Investigating Factors Affecting Actual Usage Patterns of Mobile Data Services

1
Investigating Factors Affecting Actual Usage
Patterns of Mobile Data Services

• Maria Bina, Dimitrios Karaiskos, George M.
  Giaglis
• ISTLab Wireless Research Group
• Athens University of Economics and Business
• mbina, dimkar, giaglis_at_aueb.gr

2
Outline

• Explaining MDS adoption
• Theoretical setting
• Decomposing the Triandis model to explain MDS use
• Survey Research
• Design
• Demographics
• Descriptive Statistics
• Differentiating users from non-users
• Conclusions
• Further Research

3
Focusing on MDS

• Mobile Data Services - all non-voice value-adding
  services accessible through mobile networks
• e.g. mobile e-mail, downloads to devices, access
  to content through a mobile phone, premium-priced
  SMS/MMS
• Designated to augment end-user experience with
  mobility and enrich mobile business models for
  operators, service providers and other industry
  constituents
• Adoption curves across different regions are not
  the same
• Asia-Pacific vs. Europe/America gradient

4
How to explain the diversity?

• A plethora of research directions
• Fit theoretical frameworks like Innovation
  Diffusion Theory and Technology Acceptance Model
  to the MDS context
• Analyze industry and actor dynamics under a
  strategic or value chain perspective
• Identify the potential effect of the social and
  cultural context, as well as the social
  implications of MDS use

5
Theoretical Setting

• Introducing the Triandis theory to explain MDS
  use
• It separates the affective from the cognitive
  components of attitude
• It suggests that habit, as well as intention, are
  predictors of human behavior

6
Decomposing Triandis (1)

• Intentions a predictor of behavior having three
  antecedents
• Affect
• feelings of joy, elation, or pleasure, or
  depression associated with a particular act
• Complements the inability to rationally explain
  why behaviors that have positive consequences are
  not adopted and why valueless, albeit joyful,
  behaviors are performed
• Social Factors
• internalization of the reference groups
  subjective culture
• Capture how the human part of an individuals
  environment affects one in performing a specific
  behavior
• Perceived Consequences (of the behavior)
• The higher the perceived value of the
  consequences, the higher the likelihood that an
  individual will perform a behavior

7
Decomposing Triandis (2)

• Habit
• a behavior that is or has become automatic in a
  given situation
• Measured by the frequency of behavior occurrence
• Strong predictor of behavior when it is well
  established
• Facilitating Conditions
• objective factors, out there in the environment
  such as geographic and resource limitations
• Behavior
• Duration, intensity, and frequency as behavior
  differentiators
• Factors, like action, target, context, and time,
  impact the strength of the relationship between
  intention and behavior

8
Mapping the Triandis model to the MDS context (1)
Motives
9
Mapping Triandis model to the MDS context (2)
Barriers

• Beyond Triandis Perceived-ease-of-use
• the degree to which a person believes that
  using a particular system would be free of
  effort
• Functional complexity of operating devices and
  using services

10
The Model

• Objective to confirm the suitability of the
  theory for studying MDS adoption and usage

11
Survey Research Design

• Questionnaire based on earlier operationalizations
  of the concepts
• Pre-test procedure with selected informants
• Collection of empirical data during the 2006
  Worldwide Mobile Data Services Survey
• A global web-based survey designed to explore
  customer behaviour and the market environment for
  Mobile Data Services around the world
• Reporting the Greek part of the survey
• 365 usable responses over a period of one month

12
Demographic Statistics

• MDS adoption curve still at its early stages
• Only entertainment service users outnumber
  respective non-users
• Demographic profiles of users and non-users more
  or less similar
• Exceptions entertainment services and women,
  m-commerce services and the 35-50 age group

13
Descriptive Statistics

• Utilitarian and hedonic aspects of MDS appeal to
  users
• Anticipations for social approval are a minor
  motive
• Security/privacy and financial concerns are the
  major inhibitors
• Barriers are more or less a matter of the bearing
  network or market environment

14
Differentiating Users from Non-Users
( p lt 0.001, p lt 0.01, p lt0.05)
15
Differentiating Users from Non-Users
16
Conclusions

• The adoption and usage of MDS is dependent on the
  value-for-money dimension
• Shaped by the experiential nature of MDS
• MDS benefits can only be discerned while using
  them and understood only after some time
• The Triandis perspective is suitable for
  investigating MDS usage patterns
• The delineated factors reflect the contents of
  the underlying theoretical concepts
• However, technology barriers are questioned in
  terms of their applicability
• The demarcation of four service categories in
  line with Triandis suggestion that the
  combination of individual idiosyncrasies and
  specific situations needs to be put into place to
  understand human behaviour

17
Further Research

• Apply the proposed model to specific standalone
  services picking up a critical mass of users,
  e.g. mobile email, MMS
• Elaborate on the model through introducing
  additional concepts or inter-construct
  relationships
• Cross-cultural survey to shed light on the
  controversy surrounding current trends in MDS
  uptake
• Longitudinal investigations of the interplay
  between intentions, habit, and actual behaviour