Bekkering, Ernst

Hall, Linnea

Shim, JP

English

AIS Electronic Library (AISeL)

Association for Information SystemsAIS Electronic Library (AISeL)AMCIS 2002 Proceedings Americas Conference on Information Systems(AMCIS)December 2002EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ON PERCEIVEDVALUE OF MOBILE COMMERCE AS ADISTRIBUTION CHANNELJP ShimMississippi State UniversityErnst BekkeringMississippi State UniversityLinnea HallMississippi State UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2002This material is brought to you by the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been acceptedfor inclusion in AMCIS 2002 Proceedings by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contactelibrary@aisnet.org.Recommended CitationShim, JP; Bekkering, Ernst; and Hall, Linnea, "EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ON PERCEIVED VALUE OF MOBILE COMMERCE ASA DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL" (2002). AMCIS 2002 Proceedings. 252.http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2002/2522002  Eighth Americas Conference on Information Systems 1835EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ON PERCEIVED VALUE OF MOBILE COMMERCE AS A DISTRIBUTION CHANNELJ. P. Shim, Ernst Bekkering, and Linnea HallMississippi State Universityjshim@cobilan.msstate.edu ernstb@telepak.netlhall@cobilan.msstate.eduAbstractInternet growth  will be fueled by mobile commerce using mobile telecommunication services. The highlypersonalized, anytime-anywhere access features of mobile telecommunications will cause mobile commerceapplications to grow even faster than fixed-line e-commerce. Mobile commerce will complement, not replacethe fixed-line e-commerce. Our research is designed to answer two major questions: (1) can we identifyqualities of the distribution channel that influence the choice of distribution channel between m-commerce, e-commerce and traditional channels? 2) can we identify groups of goods and services where consumers preferm-commerce as a distribution channel? The data collection for the main study will be conducted usingundergraduate and graduate students drawn from Management Information Systems class at a southeasternuniversity as subjects. Keywords:  Mobile commerce, distribution channel, consumer transactions, mobile devices, fixed-line devicesIntroductionFew topics have received as much attention as the Internet/World Wide Web (Web) in the information technology field. The Webhas become one of the most important mediums for sharing business information in e-commerce. Internet growth will also befueled by mobile commerce (m-commerce)  i.e., the use of mobile telecommunication services to conduct business. In fact, itis likely that the highly personalized, anytime-anywhere access features of mobile telecommunications will cause m-commerceapplications to grow even faster than fixed-line e-commerce in the near future [Shim, Simkin, and Bartlett, 2001].Over the past decade, we have seen significant increases in the use of the Web. As new technologies are introduced, providersexperience stagnation of growth due to an inability to meet the real customers needs, and sudden increases in growth whenproblems are resolved or killer applications are introduced.  We have seen similar patterns in the development of m-commerce.The emphasis has been on development of infrastructure, but actual consumer use has lagged far behind anticipated use of themobile Internet. Part of the explanation lies, without doubt, with the difficulties of using mobile devices with very limited inputand output functions.  Keyboards are tiny, handwriting recognition is inaccurate, and display screens have been very smallcompared with regular computer monitors.  Many experts now consider mobile phones only suitable for buying simple products,such as flowers, travel packages, or concert tickets (Pringle, 2001).  Perhaps we need to focus on the unique capabilities of mobiledevices: providing time-sensitive information anywhere, anytime (Mooney, 2001).In a longitudinal study of usage and satisfaction levels of Internet shopping, reasons to use the Internet for purchasing are givenas convenience, 24-hour availability, timely access to information, and quick response time (Stark and Meyer, 2001).  Majorreasons for not using the Internet for purchases include credit card security concerns, products/service guarantee concerns,inability to check the merchandise physically, unfamiliarity with merchants, and inability to shop quickly and without difficulties(Stark and Meyer, 2001).  Over time, the strengths will remain and problems will be resolved.The mobile Internet has seen similar problems since its inception.  The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) has not been widelyadopted, and recently the proportion of mobile device owners intending to use their handsets for mobile commerce has actuallyMobile Commerce and Location-Based Services1836 2002  Eighth Americas Conference on Information Systemsdeclined (Mobinet 2).  Consumers do not find any uses of these devices   compelling, find them difficult to use (Delaney 2001),and are concerned about security (Mobinet 2).  Very few use their mobile devices to access the Web.  Most consumers prefer touse PC's rather than mobile phones for online shopping (Mobinet 2), even though access is not as universal as it could be witha mobile device.  Perhaps we need to reevaluate if we anticipate mobile devices as substitutes that will eventually replacecomputers with fixed connections or rather as complements  to be used side-by-side.Traditionally, consumers have gone to physical markets and stores.  Before the advent of the Internet, channels such as mail-ordercatalogs and ordering by phone were introduced as alternatives.  M-commerce can be a similar complement to fixed-line e-Commerce, rather than a replacement. Consumers will have an additional choice, and may choose based on perceived ease-of-use,perceived usefulness (Davis 1989), perceived risks of product or service, perceived risk of online transaction, and perceivedsecurity risk.  Not all factors carry the same weight for all products and services, and consequently some products and servicesmay be more suited for m-commerce than others. Furthermore, rather than using the mobile Internet as a segregated distributionchannel, the information providing capabilities could be the deciding factor in consumer purchase decisions. Specifically, twomajor questions are addressed: (1) Can we identify qualities of the distribution channel that influence the choice of distributionchannel between m-commerce, e-commerce and traditional channels? 2) Can we identify groups of goods and services whereconsumers prefer m-commerce as a distribution channel?Prior Significant Works In recent years, the traditional Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) has been expanded to include perceived risk(Bhatnagar et al, 2000) (Kim et al, 2000) in their work on Internet shopping behavior.)  