Consumers and Ubiquitous Commerce

Abstract

own uses of technologies" [2]. The enacted view sees technologies in the context of their use and their acceptance depending on a dynamic, unpredictable and strongly mediated process by the idiosyncrasies, needs, and preferences of individuals and groups. The view of ubiquitous commerce --or of any technology for that matter-- we choose to adopt shapes the questions we ask and our choice of research and evaluation methods. Taking the strategic view would imply that we attempt to identify the "added value" of new products and services to consumers and remove unwanted "barriers to adoption". Service evaluation would focus on the perceived value of services and ignore wider implications of the use of the system. Taking the enacted view implies the adoption of explorative research methods that would try to comprehend consumer perceptions of the impact of the new technologies in their everyday lives. In this brief, I discuss our experience in evaluating MyGrocer, a second generation ubiq