Towards a Mobile App Diffusion of Innovations model: A multinational study of mobile wallet adoption

Demand for contactless payments has increased worldwide, but adoption varies by country. We propose a more parsimonious Diffusion of Innovations model (i.e., complexity is dropped and compatible advantage replaces relative advantage and compatibility) to investigate mobile wallet adoption, but with context-relevant extensions of security, privacy and ubiquity. The model is empirically tested for Canada, Germany and the United States. The findings support the proposed model. Furthermore, we find ubiquity, privacy concerns and security risks vary by country, and ubiquity plays a mediating role. This model can be utilized in future mobile app studies and provides country-specific guidance to practitioners.     

A Cashless Society for All: Determining Consumers’ Readiness to Adopt Mobile Payment Services

ABSTRACT

The technology readiness index was applied to determine consumers’ readiness to adopt mobile payment services and the moderating effect of gender. Gender has been identified as a key variable in adoption and its vital role in market segmentation and gender empowerment obliges its inclusion. The results of the regression analysis indicate that convenience and compatibility drive consumers’ adoption whereas risk, cost and insecurity are inhibitors. Furthermore, gender moderates only the relationship between convenience and the adoption of mobile payment services. Given the moderating effect of gender, companies should initiate advertising campaigns targeting women opinion leaders in advertisements, which can in turn encourage and educate other women to enjoy the convenience of mobile payments. Results provide insights on how to increase adoption and reduce the gender gap in mobile payment services.     

Understanding determinants and barriers of mobile shopping adoption using behavioral reasoning theory

Technology has transformed the way retail business is done with leading players shifting to mobile specific platforms. The purpose of this study is to examine the mobile shopping adoption using a novel approach of behavioral reasoning theory, which aims to test the relative influence of reasons for, and importance of reasons against adoption of mobile shopping among Indian consumers. The hypotheses were tested using the representative sample of 237 Indian consumers and analyzing the data using PLS-SEM technique. The findings support that ‘reasons for’ and ‘reasons against’ are prime determinant of attitude and intentions. Among the reasons for, price saving orientation is the major determinant for mobile shopping adoption and among the reasons against, self efficacy is the major determinant against mobile shopping adoption. The findings also confirm that value of “openness to change” significantly influences reasons for adoption and has no impact on reasons against and attitude towards mobile shopping. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of examining both the pro-adoption and anti-adoption factors while developing marketing strategy.     

Standing up for or against: A text-mining study on the recommendation of mobile payment apps

Mobile payment systems offer enormous potential as alternative payment solutions. However, the diffusion of mobile payments over the years has been less than optimal despite the numerous studies that have explored the reasons for its adoption. Consequently, there is an increased interest in exploring alternative actions for promoting its diffusion, especially user recommendation of the technology. This is because positive recommendations can enormously influence the decisions of potential consumers to use the technology while negative recommendations can increase resistance to it. The few extant studies in this domain have followed the traditional survey approach with hypothetic-deductive reasoning, thus limiting an understanding of factors outside their conceptual models that could influence recommendations. To address this shortcoming, this study uses a qualitative text-mining approach that explores themes from user reviews of mobile payment applications (apps). Using 5955 reviews from 16 mobile payment apps hosted on the Google Play store, this study applied the latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) text-mining method to extract themes from the reviews that help to explain why users provide positive or negative recommendations about mobile payment systems. A total of 13 themes (i.e. ease of use, usefulness, convenience, security, reliability, satisfaction, transaction speed, time-saving, customer support, output quality, perceived cost, usability and trust) were generated from the LDA model which provides both theoretical and practical insights for advancing mobile payments diffusion and research.     

Why do people use and recommend m-wallets?

In recent years, mobile wallets (m-wallets), a special form of mobile payment, have garnered much attention in various emerging markets. M-wallets were designed to offer customers swiftness, ease of use, efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, and accessibility. Despite these benefits, usage intentions and adoption of m-wallets in most emerging markets have been low, and they have not received widespread acceptance. Notably, existing research related to intentions to use (IUs) mobile payments has largely focused on developed economies and mobile payments in general. Additionally, few studies have examined intentions to recommend (ITRs), even though researchers have recognized that word-of-mouth is an important driver of consumer behavior. In the present study, we addressed the lack of specific findings on use and recommendation intentions in the context of m-wallets by conducting a large cross-sectional survey of 1256 smartphone users based on diffusion of innovation theory (DOI). Results revealed that relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, and observability were significantly associated with participants' intentions toward m-wallets. However, trialability had no association with participants’ intentions to use and recommend m-wallets to others.     

