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}@aueb.gr
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
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
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
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
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
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
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
Affect
Affect
Habit
Habit
Social
Social Factors
Factors
Intentions
Intentions
Perceived
Perceived
Consequences
Consequences
Facilitating
Facilitating
Conditions
Conditions
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
Behaviour
Behaviour
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 group’s subjective culture …”
• Capture how the human part of an individual’s 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
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
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
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
Mapping the Triandis model to the MDS
context (1)
Original Triandis model MDS model
Affect
MDS hedonic value
• Entertainment features
• Appealing ways for performing
conventional tasks
Social Factors
MDS social value
• MDS as a means for achieving
social differentiation and
uniqueness
Perceived
Consequences
MDS utilitarian value
• Time and place flexibility
• Personalization
• Business effectiveness
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
Motives
Mapping Triandis model to the MDS
context (2)
Original Triandis model MDS model
Financial barriers
• Confusing billing schemes and
hidden costs
Facilitating Conditions
Technology barriers
• Network coverage, reliability,
responsiveness
Security and Privacy 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
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
Barriers
The Model
MDS
MDS Hedonic
Hedonic
Value
Value
Motives
Motives
MDS
MDS Social
Social
Value
Value
MDS
MDS Utilitarian
Utilitarian
Value
Value
Actual
Actual MDS
MDS Use
Use
Financial
Financial
Barriers
Barriers
Security/Privacy
Security/Privacy
Barriers
Barriers
Barriers
Barriers
Technology
Technology
Barriers
Barriers
Perceived
Perceived
Ease-ofEase
of-Use
Ease-of-Use
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
• Objective: to confirm
the suitability of the
theory for studying
MDS adoption and
usage
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
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
Demographic Statistics
m-Commerce
Gender
Age
Communication
Information
Entertainment
Users
(n=62)
Non-users
(n=298)
Users
(n=125)
Non-users
(n=235)
Users
(n=158)
Non-users
(n=202)
Users
(n=196)
Non-users
(n=164)
Men (n=229)
66.1%
63.1%
64.3%
62.4%
66.5%
61.4%
57.1%
71.3%
Women (n=131)
33.9%
36.9%
35.7%
37.6%
33.5%
38.6%
42.9%
28.7%
18-24 (n=67)
11.3%
20.1%
19.2%
18.3%
14.6%
21.8%
20.4%
16.5%
25-34 (n=170)
37.1%
49.3%
45.6%
48.1%
46.2%
48%
48.5%
45.7%
35-50 (n=110)
46.8%
27.2%
32.8%
29.4%
33.5%
28.2%
26.5%
35.4%
> 50 (n=12)
4.8%
3%
2.4%
3.8%
5.1%
2%
4.1%
2.4%
• 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
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
Descriptive Statistics
Mean (S.D.)
MDS utilitarian
value
3.58 (0.882)
MDS hedonic
value
3.01 (0.901)
MDS social value
1.64 (0.934)
Perceived Easeof-Use
2.82 (0.908)
Technology
Barriers
3.25 (0.940)
Financial Barriers
3.70 (0.869)
Security /
Privacy Barriers
3.93 (1.200)
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
• 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
Differentiating Users from Non-Users
m-Commerce
MDS
utilitarian
value
Mean
MDS hedonic
value
Mean
MDS social
value
Mean
Perceived
Ease-of-use
Mean
Technology
Barriers
Mean
Financial
Barriers
Mean
Security
/Privacy
Barriers
Mean
t-value
Entertainment
Nonusers
Users
Nonusers
Users
Nonusers
Users
Nonusers
3.85
3.52
3.69
3.37
3.76
3.44
3.71
3.42
2.712**
3.20
3.315**
2.97
1.660
1.86
t-value
3.14
1.60
2.83
1.68
0.098
t-value
2.72
-2.457*
3.27
1.81
3.64
3.83
3.90
3.98
-0.575
3.26
2.86
1.79
2.77
3.30
3.66
-2.589*
3.99
-1.185
3.20
1.002
3.81
3.84
2.88
-1.160
3.23
3.57
1.47
3.234**
-1.046
3.28
2.72
5.324***
1.51
2.76
3.222**
0.504
-2.028*
3.97
-1.495
2.716*
-0.278
3.75
2.89
3.102**
3.00
3.24
0.238
3.72
3.17
-2.885**
3.25
3.46
1.58
0.929
2.82
3.28
2.80
3.477**
3.476**
2.076*
t-value
t-value
Information
Users
t-value
t-value
Communication
3.76
-1.122
4.05
3.78
2.108*
(*** p < 0.001, ** p < 0.01, * p <0.05)
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
Differentiating Users from Non-Users
M-Commerce
Communication
Information
Entertainment
Significant Utilitarian value
Motives
Social value
Utilitarian value
Hedonic value
Utilitarian value Utilitarian value
Hedonic value
Hedonic value
Social value
Social value
Security/privacy
concerns
Significant Financial
barriers
Barriers
Perceived easeof-use
Financial barriers
Financial
barriers
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
Conclusions
• The adoption and usage of MDS is dependent on the valuefor-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
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007
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
LA Global Mobility Roundtable, June 1-2 2007