The acceptance and use of mobile banking apps among millennials in Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract : Mobile banking apps are one of the recent improvements in the mobile banking innovation domain that retail banks are promoting to their customers. Research into mobile banking app user behaviour is important to promoting a rapid acceptance of this banking innovation. Despite this, only limited studies have addressed this issue, particularly from the standpoint of emerging nations such as South Africa. Using the Unified Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT 2) model as its theoretical background, this research analysed the drivers of and barriers to mobile banking app acceptance and use among millennials in Gauteng, South Africa. A survey strategy using a self-administered questionnaire was applied to obtain 352 usable responses from customers of the five major South African retail banks (Capitec, Absa, FNB, Nedbank, and Standard Bank). A partial least squares structural equation modelling technique using SmartPLS version 3 was used to assess the measurement model properties and to test the hypotheses proposed for the study. The findings suggest that performance expectancy a, facilitating conditions are significant drivers of millennials’ behavioural intention to use mobile banking apps. Furthermore, perceived risk was found to be a critical barrier to millennials’ behavioural intention to accept mobile banking apps; but, surprisingly, the impact of perceived risk on the actual use of mobile banking apps was found to be insignificant, thus suggesting that perceived risk is not a deterrent to mobile banking app use among millennials who currently use the innovation. Moreover, the actual use of mobile banking apps was found be strongly and positively associated with behavioural intention and facilitating conditions. The findings of this study contribute to the limited literature that currently exists on mobile banking apps acceptance in emerging countries such as South Africa. In addition, this study validates the UTAUT2 in a different country (South Africa), in a different age group (millennials), and in a different technology domain (mobile banking apps), and thus contributes towards cross-cultural validation of the UTAUT2 beyond its original setting.M.Com. (Marketing Management

E-migrant women entrepreneurs: mobile money apps, transnational communication and the maintenance of social practices

This study set out to investigate how mobile money apps facilitate the maintenance of interpersonal relationships and transnational communication practices among migrant women entrepreneurs. Mobile money apps such as MamaMoney, MoneyTrans and Mukuru are a form of communication that are relevant and beneficial to the unbanked migrant women entrepreneurs in South Africa. The main research question was: how do mobile money apps facilitate the maintenance of interpersonal relationships and transnational communication practices among migrant women entrepreneurs? The methodology was informed by a feminist qualitative approach to three focus group discussions with fifteen participants from Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A thematic analysis of transcriptions of focus group discussions was conducted and two broad themes were identified. The first broad theme explores the communicative dimensions of money transfer through mobile money apps by migrant women entrepreneurs, particularly in relation to their roles as mothers, daughters, sisters and friends in the diaspora. The second broad theme is the use of mobile money apps to solicit emergency funds and financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicate that mobile money apps have reshaped communication practices of migrant women entrepreneurs by enhancing interpersonal communication and facilitating social practices. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the two-way nature of bonds of mutual support amongst migrants. This study also draws on the idea of remittance scripts (Carling, 2014). Remittance scripts are a helpful way to conceptualise remittances as social transactions that take several different forms. The theoretical frameworks used in this dissertation are reverse remittances (Mazzucato, 2011), networked individualism (Raine and Wellman, 2012) and polymedia (Madianou and Miller, 2013). The importance of reverse remittances during the COVID-19 period highlights reciprocal bonds of social saving when eMWEs used mobile money apps to solicit financial help and emergency relief when they were unable to work due to the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa. Reverse remittances also highlight the shift in power relations and the need for communication between eMWEs' and their families and friends at home. As suggested by Kusimba et al., (2015) the application of networked individualism in modern African societies is used in this study to understand how mobile money apps have afforded eMWEs with personal communication channels in addition to household-centred communication around money. Polymedia is used in this study to understand how eMWEs use mobile money apps in conjunction with the complementary affordances of other platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, which compensate for limitations of mobile money apps

Designing for user experience : analysing app store reviews for app feature identification

