درک نیت مصرف کننده برای استفاده از خدمات موبایلی

Given the fast growth of mobile technology services in some countries and the relatively slow growth in others, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to the adoption of these applications in Australia. Drawing from the Technology Acceptance Model, Domestication Research, and Uses and Gratification Research, this study develops a model for consumers’ intentions to use mobile services (m-services). The main drivers of consumers’ intentions to use m-services are satisfaction along with perceived usefulness. In addition, this study shows that perceived ease of use is a strong predictor of perceived usefulness. This study found that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment positively affect satisfaction with m-services while perceived cost has a negative effect. On a different note, it was proven that perceived image does not have a significant impact on customers’ satisfaction with m-services. Overall findings of this study provide some contribution to the growing body of research in the area of m-services and provide some assistance to practitioners in formulating better strategies to retain current m-service users.

Mobile phones are one of the most widely embraced technological devices in the consumer market. Almost everywhere we go we can see people using mobile phones, not only for making general phone/video calls or using Short Message Services (SMS) but also playing mobile games, downloading music, accessing the Internet and much more. Such advanced mobile applications are generally labelled mobile services (m-services). In this study, an adapted definition of m-services derived from Benou and Bitos (2008) has been utilised. That is, m-services are any application service accessible from mobile phones via wireless and mobile communication networks. M-services incorporate a range of applications. It includes applications that focus on allowing users to seek pleasures (e.g., ringtone downloads), perform financial transactions (e.g., mobile banking), or even search for information (e.g., news alerts, mobile maps). Many individuals would consider that mobile service providers could access plenty of benefits from offering such advanced mobile services to their consumers. However, the mobile industry in Australia has not yet seen the growth that was anticipated (Bhatti, 2007). A recent report released by the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association’s study (2009) (Mackay and Weidlich, 2009) highlighted that the use of some m-commerce services has only increased between 12% and 18% amongst survey respondents between 2008 and 2009. In an endeavour to understand this unexpected growth pattern in Australia, it is imperative to understand the driving factors behind Australian consumers’ intentions to use m-services. Despite the staggering growth patterns in Australia, the use of m-services worldwide has become increasingly popular, thereby influencing a number of researchers to conduct research into this area. Past researchers have explored the implications of mobile commerce for markets and marketing (Balasubraman et al., 2002) investigated value creation in mobile commerce (Anckar and Incau, 2003) and developed business models for mobile commerce (Yuan and Zhang, 2003). Some researchers have also focused on the adoption of mobile commerce services (Bruner and Kumar, 2005, Haddon, 2001, Kargin et al., 2009, Kim et al., 2007, Lu et al., 2008, Nysveen et al., 2005, Pagani, 2004, Pedersen and Ling, 2002, Pedersen, 2005 and Rao and Troshani, 2007). However, there is a dearth of research that focuses on customers’ satisfaction with and intention to use m-services. As such, this study aims to contribute to this research gap by suggesting and empirically testing a model that formally investigates the relationship between the factors that determine technology usage and concomitantly satisfaction and intention to continue to use m-services. The proposed model is distinct from existing adoption models as it focuses on the post-adoption context and it incorporates both the accelerating and inhibiting factors of m-services usage. Exploring these issues is crucial as it not only provides a better understanding of the behaviours of mobile consumers but it can also assist practitioners in better formulating their marketing strategies to better promote their product offerings. The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. Firstly, several theoretical frameworks which explore the adoption of an innovation are presented, followed by the conceptual framework and hypotheses. The research methodology and results of this study are then provided. The final section summarises the findings, outlines the managerial implications, and discusses the limitations and areas of this study that are open for future research.

