commerce, East Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (EAJMR), 2026.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55927/eajmr.v5i5.126
URL: https://journaleajmr.my.id/index.php/eajmr
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