Mobile banking and mobile payment acceptance

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Information Management, specialization in Information and Decision SystemsTechnological advancements registered in the last three decades have revolutionized the financial industry, promoting major changes in the financial services provided. The spread of Internet-enabled phones, smart phones and tablets combined with fast and reliable communications networks, have encourage banks and service providers to provide a new set of self-service banking applications to mobile devices. These facts combined with the globalisation of business and systems are reinforcing the need to acquire a deeper understand on the impact of the acceptance of mobile services. With this dissertation we intend to contribute to a better understanding of the determinants of mobile banking and mobile payments services acceptance and use, at individual level. For this reason we developed a total of five different studies; four about mobile banking and one about the mobile payment. We started in chapter two with a mobile banking literature weight and meta-analysis. The impact of culture in the mobile banking acceptance in an African developing country is analysed in chapter three, trying to better identify how culture influences individual use behaviour. In chapter four we study the mobile payment, trying to identify the direct and indirect effects on the determinants of adoption and the intention to recommend this technology. In chapter five we return to mobile banking, intending to identify the potential impact of the utilization of game mechanics and game design techniques in the acceptance of these services. In the fifth and last study, presented in chapter six, we analyse data from three different countries in three distinct continents, combining acceptance with trust and risk, simultaneously capturing success and resistance factors towards mobile banking intention and use behaviour. In epistemological terms, we adopted a posture characteristic of positivism. With regard the theoretical framework, besides the weight and meta-analysis study, we use the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) (Venkatesh et al., 2012) in all the studies; namely combining it with (i) cultural moderators (Hofstede, 1980) in the third chapter, (ii) the innovation characteristics of the diffusion of innovations (DOI) (Rogers, 2003), the perceived technology security, and the intention to recommend constructs in the fourth chapter, (iii) a gamification impact construct in the fifth chapter, and (iv) trust and risk model (Bélanger & Carter, 2008) in the sixth chapter. This work provides several contributions for research and practice, contributing to the advancement of knowledge, exploring and discussing direct implications for banks, financial institutions, service providers, service managers, IT and marketing departments, users, and researchers. The innovative models that we use in our work combine the strengths and constructs from well-known theoretical models, providing a solid foundation to our studies. In summary, considering all studies and datasets used, the intention best drivers were (i) habit, found significant in three studies and five datasets and (ii) performance expectancy, found significant in all five studies and in six datasets, and in the use best drivers were (i) habit, found significant in three studies and five datasets and (ii) intention, found significant in two studies. Considering the studies individually, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, short term, and power distance were found to be the most significant cultural moderators, providing new insights into factors affecting the acceptation and how culture influences individual use behaviour. In terms of mobile payment, the relevance of customer’s intention to recommend mobile payment technology in social networks and other means of communication was confirmed, supporting the recommendation to include it in social marketing campaigns and in future technology adoption studies. A direct and strong relationship between gamification and intention was also confirmed, showing that, when used and designed properly, gamification can help make banking activities more exciting, more interesting, and more enjoyable, and in turn increase customer acceptance, engagement and satisfaction. From the multi-group analysis between countries additional results were found, supporting services customization and marketing campaigns adaptations accordingly. For the intention to use mobile banking, (i) performance expectancy is a more important factor for Portuguese than Brazilian users, (ii) hedonic motivation is a more important factor for Mozambican users than Portuguese or Brazilian ones, and (iii) price value is significant and more important for Mozambican than Portuguese users. For the use behaviour, (i) behavioural intention is a more important factor for Mozambican than Portuguese or Brazilian users and (ii) the facilitating conditions is a more important factor for Mozambican than Portuguese or Brazilian users. A theoretical model based in the best intention and use predictors found in literature is presented, from the weight and meta-analysis’ results, supporting further and future studies in this area

Determinants of user continuance intention towards mobile money services : the case of M-pesa in Kenya