The aim of this study was to shed light on the set of antecedents that determine customer satisfaction with m-services usage and are therefore considered as important indicators in promoting these services to consumers. In more specific terms, this research advanced the Technology Acceptance Model while utilising Domestication Research, as well as Uses and Gratification Research. This study found that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment and perceived cost influence customer satisfaction with m-services. While these findings are fairly consistent with previous literature concerning technology adoption, they have unique managerial interpretations. In relation to antecedents, perceived enjoyment is the strongest driver and predictor of satisfaction. This means that if the use of technology arouses positive emotions and feelings in a consumer, the consumer is more prone to experience pleasure as a result of their engagement with the technological advances. M-services aim to provide customers with flexibility of access and use of many applications, however, perceived usefulness of this technology is not regarded by consumers as the main antecedent. Instead, it follows perceived ease of use. Even more, to a large extent, perceived usefulness can be viewed as a derivative of perceived ease of use. Perception that technology is accessible and user-friendly determines its usefulness which in turn influences intention to use m-services. This finding can be interpreted that customers are very demanding and capricious in their expectations of technology; they cannot be lured easily into new technological areas. The level of comfort is important and regarded as a main predictor of the rate of adoption. One of the intriguing findings in this study is that perceived image does not play any role in customer satisfaction. Cultural differences may explain this outcome. Being an individualistic society, Australian consumers do not attach significance to the status of people who use these mobile services. While fifteen years ago mobile phones had a symbolic meaning associated with prestige and status; nowadays it is considered as an ordinary gadget that accompanies nearly every person. This “lost image” can also be extended to applications that customers access via their mobile phones. Customers do not perceive themselves or others who use m-services as exceptional as this technology can be easily replicated via use of different mediums, such as computers and the Internet. Along this line, it can be suggested that alternative mediums are accountable for a customer’s perception of the high cost of m-services which impedes their satisfaction with m-services. While the ubiquitous nature of m-services is undoubted, m-services face fierce competition from other similar services that are accessible from the Internet. Therefore, the price of these services often determines customer satisfaction and consequently intention to use. Furthermore, it was found that satisfaction has a significant impact on consumer intention to use m-services. This supports a traditional perspective, which is that attitude positively affects intention (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). In summary, this study provides both theoretical and managerial contributions. For the former, this study extends the growing body of knowledge, particularly in the field of m-services through the advancement of the Technology Acceptance Model. In particular, this study extends the applicability of this model to the post-adoption context and highlights the importance of integrating two distinct theoretical perspectives – the Domestication and Uses and Gratification Research – into the context of mobile services. For the latter, this study can provide guidance to practitioners aiming to attract potential users of m-services and maintain enduring relationships with their current users. Firstly, marketers should emphasise the enjoyment capabilities of such services by focusing their advertising messages on emotional appeals of happiness and joy. Also, service providers should highlight how easy it is to use m-services by providing video displays on their website or by offering technical support. Additionally, industry operators should attempt to reduce the cost of m-services by entering into joint partnership licensing agreements, or offering free product trials. Finally, this study’s findings indicate that marketers should emphasise the usefulness of m-services in all of their marketing material. However, the focus should be on the user friendliness of m-services. The primary limitation of this study is the ability to generalise the results to the population, as convenience sampling was employed. Future research should attempt to replicate this study in other settings, such as collecting data from a wider area, to enhance the validity of the proposed model. Future research should also aim to replicate this study with other constructs that have been previously validated as explaining intention to use m-services, such as compatibility or perceived behavioural control (Nysveen et al., 2005 and Sendecka, 2006). This will enhance the ability of the model to more thoroughly explain intention to use m-services. Image was not found to be an important factor in this study. However, it has been found to be a key factor influencing usage intention in countries other than Australia, such as Singapore (Teo and Pok, 2003). Thus, future research should continue to investigate the impact that image has on a customer’s intention to use m-services by conducting cross-cultural studies. As this study did not distinguish between different types of m-services, other studies should attempt to investigate usage of various m-services. Finally, as this study was only conducted with current m-service users, no insight is offered to industry players for attracting prospective m-service users. Therefore, future research should endeavour to establish which factors affect non-m-service users’ intentions to use m-services. In conclusion, this article proposes a theoretical framework of intention to use m-services in an Australian context which is based on the Technology Acceptance Model, Uses and Gratification Research and Domestication Research. This research untangles specific constructs which provide a deeper perspective on the factors which are essential to consumer’s m-services usage. Placing emphasis on the consumer perspective allows us to understand current drivers of m-services consumption which has both theoretical and practical implications.