A framework of mobile transaction use : the user's perspective

• Main Author: Alqahtani, Mohammed
• Published: University of East Anglia 2015
• Subjects: 004
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.681509

The remarkable advances of mobile technologies and the prevalence of mobile devices have profoundly transformed telephony systems. They provide functionalities which surpass telephony needs, and which motivate the development of value-added mobile services and functions. The number of mobile phones in use far exceeds any other technical devices that could be used to market, sell, produce, or deliver products and services to consumers. These developments open lucrative opportunities to retailers and service providers. The literature highlights the fact that mobile transactions (m-transactions) are one of the most critical incentives for successful mobile commerce (m-commerce). However, the successfulness of m-transaction systems in Saudi Arabia requires a strong acceptance of the Saudi consumers. The importance of this study is accentuated by the fact that mobile commerce and its services are still in their infancy and there is still an apparent lack of acceptance of mobile transactions amongst Saudi users. Research needs to address the issue of acceptance of m-transactions from the user’s perspective, particularly within developing countries as they suffer from a noticeable lack of studies in this field. This research initially starts with a comprehensive literature review about the critical factors affecting the acceptance and use of electronic commerce (e-commerce), m-commerce and focuses on m-transactions, including different technology acceptance models and theories, helping to investigate whether there exists an effective comprehensive framework for adopting m-transactions within the context of Saudi Arabia and, more specifically, from a consumer’s perspective. Furthermore, to emphasize the true value measure of m-transaction, we must comprehend and evaluate the potency and limitations of mobile purchasing and the key factors affecting the m-transaction use decision. M-transactions hold a huge potential for online business and sales, but merely having an m-transaction service “hosted” on the World Wide Web (WWW) should not lead us to believe that customers will rush into mobile commercial websites for their desired products. Recognising that fact and realizing that there are different important factors and concerns over m-transactions playing a significant role, highlight the need for investigating and developing a framework that encompasses the critical factors affecting the intention to use m-transaction within the context of a Saudi consumer’s perspective. In order to achieve this goal, this study evolved in several stages aiming to reach a satisfactory level of maturity. These stages can be divided into three main phases: (1) exploratory phase which contains three exploratory studies which helped to add the cultural qualities as a further dimension that would play a significant role in such a unique cultural region. Consequently, a holistic framework is integrated that includes the key factors affecting the intention to use m-transactions. This framework is empirically validated in (2) a further study using a statistically representative sample size of 1008 Saudi users from different demographic backgrounds. The empirical analysis revealed that security, ease of use, usefulness, social influence, navigational structure, telecommunication infrastructure, individualism, masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and visual appeal have a significant impact on the intention to use m-transactions. Amongst those factors, ease of use was the most significant influential factor. Therefore, this led to (3) another study aiming to empirically investigate the level of ease of use (usability) of conducting m-transactions within the Saudi context. In total, this research comprised five different empirical studies to extend our understanding of the phenomenon of m-transactions. The ultimate product of this research is to develop a consolidated framework for the intention to use m-transactions, combined with a set of recommendations for mobile websites and application developers, designers, government, and other organizations that intend to extend their business in the mobile commerce area, and this should eventually benefit the users.