Local and Cultural Factors in Mobile
Data Communications: The Case of the
SMS in China and Hong Kong SAR
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST),
Xu Yan (xuyan@ust.hk)
Introduction
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!
Studies from the social psychology
perspective have revealed that local and
cultural factors are key determinants for
technology acceptance
The contrast between the booming of the
SMS in China and the sluggish response to
the SMS in Hong Kong is a new evidence
Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)
Beliefs and Evaluations
Normative Beliefs and
Motivation to comply
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!
Attitude toward
behavior(A)
Behavioral
Intention
(BI)
Actual
Behavior
Subjective Norm (SN)
A person’s performance of a specified behavior is
determined by his behavior intention (BI).
BI is a measure of the strength of one’s intention to
perform a specified behavior.
Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)
!
!
!
BI is jointly determined by the person's attitude
(A) and subjective norm (SN)
A is determined by his or her salient beliefs
about consequences of performing the behavior
and the evaluation of these consequences.
SN refers to the person’s perception that most
people who are important to him think he
should or should not perform the behavior in
question. It may also refers to social pressure.
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
+
External
Variables
Perceived
Usefulness
(PU)
+
+
Attitude (A)
External
Variables
!
!
Perceived
Ease of Use
(PEOU)
+
Behavioral
Intention to
(BI)
+
Actual
System
Acceptance
TAM, on the basis of TRA, is specifically used for
modeling user acceptance of information
technology/systems.
It posits that two particular variables, perceived
usefulness and perceived ease of use, are of primary
relevance for IT acceptance behaviours
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
!
!
Perceived usefulness (PU) is defined as the
prospective user’s subjective probability
that using a specific application system will
increase his specified performance
Perceived ease of use refers to which a
person believes that using a particular
system would be free of effort
Research Framework Model
E x te rn a l
V a r ia b le s
E x te rn a l
V a r ia b le s
E x te rn a l
V a r ia b le s
P e r c e iv e d
U s e f u ln e s s
(P U )
P e r c e iv e d
E ase of U se
(P E O U )
S u b je c tiv e
N o rm (S N )
+
+
+
A c tu a l
S y s te m
A c c e p ta n c e
of SM S
Growth of Mobile Users in China
300,000
250,000
Digital
200,000
Analog
150,000
100,000
50,000
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
(Source: The Ministry of Information Industry)
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
Growth of Mobile Users in Hong Kong
M o b ile u s e r s , Ho ng K on g , Ch in a ( millio n)
7
6
5
4
A n a lo g u e
2 .5 G us e r s
O th e r p r e p a id
"A c tiv ate d "
pr e p aid
us ers
PCS 1 .7 / 1.8 G Hz
3
2
Dig it a l, 8 0 0/9 0 0 M Hz
1
0
1 9 95
Source: OFTA
19 9 6
Source: ITU, OFTA
1 99 7
1998
1999
2 0 00
2001
2 0 0 2.8
103 % mobile
penetration by 2003
Subscribers are not Necessarily Users
500
50 0
45 0
450
439
431
400
40 0
366
299
300
250
231
213
200
189
15 0
176
141
115
10 0
86
72
63
50
0
19 9 6
19 9 7
Blended ARPU
19 9 8
366
35 0
19 9 9
Contract User
2000
2001
Prepaid User
2002
MOU (minutes)
ARPU (Yuan)
350
393
334
324
322
296
30 0
25 0
234
207
20 0
15 0
122
103
10 0
99
50
0
199 6
19 97
Blended MOU
19 9 8
199 9
Contract User
2 00 0
2 0 01
Prepaid User
2 00 2
Explosive Growth of the SMS in China
45100
40,690.00
40100
Million Messages
35100
27,800.00
30100
25100
20100
12,600.00
15100
10100
5100
126.7
313.4
1,299.70
4,775.70
100
1H 2000
2H 2000
1H 2001
2H 2001
1H 2002
2H2002
1H2003
Sluggish Response to the SMS in Hong Kong
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
Oct-02
Nov-02
Dec-02
Jan-03
Feb-03
Mar-03
Apr-03
May-03
Jun-03
Jul-03
Aug-03
Sep-03
Mean Comparison by T-test and Oneway ANOVA
Mean (SD)
N
F
Beijing
Hong Kong
Beijing
HK
P-value
Significantly
different?
