Mobile commerce adoption of micro retailers in emercing economies
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2018
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2561
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eng
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171 leaves
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b205926
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Tanikan Pipitwanichakarn (2018). Mobile commerce adoption of micro retailers in emercing economies. Retrieved from: https://repository.nida.ac.th/handle/662723737/6459.
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Mobile commerce adoption of micro retailers in emercing economies
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Abstract
In this dissertation, the original Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been
employed as the core theory across three studies in an attempt to establish a theoretical
framework for determining the intention of street vendors to adopt a mobile commerce
(m-commerce) application. The model has two tenets: perceived usefulness and
perceived ease of use. Although the classical TAM is well known and well respected
as a robust predictive framework, it seems to be situation specific and must be modified
to accommodate other factors affecting the behavioral intentions of particular groups.
No empirical study has used the TAM to investigate the perceptions and behaviors of
street vendors. Therefore, to enhance our understanding of m-commerce adoption
among micro vendors, the three studies that form the basis of this dissertation have
examined the impact of external and internal factors on vendors as they embrace a new
form of technology.
The first study focused on the unique characteristics of vendors that affect their
adoption of m-commerce. The features of trust in service providers, entrepreneurial
orientation, and product differentiation were integrated into the TAM. Product
differentiation was employed as a moderating variable on the effect of perceived
usefulness on behavioral intention, whereas entrepreneurial orientation was assumed to
affect a vendor’s trust in a service provider directly and to influence m-commerce
adoption indirectly. A pen-and-paper survey was administered to 370 street vendors in
Bangkok; 356 of the usable surveys were analyzed. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data. This study contributes to the existing technology
acceptance literature in the following ways: First, it shows that the predictive power of
the TAM is strong and valid for street vendors. Second, it reveals that entrepreneurial
orientation and technology adoption are related and that the connection continues
throughout the decision-making process (i.e., these are trust and system characteristics
that are otherwise known as usefulness and ease of use). Finally, it shows that the degree
of product differentiation strengthens the positive relationship between perceived
usefulness and the intention to use m-commerce.
The first study found that not all street vendors were ready to adopt this new
trading method. Vendors at various stages of adoption weighed different factors as they
made decisions. Based on these findings, the second study tested how vendors at
different stages approached m-commerce adoption. The vendors were classified as
being in either the initial stage of adoption or the advanced stage of adoption. The role
of trust and the perceived enjoyment were added to the TAM in this study. Face-to-face
interviews using a structured questionnaire were conducted with 430 street vendors in
Bangkok; 415 usable surveys were analyzed. By applying K-means cluster analysis,
two segments were found, one with 200 initial adopters and one with 215 advanced
adopters. A multi-group analysis was employed to investigate the difference in
relationships between the two groups, and the findings revealed significant similarities
and dissimilarities between them. Both initial and advanced adopters emphasized trust
in the service provider. The first group relied more on perceived ease of use and
perceived enjoyment in choosing m-commerce adoption but depended less on
perceived usefulness. In the second group, the influence of perceived ease of use and
perceived enjoyment significantly decreased but the effect of perceived usefulness
significantly increased.
In addition to perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and trust, online
reviews are significant tools for promoting the adoption of a new technology. For
instance, the integration of online reviews into the TAM can serve as an important
predictor of the intention to use mobile banking. The impact of online reviews on
behavioral intention and consumers’ decisions has indicated complex relationship
patterns and has been context specific, which suggests the possibility of an interaction
effect. For this reason, in the final study, an experiment was conducted to investigate the interaction of online reviews, perceived ease of use, and trust in enhancing the
perceived usefulness and adoption of m-commerce. This study employed a 2 (perceived
ease of use: high vs. low) x 2 (trust in the service provider: high vs. low) x 2 (online
review: positive vs. negative) between-subjects design, resulting in eight experimental
groups. A pen-and-paper survey was administered to street vendors in Bangkok. Of 280
cases, 16 cases were unusable and were deleted from the dataset; this left 264 cases for
data analysis. The level of the online review was manipulated, whereas the degrees of
perceived ease of use and trust were measured. The experiment revealed that the
perceived usefulness was affected by online reviews when users found incongruent
information in them (e.g., when reviewers reported that they found a high level of ease
of use of the technology but had only a low level of trust in the service provider). In
other words, users who read positive reviews were more likely to feel that m-commerce
had a great deal of perceived usefulness. On the contrary, the perceived usefulness was
not affected by online reviews if users found congruent information in them (e.g., when
reviewers reported that they found a high level of ease of use and also had a high level
of trust in the service provider).
This dissertation has attempted to offer an alternative to the inadequate
theoretical and managerial understanding of factors that drive m- commerce adoption
for micro businesses, and in that regard, it is crucial for identifying predictors of the
adoption of m- commerce applications. The results of this research should enable
service providers and policy makers to continue to delve into the world of contemporary
digital technology business and tailor its marketing strategies towards vendors.
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Thesis (Ph.D. (Business Administration))--National Institute of Development Administration, 2018