The influence of national culture on the attitude towards mobile recommender systems

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.This study aimed to identify factors that influence user attitudes towards mobile recommender systems and to examine how these factors interact with cultural values to affect attitudes towards this technology. Based on the theory of reasoned action, belief factors for mobile recommender systems are identified in three dimensions: functional, contextual, and social. Hypotheses explaining different impacts of cultural values on the factors affecting attitudes were also proposed. The research model was tested based on data collected in China, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. Findings indicate that functional and social factors have significant impacts on user attitudes towards mobile recommender systems. The relationships between belief factors and attitudes are moderated by two cultural values: collectivism and uncertainty avoidance. The theoretical and practical implications of applying theory of reasoned action and innovation diffusion theory to explain the adoption of new technologies in societies with different cultures are also discussed.National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean governmen

The Impact Of Technology Trust On The Acceptance Of Mobile Banking Technology Within Nigeria

With advancement in the use of information technology seen as a key factor in economic development, developed countries are increasingly reviewing traditional systems, in various sectors such as education, health, transport and finance, and identifying how they may be improved or replaced with automated systems. In this study, the authors examine the role of technology trust in the acceptance of mobile banking in Nigeria as the country attempts to transition into a cashless economy. For Nigeria, like many other countries, its economic growth is linked, at least in part, to its improvement in information technology infrastructure, as well as establishing secure, convenient and reliable payments systems. Utilising the Technology Acceptance Model, this study investigates causal relationships between technology trust and other factors influencing user’s intention to adopt technology; focusing on the impact of seven factors contributing to technology trust. Data from 1725 respondents was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and the results showed that confidentiality, integrity, authentication, access control, best business practices and non-repudiation significantly influenced technology trust. Technology trust showed a direct significant influence on perceived ease of use and usefulness, a direct influence on intention to use as well as an indirect influence on intention to use through its impact on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Furthermore, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness showed significant influence on consumer’s intention to adopt the technology. With mobile banking being a key driver of Nigeria’s cashless economy goals, this study provides quantitative knowledge regarding technology trust and adoption behaviour in Nigeria as well as significant insight on areas where policy makers and mobile banking vendors can focus strategies engineered to improve trust in mobile banking and increase user adoption of their technology

The intention to use mobile digital library technology: A focus group study in the United Arab Emirates

IGI Global (“IGI”) granted Brunel University London the permission to archive this article in BURA (http://bura.brunel.ac.uk).This paper presents a qualitative study on student adoption of mobile library technology in a developing world context. The findings support the applicability of a number of existing constructs from the technology acceptance literature, such as perceived ease of use, social influence and trust. However, they also suggest the need to modify some adoption factors previously found in the literature to fit the specific context of mobile library adoption. Perceived value was found to be a more relevant overarching adoption factor than perceived usefulness for this context. Facilitating conditions were identified as important but these differed somewhat from those covered in earlier literature. The research also uncovered the importance of trialability for this type of application. The findings provide a basis for improving theory in the area of mobile library adoption and suggest a number of practical design recommendations to help designers of mobile library technology to create applications that meet user needs

QoE Modelling, Measurement and Prediction: A Review

In mobile computing systems, users can access network services anywhere and anytime using mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones. These devices connect to the Internet via network or telecommunications operators. Users usually have some expectations about the services provided to them by different operators. Users' expectations along with additional factors such as cognitive and behavioural states, cost, and network quality of service (QoS) may determine their quality of experience (QoE). If users are not satisfied with their QoE, they may switch to different providers or may stop using a particular application or service. Thus, QoE measurement and prediction techniques may benefit users in availing personalized services from service providers. On the other hand, it can help service providers to achieve lower user-operator switchover. This paper presents a review of the state-the-art research in the area of QoE modelling, measurement and prediction. In particular, we investigate and discuss the strengths and shortcomings of existing techniques. Finally, we present future research directions for developing novel QoE measurement and prediction technique

Adoption of Mobile Financial Services among Rural Under-Banked

During the last decade, there has been tremendous growth in mobile penetration in many countries across the globe and most interestingly in a number of developing countries. On the other hand around, half of the world’s population is deprived of banking and financial services. This paper is based on a study that was aimed to identify drivers and inhibitors for adoption of MFS among the rural under-banked population and to compare the same with that of the existing studies. During the study, an extensive review of literature was conducted to identify the factors that were studied and found significantly affecting the adoption of mobile financial services. This was followed by an exploratory qualitative research conducted among the rural under-banked population of three distinct states in India. The findings of the study indicate that the demand for banking and financial services and the amount of hardships faced in availing these services through the existing channels of delivery can act as strong drivers for MFS adoption among the rural under-banked. On the other hand, factors like lack of trust on technology and lack of technology readiness were found to act as barriers to the adoption of MFS.