FinTech and the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from electronic payment systems

This paper investigates the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on financial institutions and on consumers' adoption of Financial Technology (FinTech) for payments. This paper documents the following findings in Kenya. (1) The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption and increased the payment concentration of FinTech. We document an approximately 54% increase in mobile banking transactions, a 19.56% increase in mobile banking agents, and a 14.56% increase in the number of mobile banking accounts. (2) The use of all types of electronic payment cards declined significantly during the pandemic. (3) The pandemic magnified interbank contagion and liquidity risks and reduced both domestic and international electronic fund transfers via both the Real-Gross Settlement System and the Automated Clearing House. Overall, our results indicate that FinTech not only partially alleviated the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during Q1 of 2021 but also accelerated consumers' adoption of FinTech and digital onboarding, especially in Q3 and Q4 of 2022.     

Mobile payment and online to offline retail business models

Mobile payments are services that use mobile devices to make payments. When digitalization moves across channel boundaries, online to offline channel retail will expand. Online to offline retailing will become the future retail owner stream and retail operators will move from cross-channel or multi-channel to omni-channel. This study investigates a market survey in Taiwan developing a data mining analytics including clustering analysis and association rules based on a snowflake schema database design. The role of mobile payment is determined in terms of new retail payment mechanism that promotes a better consumer purchase experience in an online to offline business environment.     

The diffusion of mobile payments: Profiling the adopters and non-adopters,Roger's way

This study aims to establish various market segments based on consumers' attitudinal elements influencing the adoption of mobile payments (m-payments). It also examines the best discriminators between identified clusters of m-payment users. Three hundred and sixty m-payment users participated in the study. Cluster and discriminant analyses were employed for the analysis. The findings suggest that two segments are established, and strategies can be developed accordingly. The study provides marketers with numerous touchpoints to propagate the adoption of m-payment apps. It also comprehensively explains m-payment users in developing economies by superimposing the cohorts to Roger's diffusion of innovation model.     

A replication study of the credit card effect on spending behavior and an extension to mobile payments

Prior research has shown that credit cards increase spending behavior as measured by the willingness to pay (WTP) or basket value. This research aims to replicate the credit card effect and to extend this effect to mobile payments. In four empirical studies, of which three online studies and one lab study (total n = 692), we manipulated payment methods (i.e., cash, credit cards, and mobile payments) and measured spending behavior (i.e., WTP and basket value). Across four studies, we did not replicate the credit card effect on either measure of spending behavior, suggesting the effect in the literature may be inflated or may have been fading away. A meta-analysis of the relevant literature revealed the expected credit card effect but also showed that the credit card effect has become weaker through the years and that this effect is contingent on the location of data collection. We also did not find evidence that the credit card effect extends to mobile payments on either measure of spending behavior in the three online studies. However, we found a significant difference between mobile payments and cash on the basket value measure (but not for the WTP measure) in the lab study. This paper also explored whether the pain of payment or payment convenience may be a mechanism underlying the relationship between payment methods and spending behavior. Although the pain of payment tended to be lower and the payment convenience tended to be higher for mobile payments, these effects did not translate into more spending behaviors.     

What drives customers toward proximity payment services? An integrated theory of planned behavior perspective

Proximity mobile payment (PMP) services facilitate mobile payments between payer and payee who are at same location thorough a proximity technology such as QR codes, Bluetooth, and near-field communication. It has potential to drastically change consumers' payment methods in developing countries where traditional finance infrastructure is lacking. However, there are various challenges to adopting PMP in such countries. This study aims to explore users' opinions on and motivations for using PMP by proposing an extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) model. It also seeks to resolve inconsistencies in PMP adoption studies regarding the role of user's trust in PMP services. A survey instrument was used to collect data from PMP users in a developing country. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. This study highlights trust as a mitigator of the negative effect induced by the perceived risk of using PMP services. It also validates that the TPB, coupled with other contextual factors, explains the adoption of PMP services in developing countries.     

