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The purpose of this paper is to explain the “good-to-good” app switching phenomenon that has not been specifically addressed in the prior switching literature. Drawing on the consumer learning theory, this study explores how external social word of mouth (WOM) and internal satisfaction influence app users’ switching intention through social learning route and analogical learning route. This study also examines the moderating effect of app heterogeneity.

An online survey was used to collect data. Two categories of mobile apps with different levels of within-category heterogeneity were targeted in survey questions. A total of 525 valid survey responses were collected.

Social WOM about a competing app increases users’ switching intention through both social norm influence and social information influence, resulting in a direct effect on switching intention and an indirect effect through the perceived attractiveness of a competing app. Users’ satisfaction with an adopted app positively influences the perceived attractiveness of an unadopted competing app, offering evidence for analogical learning in user switching. Meanwhile, users’ satisfaction imposes a direct negative effect on switching intention. A higher level of within-category heterogeneity strengthens (weakens) the positive effect of social WOM (satisfaction) on users’ perceived attractiveness of a competing app.

This study complements the existing switching literature by disentangling the “good-to-good” switching phenomenon in the mobile app market from the consumer learning perspective. This study extends the understanding of cross-category user switching by considering different levels of product heterogeneity.

This chapter uses Austrian capital theory to illustrate why empirical work can be elusive in typical Austrian themes. It explores the nature of the problem and different alternative solutions to empirical challenges. This chapter also discusses the Austrian literature’s epistemological approach to empirical work to shed light on the controversial relationship between Austrian theory and empirical testing. Finally, this chapter offers examples of how Austrian and mainstream economics can find a common empirical ground.

A pressing issue with mobile applications (apps) is continued use. The expectancy disconfirmation theory is employed as the theoretical basis for most studies on continuance. Recognising the experiential aspects of using mobile apps, the purpose of this paper is to extend the existing disconfirmation model to account for the emotional experiences and their influences on continuance. In particular, the authors are interested in the factors that drive the experience of emotions, and how these cognitive drivers differ in shaping distinct emotional experiences (i.e. positive vs negative).

Structural equation modelling was applied on 271 valid responses collected from an online survey conducted among mobile app users.

Disconfirmation affects emotions in a non-linear fashion through arousal, and both positive and negative emotions influence continuance intention. Furthermore, positive emotions tend to be influenced by inherent benefits, whereas negative emotions are more likely to be influenced by instrumental benefits.

The generalisability of this study may be enhanced by collecting data from more diverse samples and validating the model on more mobile app categories.

This study progresses from the demonstration of a mere impact of emotions on continuance as in several recent empirical inquiries to more nuanced understandings of the role of emotions in forming continuance intention.

A rapid increase in global smartphone ownership and digital health technologies offers the potential for mobile phone applications (apps) to deliver mental health interventions. The purpose of this paper is to bring together evidence reporting on mental health mobile apps to gain an understanding of the quality of current evidence, the positive and adverse effects of apps and the mechanisms underlying such effects.

A systematic search was carried out across six databases, for any systematic reviews or meta-analyses conducted up to 2020. Review quality was assessed using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews.

Across a total of 24 articles, a variety of clinical outcomes were assessed. Most compelling support was shown for apps targeting anxiety symptoms; some evidence favoured the use of apps for depression symptoms. Less evidence was available for the remaining clinical symptoms such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep disorders and substance use. Overall, there was limited evidence pertaining to adverse effects and change mechanisms and a lack of quality reporting across a large proportion of included reviews. The included reviews demonstrate the need for further robust research before apps are recommended clinically.

This paper makes a valuable contribution to the current status of research and reviews investigating mental health mobile apps. Recommendations are made for improved adherence to review guidelines and to ensure risk of bias is minimised.

Mobile marketing, the two- or multi-way communication and promotion of an offer between a firm and its customers using a mobile medium, device, platform, or technology, has made rapid strides in the past several years. Mobile marketing has entered its second phase or Mobile Marketing 2.0. The surpassing of desktop by mobile devices in digital media consumption, diffusion of wearable devices among customers, and an overall integration and interconnectedness of devices characterize this phase. Against this backdrop, we present a synthesis of the most recent literature in mobile marketing. We discuss three key advances in mobile marketing research relating to mobile targeting, personalization, and mobile-led cross-channel effects. We outline emerging industry trends in mobile marketing, including mobile app monetization, augmented reality, data and privacy, wearable devices, driverless vehicles, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. Within each extant and emerging area, we delineate the future research opportunities in mobile marketing. Finally, we discuss the impact of mobile marketing on customer, firm, and societal outcomes.

This research aims to explore the dark side of mobile applications by investigating the role of apps' technicality and app security in the mechanism of user satisfaction, app intention and customers' continuance tendency to make in-app purchases.

Drawing on attitude-behavior-context (ABC) theory, the study proposed a conceptual framework and examined the framework using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach based on data collected from app users from New Zealand.

The results reveal the correlation between user satisfaction and in-app purchase with a mediator of app continuance intention (ACI). In particular, the results show that app technicality (AT) has a positive correlation with user satisfaction as an antecedent. App security and hedonic value are positively correlated with user satisfaction.