Factors affecting net benefit of Google Drive adoption decision : a case study of Thais’ living in Bangkok, Thailand

Purpose: The research proceeded to investigate the factors affecting net benefit of google drive adoption decision among Thais living in Bangkok, Thailand. Design/Methodology/Approach: The data were collected from 412 respondents through convenient sampling technique by online questionnaire. Information quality, system quality, service quality, user satisfaction, intention to use and net benefit, validity and reliability of each variables were examined by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Model (SEM). Findings: The results showed that user satisfaction has the most direct effect on net benefit. Moreover, information quality, system quality and service quality were indirectly affected on net benefit of google drive. Therefore, google drive serve quality system that matches with customer satisfaction and expectation to improve job efficiency. Practical Implications: Although previous studies have identified on the use of google drive in collaborative business operations. However, the factors behind the use of google drive cloud system and the decisions behind the adaptation would provide useful insights for better understanding of the mechanism. Originality/Value: This research provides advanced recommendations to those who concern on the use of efficient google drive features not only to develop its features, but also to strengthen the smooth and flexible work patterns in organizations.peer-reviewe

A Meta Analysis on Adoption of Mobile Financial Services

During the last decade, there has been tremendous growth in mobile penetration in many countries across the globe including a number of developing countries. The total number of mobile subscription 5 billion by the end of 2010 and is further expected to grow multi-folds. On the other hand, around 2.5 billion adults worldwide do not have a savings or credit account with either a regulated bank or alternative financial institution (such as a microfinance institution). Around one billion people in emerging markets have a mobile phone but no access to banking services. This scenario has opened immense opportunities for organizations including banks, insurance companies and telecom operators to strengthen their customer base and increase revenue by providing various financial services to the consumers through mobile technology. Hence, it becomes very important to understand the factors that would act as drivers or inhibitors towards the adoption of mobile financial services (MFS). Quite a few studies have been conducted across the globe to determine the factors affecting adoption of MFS. This paper provides a Meta analysis of the existing academic literature on MFS and determines the strength of the factors and their linkages through a scoring model based on the type of publication. The findings of the study would be beneficial for further research in understanding the dimensions to be considered for developing adoption model for MFS. The findings can also be used by the practitioners involved in MFS in understanding the factors affecting demand for such services.

Mobile travel services: A three-country study into the impact of local circumstances

In this paper we explore the difference in acceptance patterns of mobile services that are related to travelling in three countries: Finland, The Netherlands and New Zealand. The objective of this paper is to understand differences in the use of Mobile Travel Services in three countries that differ with regard to national travel patterns. This paper also contributes to the discussion of the relevance of the Technology Acceptance Model for mobile applications by focusing on the importance of context characteristics, such as the degree of mobility of the user, the social situation people are in, and their need for social interaction. Based on surveys in the three countries as executed in 2009, we use structural equation modelling to find differences in patterns. The paper concludes that context factors have an impact on the relation between the core concepts as used in TAM and DOI approach, and that t here is a clear need for closer research in the moderating effect of physical (e.g. mobile and fixed context) and social context, as well as the need for social interaction. Moreover it is clear that country specific characteristics play a role in the acceptance of mobile travel services. As we pointed out in many of our research projects before the acceptance and use of mobile services requires deep understanding from individual, context and technology related characteristics and their mutual interactions

Understanding user experience of mobile video: Framework, measurement, and optimization

Since users have become the focus of product/service design in last decade, the term User eXperience (UX) has been frequently used in the field of Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI). Research on UX facilitates a better understanding of the various aspects of the user’s interaction with the product or service. Mobile video, as a new and promising service and research field, has attracted great attention. Due to the significance of UX in the success of mobile video (Jordan, 2002), many researchers have centered on this area, examining users’ expectations, motivations, requirements, and usage context. As a result, many influencing factors have been explored (Buchinger, Kriglstein, Brandt & Hlavacs, 2011; Buchinger, Kriglstein & Hlavacs, 2009). However, a general framework for specific mobile video service is lacking for structuring such a great number of factors. To measure user experience of multimedia services such as mobile video, quality of experience (QoE) has recently become a prominent concept. In contrast to the traditionally used concept quality of service (QoS), QoE not only involves objectively measuring the delivered service but also takes into account user’s needs and desires when using the service, emphasizing the user’s overall acceptability on the service. Many QoE metrics are able to estimate the user perceived quality or acceptability of mobile video, but may be not enough accurate for the overall UX prediction due to the complexity of UX. Only a few frameworks of QoE have addressed more aspects of UX for mobile multimedia applications but need be transformed into practical measures. The challenge of optimizing UX remains adaptations to the resource constrains (e.g., network conditions, mobile device capabilities, and heterogeneous usage contexts) as well as meeting complicated user requirements (e.g., usage purposes and personal preferences). In this chapter, we investigate the existing important UX frameworks, compare their similarities and discuss some important features that fit in the mobile video service. Based on the previous research, we propose a simple UX framework for mobile video application by mapping a variety of influencing factors of UX upon a typical mobile video delivery system. Each component and its factors are explored with comprehensive literature reviews. The proposed framework may benefit in user-centred design of mobile video through taking a complete consideration of UX influences and in improvement of mobile videoservice quality by adjusting the values of certain factors to produce a positive user experience. It may also facilitate relative research in the way of locating important issues to study, clarifying research scopes, and setting up proper study procedures. We then review a great deal of research on UX measurement, including QoE metrics and QoE frameworks of mobile multimedia. Finally, we discuss how to achieve an optimal quality of user experience by focusing on the issues of various aspects of UX of mobile video. In the conclusion, we suggest some open issues for future study