PU1
4.0950(.9000)
3.5610(.8620)
200
82
20.976
.000
Yes
PU2
3.4450(.9117)
2.7604(.8914)
200
96
37.102
.000
Yes
PEOU1
4.1700(.8089)
3.4881(.9999)
200
84
36.382
.000
Yes
PEOU2
4.1150(.9307)
2.2500(.9468)
200
100
264.65
.000
Yes
SN1
4.040(.9967)
2.5054(.8923)
200
93
160.58
.000
Yes
SN2
2.950(1.097)
2.6000(.8921)
200
95
7.355
.007
Yes
UA1
3.715(1.0999)
2.5684(.9963)
200
95
74.265
.000
Yes
UA2
4.030(1.0886)
2.1064(1.041)
200
94
205.17
.000
Yes
UA3
4.175(1.0724)
2.3951(1.147)
200
81
152.46
.000
Yes
Frequency of Using the SMS
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
Beijing
40%
Hong Kong
30%
20%
10%
0%
Daily
Once a Week
Once a Month
Others
Information Infrastructure Level
!
A substitute to e-mail wireline Internet
!
!
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
206.6 million mobile subscribers but only 49.7 million
Internet subscribers by 2002
Not all mobile services are more advanced than the fixed!
41%
16%
12%
E-mail
St ock
T ransact ion
News
10%
Game
8%
Shopping
Demand to Mobile Data S ervices in China
6%
7%
Banking
Ot hers
Preference of Using the SMS to Send Message
40%
35%
30%
25%
Beijing
20%
Hong Kong
15%
10%
5%
0%
Strongly Disaggree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
Culture
!
!
Users in China are reluctant
to talk to machine
Users in Hong Kong has
been used to leaving voice
mail
Market Competition
!
The competitiveness of mobile voice service makes the
SMS a relatively expensive service in HK
Price Perception of SMS
70%
60%
50%
40%
Beijing
30%
Hong Kong
20%
10%
0%
Cheap
Reasonable
Expensive
Political Factor
!
The SMS is Now a New and Informal Literature
!
!
Bypass the Government’s censorship
Social pressure to access and share with the others
The SMS Content
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
Beijing
25%
Hong Kong
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Greetings
Jokes
Advertisement
Others
Business Model: Forming a
Positive Feedback
Payment
Content
Content
Input Methods of the Chinese
!
!
Pin Yin is simple and popular in China
Cheong-chi is a complicated method of inputting
Chinese in Hong Kong
Respondence to "SMS is easy to use"
50%
40%
30%
Beijing
20%
Hong Kong
10%
0%
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly Agree
The SMS Acceptance Model
Language: Input Method
Information Infrastructure Level:
Alternative Substitution of W ireline Internet
Culture:
Alternative Substitution to Voice Message
Market Com petition: Alternative
Substitution to Highly Priced Voice Service
Political Censorship:
Access and Share Information that are not
Available in the Public Media
Business Model:
Enhance Information Richness and
Benefit from Network Externality
Perceived
Ease of Use
(PEOU)
Perceived
Usefulness
(PU)
+
+
+
Subjective
Norm
(SN)
Actual
System
Acceptance
of SMS
Conclusion
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!
!
Good technology or bad technology? That is not a
problem.
User will accept a new technology only when they
perceive it as a useful technology
There are many local and culture determinants that
lead to the perceived usefulness
Perceived ease of use should be paid with
attention by vendors and operators
Social pressure is one of the key factor to achieve
critical mass
THANK YOU!