Exploring Mobile Commerce Adoption Maturity: An Empirical Investigation

With the proliferation of mobile devices, studies on Mobile Commerce (MC) adoption have received increasing attention from researchers in Information technology. While there are many studies in the literature that have investigated MC adoption by individuals, these studies mainly investigate the factors that lead to usage. However, they do not examine how individuals may progress or mature from basic use of mobile devices to more sophisticated usage. In this study, we develop MC Adoption Maturity Model to show how individuals may mature in MC adoption. This model is examined by conducting qualitative data with 10 individuals. The study enriches our understanding of technology adoption by individuals because it explains how existing users of a technology, such as mobile technology, advance in their MC usage

The adoption of mobile commerce services by individuals: A Current State of the Literature

The lack of strong market growth in most Mobile Commerce markets indicates that improved functionality, affordability, and availability of mobile technology do not lead automatically to wide-spread adoption of these services. Therefore, developing an understanding of the factors that influence end-user (consumer) behaviour and acceptance of new mobile services is important at this early stage of the mobile evolution because consumer acceptance is a critical foundation for the continued expansion of the market for mobile services. In this paper we analyse and synthesise the existing literature which focuses on the factors that impact the adoption of mobile commerce services by individuals. We develop an innovative framework to guide this analysis and review 100 studies. Results show a clear imbalance in the existing literature and bias towards some types of adoption factors in favour of other equally important factors

Exploring Enterprise Systems Adoption in Bahrain

Enterprise Systems (ES) are multi-million dollar systems that are adopted by organizations to improve their operations. However, implementation of these systems is not straightforward and challenging, as it requires changes in work practices and business practices. These systems become more complicated for organizations in developing countries as they are based on western assumptions. While there are studies that examine ES adoption in developing countries, there are still conflicting results. In this study, we examine the critical success factors in different stages of ES implementation using multiple case studies of three organizations in Bahrain. The findings show that there are different factors important in different stages of implementation. Some of these factors are important throughout the implementation and others are important in particular phases. This research has important implications for research and practice

The adoption of advanced mobile commerce services by individuals: investigating the impact of the interaction between the consumer and the mobile service provider

© 2009 Dr. Yousuf Salim AlHinaiThis research investigates the impact of the interaction between the consumer and mobile service provider on the adoption of advanced mobile commerce services by existing consumers of mobile technology. These factors include: 1) Perceived Relationship Quality (PRQ), which is the consumer’s evaluation of the quality of his/her relationship with the mobile service provider, and 2) Perceived Value of the Adoption Incentive (PVI), which is the consumer’s evaluation of the value of incentives that are offered by the service provider to entice him/her to adopt the mobile service. The influence of these factors on consumer attitudes and intentions towards adopting mobile commerce services is studied and compared with three other well-known adoption factors including perceived usefulness, ease of use and the subjective norm. This study was undertaken in three parts. Firstly, a conceptual study was conducted to investigate and analyse the existing literature on consumer adoption of mobile commerce services. This phase started with a general review of the existing studies using a novel model: the Entities-Interactions Framework, EIF. The EIF explains adoption behaviour in terms of interactions between the consumer and the other entities including the mobile service, the service provider and the social system. This framework was used to analyse the extent to which important adoption factors have been covered by past research and therefore identify the research questions. The conceptual study resulted in the development of a research model and relevant hypotheses. Secondly, a large-scale questionnaire survey was conducted to test the research model and the proposed hypotheses. This part of the research helped give a broad picture of the influence of consumer-service provider factors on consumer adoption of mobile commerce services. Thirdly, face-to-face interviews with mobile phones users were conducted in order to validate the survey results and provide an understanding of the mechanisms that control the impact of the investigated factors. The research found that PRQ and PVI have an important influence on the attitude and intention of existing mobile phone users towards accepting and using advanced mobile commerce services. Furthermore, the research found that these newly introduced factors are more influential on consumer adoption perceptions than other well-established factors. The study enriches our understanding of technology adoption by individuals because it explains why an existing user of a technology, such as mobile technology, will or will not adopt advanced versions of that technology. The findings affirm that in the context of communication technologies, which are interactive by nature, understanding the interaction between consumers and service providers is a key to understanding the progressive adoption by consumers of advanced forms of these technologies. The thesis provides practitioners (particularly mobile service providers) with a better understanding of the impact and implication of their interaction with consumers on consumers’ acceptance and use of mobile services. The study emphasises the importance of incorporating this understanding throughout the mobile service provision process, starting from the conceptualisation of the service to the actual provision of the service to the market. The study also offers a novel comprehension of how to view each mobile service offer as a consequence of the previous offer and a precedent of the next in order to enhance consumer adoption of mobile service in the short and long runs

Investigatng The Social Impact of Social Networking Media on Teenagers From 13 to 19 Years Old in Oman

The burst in the use of social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo and Friendster has brought many opportunities, changes and challenges into our world. The impact of this type of media can be social, psychological, and/or economic. For many societies, the social impact is a major concern since these technologies with their rapid spread have succeeded in influencing the attitudes of various groups of individuals. The role that social media played in the recent unrests in the Arab world is a clear example of such an impact. Oman, like all other countries, is also facing the same challenge. Among all other age groups in Oman, teenagers from 13 to 19 years old make up a major segment in the demographic structure of the country. Therefore, it is very important to study and understand the impact of the rapidly-growing social networking media on this group. The present research aims to contribute to this understanding by investigating the social impact of social networking media on teenagers in Oman. We survey teenagers’ use of and perceptions about these technologies, in addition to parents’ perceptions. By combining these two perspectives, this research aims to provide several contributions to both theory and practice. The results revealed that almost all teenagers (99%) agreed that the social networking sites are beneficial. They believe that using social networking sites does not impact their social behavior.

E-Commerce Practices in the Arabian Gulf GCC Business Culture: Utilisation and Outcomes Patterns

With the growth of e-commerce-related activities and practices in recent years, the role of culture in promoting such growth has been brought to question. Cultures that tend to foster e-commerce practices have been labelled as e-cultures. In contrast, cultures that binder e-commerce growth have been labelled as traditional cultures. Most of our knowledge related to ecommerce applications and frameworks for implementation is based on studies from e-cultures. The study, at hand, examines e-commerce activities and practices in the traditional Arab culture. The results obtained from this study tended to be similar to the results obtained from the US e-culture. Thus, the growth of, or lack of, e-commerce may not be explained solely based on cultural factors. Perhaps, other factors such as informational infrastructure may be more relevant in explaining the acceptability and growth of e-commerce than the cultural context. Research examining the impact of these factors on e-commerce growth is needed towards establishing frameworks for the implementation of e-commerce and guidelines for managers in a global context