A difference between the study of Kimet al (2000) and our study, is that Kim et als study focused more on consumers and lifestyles, whereas our study focuses moreon the unique qualities of purchasing channels (traditional, Internet, and mobile devices) which could lead consumers to preferone channel over another when performing certain transactions.  Recently, Kim et al (2000) presented that lifestyle can be animportant determinant in choice of marketing channel. However, we feel that the mobile Internet should either be part of an overallmarketing strategy where the unique qualities of the mobile Internet are used to select functions, or vendors and suppliers shouldfocus on those transactions where the mobile Internet has a distinct advantage.  In summary, our research model assumes fourindependent variables (perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use, perceived product risk, and perceived transaction risk), andone dependent categorical variable (the preferred distribution channel).HypothesesRegarding qualities of the distribution channel that influence the choice of distribution channel between m-commerce, e-commerceand traditional channels ,we hypothesize:H1: Lack of perceived ease-of-use of mobile devices will negatively influence the choice of m-commerce asa distribution channel for consumer transactions.H2: Perceived usefulness of mobile devices will positively influence the choice of m-commerce as adistribution channel for consumer transactions.H3: Perceived risk of product or services will negatively influence the choice of m-commerce as a distributionchannel for consumer transactions.H4: Perceived transaction risk will negatively influence the choice of m-commerce as a distribution channelfor consumer transactions.Regarding groups of goods and services where consumers prefer m-commerce as a distribution channel, we hypothesize:H5: Products and services with a high information intensity will negatively influence the choice of m-commerce as a distribution channelH6: High financial risk will be negatively associated with choice of m-commerce as  a distribution channelShim et al./Perceived Value of Mobile Commerce as a Distribution Channel2002  Eighth Americas Conference on Information Systems 1837H7: Products and services with a high benefit of location independence will be  associated with choice of m-commerce as a distribution channelH8: Products and services that benefit from immediate fulfillment of needs, will be positively associated withchoice of m-commerce as a distribution channel.Research MethodologyThe research methodology for this study has two phases: phase one concerns users perceptions and experiences (qualitativemethod) and phase two concerns customers perceptions (quantitative method). For phase one of the study, existentialphenomenological method has been employed. The core assumptions of this method can be described through the metaphors ofpattern, figure/ground, and perspective [Thompson et al, 1989]. Within a given context, a person experiences a view that has apertinent pattern. To employ existential phenomenology in this study, the authors used the interview approach  [Kvale, 1983].Accordingly, respondents were presented with a set of questions (see Appendix A). A sample of participants was obtained bynetworking: people who were identified as having frequently shopped for consumer goods/services on the Internet were askedto name additional people with this experience. The majority of respondents, whose names were obtained through networkingor referral were well-educated, comfortable with computer use, and already somewhat experienced with online shopping.The respondents in this study generally use fixed-line devices, mobile devices, or traditional devices, to make purchases ofgoods/services.  A list of possible uses for mobile commerce that emerged from the literature review and modified by the resultsfrom 9 interviews includes Entertainment, Information, Utility, and Shopping. (see Appendix B1 and B2). The results in this studywill be based on the pretest and on the data collection for the main study. The data collection for the main study will be conductedusing undergraduate and graduate students drawn from a southeastern university as subjects. After the data has been collected, we will perform a Factor Analysis on the variables listed in Appendix B2.  Orthogonal rotationswill be used to clarify the factor structure, but no one oblique rotations will be used so that we will be able to use either factorscores or a summated scale in the second part of the analysis.  In the Multiple Discriminant Analysis, each possible use for m-commerce will be assessed separately, to ascertain which factors (represented either by factor scores or by summated scales)contribute or detract from choosing m-commerce as the preferred distribution channel for the particular activity.  After singlepossible uses of m-commerce have been evaluated, we will also perform a Factor Analysis on the results of the choices inAppendix B1, to evaluate possible groupings of uses for which the three distribution channels are preferred. Finally, we willconsider collapsing the traditional and fixed Internet groups into a single non-mobile commerce group, and use LogisticRegression to discover if the results from the first part of the analysis can help predict choosing for or against m-commerce asa distribution channel.Expected Findings/ConclusionsWe have observed that m-commerce has not lived up to the expectations so far, and we know that changes in human behaviorare currently slower than the changes in technology.  We expect perceived lack of ease-of-use and, to a lesser extent, perceivedlack of usefulness to be stronger negative influences than perceived risks associated with transactions and security.  Perhaps wehave focused too much on making m-commerce safe and secure, and neglected to ask ourselves why consumers would chooseto use a mobile device, when other choices are available and established in the routine of daily life.  We also expect few typesof transactions to be performed preferably by mobile device. This finding may provide guidance for future research to understandperceived value of m-commerce as a distribution channel. What Will be Presented at AMCISThe authors will present the final results from the survey.Note: Appendices, Figures, References are available upon request.

EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ON PERCEIVED VALUE OF MOBILE
COMMERCE AS A DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

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EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ON PERCEIVED VALUE OF MOBILE COMMERCE AS A DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

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