Abstract: South Africa's blood stock level is often categorised as alarmingly low, leaving blood donation organisations in constant need of voluntary, unpaid blood donations to ensure their ability to supply hospitals with safe blood. Globally, there are successful mobile blood donation apps facilitating blood donation by providing useful services to blood donors, however similar apps available in South Africa are new, and not popular when compared to global standards. An estimated 5.9 million South Africans download and use mobile applications (apps), and this paper explores the process and results from the first phase of a study, which employed a sequential mixed method research design, to identify userpreferred features for a mobile blood donation app. The findings of the study should serve as a roadmap to blood donation organisations in South Africa, regarding what users expect from a blood donation app, and which features may possibly stimulate a constant or increased frequency of blood donation instances. The two largest app stores, Google Play and Apple iOS, served as the sources of the eventual sample of blood donation apps, of which the user reviews were analysed. Commenting from a design science paradigm, this paper reports on the selection process that had been followed to sample the relevant apps, and further discusses the user insights gained from the analysis of these apps' reviews. The paper further reports on how the app review analysis findings informed the creation of an interview schedule, that was used to gain in-depth understanding of perceptions held by users of the blood donation apps, specifically regarding the users' preferred features in these types of apps

Exploring the attitudes and behaviour of generation Z students towards branded mobile applications.

Master of Commerce. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2017.With the increasing mobile activity of the Generation Z market (those born after 1994) in South Africa, marketers’ interest in this social group is rising. This research attempts to uncover the relatively unknown attitudes and behaviour of the youth market in South Africa around branded mobile applications. The research problem focuses on the academic literature gap of the latest group of consumers: Generation Z. Previous studies on mobile marketing have focused on Generation X and Generation Y. Furthermore, only quantitative studies have been performed on the youth market and mobile applications in South Africa. This study is based on the theoretical framework of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Model 2. The study employed a qualitative framework with focus groups as the data collection method. The focus groups were stratified on gender and the participants ranged from 18-21 years old. The study was conducted at a private tertiary institution in Durban, South Africa. The findings indicate that the participants had both positive and negative attitudes towards branded mobile applications, however there were more positive than negative attitudes. In terms of behaviour, on average, participants had between 7-10 apps on their phone but only used 4-6 apps every day. The findings revealed the most popular branded mobile application as Whatsapp. Furthermore, social influences, facilitating conditions, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, hedonic motivation, price value and habit are all influencers of branded mobile application behaviour. The results identify age, gender and experience as moderating factors related to the attitudes and behaviour of Generation Z students with mobile apps. As a recommendation, the issue of privacy and its effect on mobile app adoption is a factor to be researched in the future for academics. The research also provides recommendations for marketers and app developers such as incorporating permission marketing into mobile applications

INFLUENCE OF SMART MOBILE TRAVEL APPS ENABLED TAXIS ON LOCAL URBAN ROAD TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Conference ProceedingsInnovation and technology are critical to reinforce sustainability in road transportation. In recent years’ smart technologies such as ‘Smart Mobile Travel Apps’ are influencing mobility particularly in cities. For example, ‘smart mobile Apps’ enabled ride shares and taxi services have become significant components in cities. However, while they are offering new opportunities in the urban mobility system, they are also bringing in certain sustainability and functional challenges. Therefore, using the case studies of ride share and taxi services provided by use of such ‘Smart Mobile Travel Apps’ in two cities - Cape Town in South Africa and Kolkata in India, this study examined the acceptability and availability of Smart Mobile Travel App enabled taxis and the challenges faced by these taxi services in cities of developing countries. An inductive and explorative survey research method was used for this study. Findings suggest that ‘Smart Mobile Travel Apps’ enabled ride shares and taxi services are highly acceptable and available to people for local accessibility in cities, although the cost of travel varies. However, there are challenges with regards to internet connectivity and its reliability and skill to use these Apps. Furthermore, there is a need for free internet connectivity hot spots in different parts of the cities for smooth operation and improved accessibility of these taxis

