Understanding and predicting antecedents of mobile shopping adoption

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the key factors influencing mobile shopping adoption intention and actual usage in the backdrop of the moderating effect of gender and age.Design/methodology/approachThe study identifies eight independent variables including two relatively new variables, i.e. perceived regulatory support (PRS) and perceived benefits, and proposes an integrated framework to understand mobile shopping behavior. A total of 304 mobile device users were surveyed using a comprehensive questionnaire. The collected data were utilized to analyze the hypothesized relationships through structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results indicated that all the factors considered in the framework were significant in predicting mobile shopping behavioral intention (BI) except for PRS. Demographic variables such as age and gender moderate the effect of factors such as perceived critical mass, personal innovativeness and hedonic motivation on mobile shopping BI.Research limitations/implicationsThe small sample sizes and a possibility to include new variables other than consumer-centric factors are some of the limitations of this study.Practical implicationsThe findings of this paper are of significant use for mobile shopping app developers, mobile payment gateway providers and other institutions involved in facilitation and provision of such mobile shopping services to develop suitable strategies to encourage adoption of mobile devices as a medium of online shopping.Originality/valueThe study is first of its kind in India and integrates variables from different areas of technology adoption along with two new variables, i.e PRS and perceived benefits to understand mobile shopping behavior.