Includes bibliographical referencesThe turn of the millennium witnessed the uptake and proliferation of mobile technology in developing regions. This occurrence has provided a medium for mobile telecommunication vendors within the region to create and offer services that are now accessible across socio-economic classes. A notable case of a widely adopted mobile technology-enabled service in the developing world is a mobile money service in Kenya called M-pesa. Since its inception, M-pesa has witnessed a mass adoption which has generally been attributed to prior lack of access by majority of individuals' in the country to affordable regulated financial services. M-pesa's presence has now been anticipated to afford a larger population the initial opportunity to harness economic benefits such as: increase money circulation, increase employment opportunities, facilitate social capital accumulation, facilitate savings, and promote financial autonomy, amongst others. Also, M-pesa based transactions in Kenya are reported to exceed those of western union globally. Whilst M-pesa presently vaunts large user adoption numbers, it is the first of its kind in the region to amass such achievement. Further, historically: products and services of similar nature to M-pesa have been unsustainable. A case of M-pesa's demise would have dire implication for the Kenyan economy and 30% of the households in the country that rely on it for remittances. To understand this phenomenon, extant studies have examined the drivers of adoption of this service but have slacked in subsequent investigations to understand user continuance with the service. As such, the information systems literature cautions that initial adoption of technology, although crucial, does not guarantee sustained use. Therefore it is imperative to investigate drivers of continuance. In general, extant research has not focused on investigations of user continuance intention in Africa. In response, this thesis presents an African based study on the determinants of user continuance intention towards M-pesa. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to i) identify and discuss factors from the literature that are most likely to influence user continuance intention towards M-pesa, (ii) develop a research model that is grounded in theory, (iii) test the model within the sample context to identify the antecedents and determinants of user continuance intention towards M-pesa in Kenya. A broad, critical review of the relevant literature provided basis for hypothesized relationships between the identified factors. A formal survey of users of M-pesa in Kenya comprised the phase of data collection and resulted in a usable data set of (n=434). The data collected from the respondents within Kenya was relied upon to test the hypotheses. The survey instrument used to measure the study's constructs was developed via a process of literature review, expert pre-testing, pilot testing, and statistical validation. Partial Least Square and Artificial Neural Network analyses were used to examine the study's measurement and structural model comprising variables of : behavioural beliefs (post-usage usefulness, confirmation, satisfaction), control-beliefs (utilization and flow), object-based beliefs (perceived task-technology fit, system quality, information quality, and service quality), and attitudinal belief (trust). Collectively, the afore-listed ten independent variables and one dependent variable (continuance intention) comprised the study's model. Four of the independent variables (utilization, satisfaction, flow, and trust) were hypothesized to directly determine continuance intention. Of these four, all emerged as determinants of continuance intention. However, trust emerged as the strongest determinant, subsequently, utilization, flow, and satisfaction respectively. The result was unexpected, as satisfaction (a behavioural belief) has been presented in the extant literature as the dominant determinant of continuance intention but does not hold a consistent predictive strength in a developing world. Its predictive power was diluted by trust, utilization, and flow amongst the Kenyan sample. The study's model revealed an R² of 0.334. The analyses demonstrated that user continuance intention is determined by factors across object, control, attitudinal, and behavioural beliefs. The unexpected finding of the rankings of predictive strength of the factors turns a new leaf and introduces areas of further inquiry in future studies. The study concludes with realized contributions to theory and important guidelines for current and future technology-enabled service vendors in developing regions

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Ethics and social responsibility in the Nigerian insurance industry: a multi-methods approach

The concern about how business should behave as one of the dominant institutions in society, widely referred to as corporate social responsibility, has been a subject of interest among academics and practitioners all over the world. The increasing global outlook of business activities and the need to understand environments in most parts of the globe have also made this concept relevant for all time. This thesis therefore relates to a study, which assesses the perceived role of ethics and social responsibility for organisational effectiveness in a developing and African country. It was argued that ethics and social responsibility must first be perceived to be important for business success, before managers’ behaviour can become ethical and reflect greater social responsibility. Using a mainly qualitative approach and aided by some quantitative analysis, the study explored the perceived importance of this construct (ethics and social responsibility) for organisational effectiveness among insurance managers in the Nigerian insurance industry. This exploration and the analysis are based on the theoretical assumptions that personal and situational factors do influence managers’ perception of the importance of ethics and social responsibility and its business assumption. These, therefore, constitute major outcomes of the study. Given that the study is the first of its kind in the insurance industry, and Nigeria, a developing economy, its outcomes further aids our understanding of how managers in an African socio-economic context perceive the construct and their readiness to translate it into business practice. Above all, the thesis demonstrates that the perceived importance of ethics and social responsibility for organisational effectiveness is a function of industry and product nature, individual moral values, corporate ethical values and organisational commitment. The findings suggest that meeting customers’ expectations reinforce trust-relationship, which in turn is moderated by some other personal-situational factors. The findings also indicate that highly idealistic managers were more sympathetic towards the welfare of others, and have higher perception of the important role of ethics and social responsibility for business success

Modeling and Analysis of Complex Technology Adoption Decisions: An Investigation in the Domain of Mobile ICT

Mobile information and communication technologies (ICT) promise to significantly transform enterprises, their business processes and services, improve employee productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency, and create new competitive advantages and business agility. Despite the plethora of potential benefits, however, widespread enterprise adoption of mobile ICT has not been as extensive as initially anticipated. Drawing on the extant information systems, technology management, and organizational innovation literature, this dissertation investigates the salient drivers and inhibitors of emerging ICT adoption, in general, and mobile ICT in particular, and develops an integrative ICT adoption decision framework. From this synthesis we identify four broad elements that influence an enterprise s decision to adopt mobile ICT: (1) business value, (2) costs and economics, (3) strategic alignment, and (4) enterprise readiness. The latter decision element has received only little theoretical and practical attention. In order to fill this gap, this dissertation explored the concept of enterprise readiness in further detail and identified eight key dimensions and their associated assessment indicators. Using a two-stage expert study and experimental design approach, we empirically validated these dimensions and determined their relative importance. Results indicated that leadership readiness followed by technology, data and information, and resource readiness, contributed the most to enterprise readiness for mobile ICT. The results are implemented into a web-based readiness diagnostic tool (RDT) that enables decision makers to assess an enterprise s readiness for mobile ICT. The benefits of the RDT are multifold: first, it navigates the decision maker through the complex readiness assessment space; second, it identifies potential organizational deficiencies and provides a means to assess potential sources of risks associated with the adoption and implementation of mobile ICT; and third, it enables decision makers to benchmark their level of readiness against other organizations. The dissertation concludes by highlighting both theoretical and practical implications for emerging and mobile ICT adoption management and suggesting directions for future research.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Rouse, William; Committee Member: Cross, Steve; Committee Member: Cummins, Michael; Committee Member: DeMillo, Richard; Committee Member: Vengazhiyil, Rosha