Investigating the effect of gamification on the adoption of fitness apps on mobile devices in South Africa

Despite the large number of downloads of mobile apps and the growth of the fitness mobile app industry, research shows that fitness mobile apps are faced with the issue of having a low adoption rate. This thesis focusses on fitness mobile apps and attempts to understand this issue of adoption or continuous fitness mobile app usage in a South African context and specifically looks at the role of gamification in fitness mobile app adoption. The research is conducted to better understand how gamification affects and can improve fitness mobile app adoption. Gamification can be defined as the addition of points, badges, leaderboards and other elements found in games to other non-game related areas such as fitness apps. A survey was administered to three cohorts of students at the University of Cape Town in South Africa to assess this. The cohorts focused on MyFitnessPal, Nike+ or Strava gamified fitness mobile apps, respectively, in order to allow for comparisons of survey responses across the three fitness mobile apps. The survey design used an extension of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to quantitatively measure the relationship between gamification in fitness mobile apps and the behavioural intention to adopt the fitness mobile app. User perspectives on how gamification affects adoption of fitness mobile apps was also gathered in the survey. Perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU) and perceived enjoyment (PE) were found to have a positive relationship to the behavioural intention (BI) to adopt a fitness mobile app in the sample. Across the cohort’s subjective norm didn't significantly contribute to the BI to adopt a fitness mobile app. Interestingly it was found to correlate negatively with the variable BI when analyzing the responses from the Nike+ cohort. In the cohorts for MyFitnessPal and Strava this was not the case as these two variables were found to be positively correlated. The progress bar was perceived to be the most useful gamification element in a fitness mobile app in all three cohorts when compared with leaderboards, badges, levels and points. When looking at how gamification improves adoption motivations the following popular reasons were provided by participants: progress tracking and achievement (encourage improvement). This was followed by the common themes PEU, PE, award/incentive, competitive aspect and goal setting assistance. The findings from this study contribute to better understanding how gamification improves fitness app adoption in a South African context

Patients' Experiences in Using Diabetes Self-Management Application: A Scoping Review

Diabetes cases continue to increase and burden the nursing system worldwide. Diabetes Self-Management application software (DSM apps) can enable patients to manage their disease independently while simultaneously reducing the burden of the system. These apps are already available, yet global patients’ interests in using them are still low. This research aimed to describe the global tendencies of diabetes app usage as an effort to manage diabetes cases by exploring the perceptions of diabetes patients on the use of DSM apps. This study summarized journal searches from the Elsevier, Wiley, BMC, and JMIR database with the search terms “web-based and mobile technology,” “digital health intervention,” “diabetes management mobile application,” “mobile health for diabetes self-management,” “tablet-based self-management,” and “diabetes self-management qualitative.” A total of nine journals published between January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2020, that meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected. The study concluded diabetic patients in Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, and America stated that the DSM apps used was helpful in managing diabetes. Other demographic factors such as age, level of education, and economic status have influenced the perception and tendency to use DSM apps

Investigating the Usability and Quality of Experience of Mobile Video-Conferencing Apps Among Bandwidth-Constrained Users in South Africa

In response to Covid-19 and global lockdowns, we have seen a surge in video-conferencing tools' usage to enable people to work from home and stay connected to family and friends. Although understanding the performance and the perceived quality of experience for users with bandwidth caps and poor internet connections could guide the design of video-conferencing apps, the usability of video-conferencing applications have been severely overlooked in developing countries like South Africa, where one-third of adults rely on mobile devices to access the internet and where the per-gigabyte data cost is some of the most expensive in Africa. Considering these numbers, we conduct a two-prong study where 1) we measure bandwidth consumption of different Android apps through bandwidth measurement experiments and 2) we conduct interviews with bandwidth-constrained users to better understand their perceptions of mobile videoconferencing apps. The key benefit of this study will be to inform organisations that seek to be inclusive about these tools' relative usability by letting them know about the factors influencing users' quality of experience