Improving Marketing Communication & Innovation Strategies in the Small Business Context

This paper is derived from another which was awarded the bestpaper prize at the 9th International Entrepreneurship Conference. Its theme is that while inventions and innovations make significant contributions to the growth and competitiveness of national economies, there are problems in the U.K. surrounding independent inventors (often a small, one person business) and their marketing, where there has been failure to stimulate and exploit inventions compared to other industrialised countries. There are long term implications for economic competitiveness when new ideas are lost. Organisations pursue innovations as an important route in the search for competitive advantage, but this route is fraught with difficulties for independent inventors in getting organisations to accept their products and to market them. This paper reports from and builds on an earlier study from a small business perspective which focuses, firstly, on the importance of capitalising on this source of embryonic talent and secondly, the problems within the marketing communication process between potential adopter marketing organisations and independent inventors. A purposive, non-random sample was drawn, consisting of prominent independent inventors (exemplars of good practice) who marketed both nationally and internationally and the potential adopter manufacturing and marketing organisations (customers). Trade associations with a role in facilitating the adoption process were also contacted. The method of enquiry in the study was by personal and telephone interviews. The findings from these three different groups seem to suggest that stereotypical views of independent inventors held by potential business adopters coupled with the often weak marketing communications and interpersonal skills reportedly possessed by independent inventors present very real barriers to the adoption of new ideas by the business community. The paper concludes that small businesses may be better placed to "exploit" ideas from independent inventors by virtue of their simpler organisational structure. Recommendations for the improvement of strategies to facilitate adoption of inventions with commercial potential are made for both types of small businesses (inventors and small business adopters).     

New Technology Adoption,Business Strategy and Government Involvement: The Case of Mobile Commerce

SUMMARY

This research focuses on understanding how business organizations are likely to adopt mobile commerce (m-commerce) technology. Mobile commerce adoption represents a complex process that draws in variables external to the firm such as the environment in which the business operates and the government involvement, as well as variables internal to the company such as its business strategy and its organizational culture. A model is formulated and several research propositions are offered. They will help understand the mobile commerce applications adoption process. Implications of this model and further research avenues are discussed.     

Drivers and barriers of mobile payment adoption: Malaysian merchants' perspective

The Malaysian market consists of a large consumer-base carrying mobile phones. However, the adoption and proliferation of mobile (m-) payments remain dismal. Evidence from the literature necessitates the need for elucidating the adoption barriers and drivers from multiple perspectives. There has been much research on consumer adoption and usage of mobile payment systems, but there is a lack of research on this subject from the merchants' perspective. Taking into account the critical role merchants play in promoting a sustainable m-payment ecosystem, this work elucidates the perspective of merchants in Malaysia vis-à-vis m-payment systems. In-depth interviews with merchants from multiple retail categories were conducted to gain insight into their motivational drives, barriers, and challenges in the context of the adoption and implementation of m-payment systems in Malaysia. The results confirmed that the relative advantage of decreasing payment processing time and fees, convenience, and enhanced payment security features are some of the factors motivating merchants to adopt m-payment, while technological incompatibility, complexity, the cost of investment, and the lack of critical mass and knowledge are some of the factors discouraging merchants from doing so. Our findings further expand the limited knowledge of m-payment systems in the context of Malaysian merchants, which is valuable for industries and policymakers. The results of this study can be generalised to other m-payment systems in other countries - Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay, with Apple Pay, Alipay, and WeChat.     

A Meta-Analysis of Research on Information Technology Implementation in Small Business

The small business sector is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy. The firms in this sector are becoming increasingly dependent on information systems (IS) for their operations. Traditional research in IS has primarily focused on large corporations. The problems, opportunities, and management issues encountered by small business in the IS area are unique, and research is too limited to provide useful guidelines. This study compares the research literature on IS implementation and research on IS in small business, examines the commonality and differences, and identifies research gaps. An overall research framework is developed to review the research in the two areas and determine areas of opportunity. As a follow-up of this analysis, a research model is developed to explore the factors influencing the adoption of computer-mediated communication technologies in small business. The model incorporates some of the innovation factors that are identified as potential gaps in the earlier analysis. The research model evaluates the impact of 6 factors-perceived usefulness, cost, compatibility, top management support, competitive advantage, and size-on the adoption of computer-mediated communications technologies. A telephone interview was used to collect data from 207 firms. The results of data analysis reveal that competitive advantage, top management support, and size are important determinants of adoption of computer-mediated communication technologies.     