Exploring factors impacting e-commerce adoption in tourism industry in Saudi Arabia

With the internet revolutionising global tourism, technological changes continue to make inroads into the industry’s marketing and sales management models. Although many tourists still use shopfront providers, they are increasingly becoming a minority as the ‘mobile generation’ goes online for information and uses social media to discuss their holiday plans and book travel services. In Saudi Arabia, the religious tourism industry serving Hajj and Umrah pilgrims as well as other tourism clusters have been slow in coming to terms with e-commerce trends, preferring to offer a traditional personalised service to their clients. However, the logistical needs of servicing the rapidly increasing numbers of international pilgrims and growing IT literacy in the local market means that tourism management in Saudi Arabia needs to make considerable investments in time, resources and training to harness information technology and adopt business models that are at par with their global competitors. To respond to this issue, this study explores the perceptions and experiences of executives in the Hajj/Umrah as well as other tourism industry sectors to understand the factors that may have fostered or impeded e-commerce adoption. This research contributes to the existing research on e-commerce adoption in Saudi Arabia by providing an explanation of the factors that influence the adoption of e-commerce by the tourism industry and explaining how generic theories of technology adoption need to be contextualised for the specific conditions prevailing in the Arab tourism market. The practical contribution on this research relates to the solutions it offers for the challenges faced by the travel and tourism industry in e-commerce adoption in Saudi Arabia. The research was conducted using interviews with Saudi tourism executives to understand the contextual factors that influence the norms and attitudes prevailing in the tourism business that affect their adoption of e-commerce. This was followed by a questionnaire which was sent to a larger sample in Saudi cities, mainly focussing on Jeddah. The questionnaire focused on uncovering the factors influencing the adoption, or lack thereof, of e-commerce in the Saudi tourism industry. The research was grounded on a theoretical framework derived from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, Perceived Organisational and External E-Readiness scales, and Organisational Cultural Dimensions. The findings confirmed that the perceived relative advantage of e-commerce utilisation was an essential contributor to promote e-commerce in Saudi Arabia. Although government policy and industry norms were shown to influence e-commerce adoption, executives’ attitudes were found to strongly affect technology adoption and were shown to be indirectly modified by their ICT literacy and customer influence. Internal human and ICT resources also had a direct impact on the decision to adopt e-commerce. On the other hand, customers’ attitude relating to issues regarding online privacy and security and a lack of human interaction in a market with a preference for personalised agent service for customers form significant barriers to their adoption of e-commerce. There is also a lack of industry leadership and a supportive Saudi-based IT industry that can facilitate this move toward modernisation in industry standards. While there is a broad understanding of the importance of e-commerce, the tourism providers view an e-commerce strategy as not yet necessary, or indeed not yet relevant, for the tourism industry in Saudi Arabia at this time

THE ROLE OF THE BRAND: EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECT OF A BRAND CHANGE ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF ELEVEN SOUTH AFRICAN RETAILERS

Has the role of the brand eroded to the point where it no longer influences the customer’s choice or the retailer’s financial performance? Does the brand have little to no relevance to either the customer or the company, to the extent that even an abrupt change in a retailer’s brand will not have a detrimental effect on financial performance? The overarching hypothesis of this research is that in contemporary multi-category mass-market retailing, the retailer brand has little to no effect on a retailer’s financial performance but that the dimensions of the retail mix are all important. This thesis argues that whilst the brand may play a role in certain retail environments, in multi-category, mass market retailing, the brand plays little to no role! The study conducted quantitative analysis, using empirical, secondary, scanner based data. The data consists of 36775 sales data points and 6 further variables for each of 987 stores across eleven multi-category mass-market South African retailers, over thirty six months (all references to 987 stores relate to a specific point in time post acquisition of the group; the average number of stores p. a. over three years of the analysis was 1021). The research used a linear mixed model, and analysis of variance to examine the effect of key dimensions of the retail mix (price, merchandise assortment, location and credit offer) on sales performance, and to examine the effect of different levels of each dimension on sales performance. Secondly, the research used a linear mixed model supported where relevant by paired t-tests and relative difference analysis to examine the effect on financial performance of both an abrupt change in a retailer’s brand and of a change in the retailer’s credit offer. The proposed research will investigate what happens when eleven established dominant brands are abruptly consolidated into five. The research will further investigate the short and long term effect of a change in the credit offer which improves affordability