What drives consumers’ mobile shopping? 4Ps or shopping preferences?

Abstract

Purpose

Mobile shopping emerges, but the marketing factors driving consumers’ mobile shopping lack clarification. Literature gaps also exist to view mobile shopping from a consumer behavior’s perspective. The purpose of this paper therefore is to empirically explore the issue based on the lifestyle perspective, 4Ps marketing theory and the information system (IS) success model.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey method was adopted. Data were gathered from consumers who had experience in mobile shopping. The collected data were analyzed with PLS to explore the issues.

Findings

The results showed that platform use habit, price comparison preference, shopping independence preference and promotion marketing quality were significantly associated with consumers’ use of mobile shopping apps/websites. They also showed that promotion marketing quality, price marketing quality and product marketing quality were the important marketing factors driving consumers’ user satisfaction of mobile shopping apps/websites. Finally, the results also indicated the importance of both consumers’ use and user satisfaction of mobile shopping apps/websites in arousing their continuous use intention.

Research limitations/implications

The results of the study bridge the gap between the 4Ps marketing theory and the IS success model. They provide a direction for further studies to bridge the marketing theories and the IS theories in exploring the development of mobile commerce.

Practical implications

The results facilitate the management of mobile shopping apps/websites in building and keeping a long-term relationship with consumers through providing good marketing qualities in the core marketing mix. The results also indicate the importance of user satisfaction in branding management and relationship management of mobile shopping apps/websites.

Originality/value

The results showed that price comparison preference and shopping independence preference were significantly associated with consumers’ use of mobile shopping apps/websites due to the convenient access empowered by mobility in shopping services. The results also suggest that with good design in 4Ps marketing qualities of mobile shopping apps/websites, including product, price and promotion, mobile shopping could be a suitable lifestyle satisfying consumers. However, the results also showed that factors driving consumers’ system use and user satisfaction of mobile shopping apps/websites were not the same. Finally, the results validated the significant impact of both system use and user satisfaction in activating consumers’ continuance intention of mobile shopping. They provided a positive link between consumers’ mobile shopping apps/websites use to their keeping the lifestyle of mobile shopping.

Citation

Chen, H.-J. (2018), "What drives consumers’ mobile shopping? 4Ps or shopping preferences?", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 797-815. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-08-2017-0167