The research has three critical research implications. First, this research advances the understanding of the dark side of mobile apps by showing how app security influences customers' in-app purchases. Secondly, this study reveals and offers empirical evidence for the mechanism between app security and user satisfaction. Finally, the study provides empirical evidence of AT as a distal antecedent for in-app purchases.

The purpose of this study is to examine the knowledge gap hypothesis in the context of smartphone use for news to understand whether mobile news consumption could bridge or widen the knowledge gap between people of higher and lower socioeconomic status (SES).

The authors examine how smartphone news consumption is associated with the knowledge gap hypothesis by analyzing a survey dataset from Hong Kong. This study focuses specifically on a moderated mediation model in which the indirect effect of mobile news consumption on political knowledge via discussion network heterogeneity is contingent on level of education.

Smartphone use for news/information was positively associated with level of discussion network heterogeneity. The indirect effect of smartphone news use on political knowledge via discussion network heterogeneity was stronger for those with lower levels of education.

This study advances the understanding of the role of smartphone use in contributing to the functioning of deliberative democracy as this use enhances discussion network heterogeneity and general levels of political knowledge. Moreover, our study contributes to the literature on the knowledge gap by not only examining the relationship between smartphone use, discussion heterogeneity, and political knowledge but also taking into consideration individual levels of education.

Firms can benefit from designing sales promotion based on the analysis of consumers' physical exercise and purchase data. This study aims to study mobile exercise app data to explore how purchasing a promoted or nonpromoted product affects exercisers’ subsequent exercise and purchase behaviors.

Drawing from the theoretical framework of overjustification effect, this study empirically examines the effects of the purchase of promoted – monetary and nonmonetary – or nonpromoted products on relationships (1) between past and subsequent exercise behaviors and (2) between past exercise and subsequent purchase behaviors. Novel data of one million exercise activities and purchase transactions created by 7,517 mobile exercise app users were collected.

The results reveal that monetary and nonmonetary promotions have a negative effect on overall consumers’ amount of physical exercise but increase heavy exercisers’ exercise amount. In addition, nonmonetary (monetary) promotion has a positive (negative) effect on consumers’ purchase expenditure but has no moderating effect on the exercise–expenditure relationship.

This study provides a theoretical framework explaining how to mitigate the dark side of sales promotions while targeting right exercise consumer segments with the right promotion campaigns.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of mobile applications on investment decisions by retail investors in stocks and mutual funds. This study focuses on how mobile technologies are applied on mobile apps by retail investors for e-trading in emerging financial markets.

The study explored predictive relevance for the adoption behavior of retail investors under the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework. Further, goal contagion theory was applied to investigate the adoption behavior of investors towards e-trading. An adapted questionnaire was used to collect the date from April to June 2021 and data analysis was performed on 507 usable responses. The methodology adopted in this study is variance based partial least square structural equational modelling (PLS-SEM). Additionally, the study explains important and performing constructs based on the response of retail investors towards mobile app usage for investment decisions.

The study shows that effort expectancy, performance expectancy followed by perceived return were the primary determinants of behavioral intentions to use mobile applications by retail investors for e-trading. Further, habit of investors determined the adoption behavior of investors towards mobile apps. Additionally, the study revealed that perceived risk is not an important aspect for retail investors in comparison to perceived return.

The study in future can address to the aspect of personality traits of retail investors for technology adoption for investment decisions. Further investigation is required on addressing unobserved heterogeneity of retail investors towards technology adoption process in emerging financial markets.

The study provides theoretical and practical implications for retail investors, financial advisors and technology companies to understand the behavioral pattern and mobile apps adoption behavior of retail investors in emerging financial market. The findings in the study will help broking firms to sensitize their clients for effective use of their respective mobile apps for e-trading purposes. The study will strengthen the knowledge of financial advisors to understand investment behavior of retail investors in emerging financial markets.

This study unfolds a novel framework of research to understand the technology adoption pattern of retail investors for e-trading by mobile applications in emerging financial markets. The present study provides significant understanding in the domain of technology adoption by retail investors under behavioral finance environment.

This research aims to examine the relationship of personal innovativeness, perceived value (consisting of perceived utilitarian and hedonic value) and continuance intention in the context of ride-hailing apps and to investigate consumer behaviour differences between metro and non-metro consumers.

The survey sample included 402 consumers of popular ride-hailing apps in Indonesia to test the research framework. Then, PLS-SEM-based software was utilised to examine the hypothesised relationship.

The findings indicate that the effect of personal innovativeness on continuance intention in using ride-hailing apps will operate through the full mediation role of perceived hedonic and utilitarian value, respectively. The findings also show that there are consumer behaviour differences between metro and non-metro consumers, in which the cognitive belief of consumers in the metro areas regarding the usage of ride-hailing apps is more related to hedonic value.

The variety of respondent demographic profiles in this research is limited in that most of the research respondents are students. In such a case, the study may face the issue of generalisation.

This research generates an extended idea of the information technology continuance model by validating the important role of perceived hedonic and utilitarian value as an integral part of the model and strengthens the insights that Indonesia has consumer behaviour differences regarding technology-based services, particularly ride-hailing apps, between metro and non-metro consumers.