Determinants of Small Business EDI Adoption: An Empirical Investigation

Given the importance of widespread adoption for the success of electronic data interchange (EDI) and the "much-slower-than-anticipated" growth of EDI adoption in small businesses, in this study we aimed to identify the key determinants of small business EDI adoption. Based on prior research on IT/EDI adoption in large/small organizations, a model that incorporates 7 factors that are hypothesized to have influence on the EDI adoption decision was developed and empirically tested against data collected from 627 small businesses, with 38% of them having already adopted the technology. The findings suggest that in the eyes of small businesses, EDI still is not considered as something that enables a business to gain major strategic benefits or competitive advantages. Although perceived costs are found to be major impediments to adoption, small businesses tend to have an "unbalanced" treatment between direct and indirect benefits, focusing more on those that are immediate and direct rather than on long-term, indirect benefits. Furthermore, prior EDI experience and perceived level of support from the vendor are also important determinants of EDI adoption in small businesses. Implications to Internet-based EDI systems are also discussed.     

Does mobile money use increase firms’ investment? Evidence from Enterprise Surveys in Kenya,Uganda, and Tanzania

Private investment can be an important engine of economic growth in East African countries that are plagued with adverse economic conditions, despite recent growth rates. Against this backdrop, there has been substantial penetration of mobile money, moving beyond simple person-to-person exchanges towards adoption by private firms. This study explores whether there is a relationship between firm adoption of mobile money and firm investment. Using firm-level data that are nationally representative of the private sector in three East African countries—Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda—a positive relationship is found between mobile money use and firm’s purchase of fixed assets. This relationship is attributed to reduced transaction costs, increased liquidity, and increased credit worthiness associated with the use of mobile phone financial services. The finding is largely driven by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).     

Cash,credit, or phone? An empirical study on the adoption of mobile payments in the United States

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of consumer factors on behavioral intention to adopt mobile payments. We focus on the proximity mobile payment, which is made feasible by the near-field communications (NFCs) technology. Building upon the theory of reasoned action and technology acceptance model (TAM), a behavioral intention model was established consisting of enhanced cognitive antecedents as well as affective and social antecedents. Cognitive antecedents encompass the factors including relative advantage, perceived usefulness and ease of use in the TAM, and technology characteristics (e.g., responsiveness and mobility); affective antecedents focus on positive and negative emotions associated with using NFC mobile payments. Both antecedents are expected to affect attitudes. In addition, social antecedents examine subjective norms and the influence of network externalities. Data were collected from 394 adult nonusers of NFC mobile payments in the United States via an online survey. The research model was tested using structural equation modeling. The results showed that all three antecedents significantly affected individual consumers’ intention to adopt NFC mobile payments, explaining a significant amount of variance. Both theoretical and marketing implications are discussed in the context of NFC mobile payments.     

Analysis of the adoption of customer facing InStore technologies in retail SMEs

Brick and mortar stores are suffering the dramatic revolution of the retail sector. Customer facing in-store technologies (CFIST) are a key component of the inevitable transformation of retail stores; yet the reasons to adopt such technologies by business owners may be little known. Based on a TOE and TAM inspired framework, this study analyses the drivers of such decision by small and medium size enterprises using a survey methodology. The results show that the attitude towards technology is the strongest predictor of the intention to adopt CFIST, highlighting the role of the top management in technology decisions. This conclusion has important implications for practitioners. This research is the first to address the adoption of CFIST by SMEs and therefore set the path for further studies about the impact and adoption of in-store technology in SMEs.     

How mobile technologies support business models: Case study-based empirical analysis

Mobile technologies have pushed the connectivity of IT systems to the limit, enabling people and things to connect to one another at all times. The amount of information companies have at their disposal has increased exponentially, thanks largely to geolocation and to the vast array of sensors that have been integrated into mobile devices. This information can be used to enhance business activities and processes, but it can also be used to create new business models. Focusing on business models, we analyze mobile technologies as enablers of activity changes. We consider the differentiating characteristics of mobile technologies and examine how these can support different business functions. A study based on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of 30 cases across different industries allows us to identify mobile technology success factors for different core activities. The results show that several combinations of mobile technology initiatives provide a competitive advantage when these initiatives match the business model.     

QR code and mobile payment: The disruptive forces in retail

The emergence of mobile payment (m-payment) resulted in the disruption of many sectors in the business sphere, particularly the retail industry. However, the acceptance of m-payment still has substantial room for improvement. Therefore, this study purports to ascertain the critical antecedents that impact the m-payment adoption intention, in particular the type of m-payment that utilizes the Quick Response (QR) code technology, through an extended Mobile Technology Acceptance Model. On top of offering several theoretical implications, numerous practical implications are also provided for stakeholders in the retail sector.