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This study is exploratory in nature. The purpose of this paper is to examine the intention to use smartphones by mobile users for m-services in a growing market. In fact, it empirically studies the influence of ubiquity and immersion in the virtual context on the perceived value (utilitarian and hedonic) of the mobile user’s experience. Moreover, it is an academic embarkation upon the examination of the effect of perceived value on the intension of using smartphones by mobile users for the m-services. Finally, it tests the mediating role of the perceived (utilitarian and hedonic) value between ubiquity/immersion and the intention to use smartphones for m-services.

The data are collected from a sample of 300 Tunisian students and analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique.

The results show that ubiquity and immersion positively influence the value perceived by mobile internet users. They also confirm that the perceived (utilitarian and hedonic) value positively affects the intensity of smartphone usage by mobile internet users for m-services and show the mediating role of the perceived (utilitarian and hedonic) value between ubiquity/immersion and the intention to use smartphones for m-services.

Companies in place focus on the importance of smartphone shopping by communicating about the comparative advantages of this type of purchase to make this option a possible choice in the future. The immersive dimension in the virtual context of commerce can be exploited as a factor of differentiation, at a time when commercial trafficking is intensifying; for example, immersive merchant sites, to enrich their particular utilitarian value with an equally hedonic value. The hedonic and utilitarian dimensions of the perceived value constitute a mediator and an important lever for the distributors within the framework of the m-commerce. Due to a genuine consideration of the availability and the possibility to carry out the service at any time and any place in view of the fact that it is perceived as being useful and compatible with the needs and way of life of the individuals’ intention, the use of smartphones for the m-served is explained by the lived values which are in turn explained by the ubiquity.

Despite the massive adoption of information and communication technology, especially the internet, in distribution and service delivery, very little research has focused on the intensity of use of smartphones by mobile internet users for m-services. This exploratory study is the first to test the effect of ubiquity and immersion in the virtual context on the perceived (utilitarian and hedonic) value of the mobile internet users’ experience as well as the effect of the perceived value on the intensity of use of smartphones by mobile internet users for m-services in the Tunisian context. Moreover, it puts under scrutiny the mediating effect of the perceived value in the determination of the intention to use smartphones by mobile users for the m-services in the Tunisian context.

This paper aims to highlight the effect of mobile commerce (m-commerce) ubiquity on usage behavior as well as the mediator mechanism of brand trust between ubiquity and usage behavior. To extend the findings, this research also examines the moderator role of product reputation on the nexus between brand trust and usage behavior in the m-commerce context.

Given the quantitative approach, the authors gathered 1,565 valid responses from m-commerce app users. Data were analyzed in SmartPLS 4.

Ubiquity positively impacted brand trust, and the latter positively influenced m-commerce usage behavior. Brand trust also partially mediated the effect of m-commerce ubiquity on usage behavior, along with product reputation moderating the positive effect of brand trust on usage behavior.

By combining resource-based theory with signaling theory in the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework, this paper's novelty focuses on the investigation of m-commerce ubiquity, brand trust as a mediating mechanism and product reputation as a moderator in explaining usage behavior in the m-commerce context.

Providing that branded applications (apps) became a new trend in mobile marketing, the purpose of this study, thus, is to explore how to promote app users’ continuance intention and purchase intention (i.e. “app continuance”) toward a specific branded app.

By integrating both goods-dominant logic (GDL) and service-dominant logic (SDL), this study uses a unifying model to examine whether perceived usefulness and task-service fit (TSF) have different effects on the two parts of app continuance. This study identifies task characteristic and four service characteristics (interactivity, presence, localization and ubiquity) as antecedents of TSF. Furthermore, psychological barriers are examined as mediators of TSF and purchase intention within SDL. Data collected from 631 users of the targeted branded apps support all of the proposed hypotheses.

The findings show that besides perceived usefulness, TSF is an essential determinant of both app continuance in the context of branded apps and a partial mediator of psychological barriers between TSF and purchase intention.

Unlike prior studies, which have focused on traditional GDL to examine continuance intention, this study incorporates SDL and the notion of psychological barriers to explore such matters. The evidence concerning the significantly higher explanatory power of the full model suggests that a deeper understanding of the antecedents of app continuance is possible when the alternative view is taken into consideration, thus providing a promising avenue for future research.

Financial technology (Fintech) brings about innovative financial services, such as the possibility of introducing mobile wealth management applications (apps) into consumers' lives. Despite the rapid development of such apps, few studies have focused on users' switching intentions from traditional wealth management services to mobile settings (apps).

Through a survey research method, a total of 378 responses were collected to examine the model. The partial least squares (PLS) technique was employed for data analysis.

To fill this research gap, this paper adopts a push-pull-mooring (PPM) theoretical framework to develop a model for exploring users' switching intentions. According to the empirical results, several push (i.e. perceived inconvenience), pull (i.e. transaction efficiency, perceived personalization and mobile wealth management scenarios) or mooring (i.e. product market expertise and affective commitment) factors are identified that significantly affect switching intention. This study provides theoretical contributions and practical implications for the existing wealth management literature and also offers future research directions.

This study innovatively extends the PPM framework to the traditional and mobile wealth management domains to understand users' switching intentions from offline wealth management services to mobile wealth management apps. The authors uncover several push, pull and mooring factors that are critical for determining users’ switching decisions.

The purpose of this study is to investigate user perceptions of mobile app characteristics and interrelationships among identified mobile app characteristics, perceived benefits and post-adoption behaviors.

Using a self-administered online survey (n = 503) drawn from a consumer panel of US smartphone users, this study tests the proposed model that explains why stickiness and word of mouth (WOM) are enhanced during the post-adoption stage.

The results indicate that user perceptions of mobile app characteristics, perceived ubiquity, perceived informativeness and perceived personalization are positively associated with mobile app usefulness, thereby leading to increased stickiness and positive WOM intentions. Furthermore, perceived personalization is found to become the strongest predictor of usefulness and playful engagement with the mobile app.

The findings are derived from a one-shot correlational study. There is no guarantee that the proposed model establishes causal directions among the latent constructs. Therefore, future research should test the conceptual model in an experimental setting by manipulating the degree and types of ubiquity, informativeness and personalization.

The findings of this research provide managerial guidelines for developing effective mobile app strategies involving utilitarian and hedonic benefits, thereby enhancing user stickiness and WOM intentions.

This paper is the first attempt to develop a conceptual framework that integrates user perceptions of mobile app characteristics into the underlying process of post-adoption behaviors. It empirically demonstrates the importance of ubiquity, informativeness and personalization in building and sustaining loyal relationships with mobile app users.

The research examines how behavioral intentions, as a higher-order construct, indirectly affect financial inclusion through service trust, usage behavior and financial literacy in mobile money adoption.

Following the positivist research philosophy, a cross-sectional study design was used to collect data through questionnaires comprised of scales adapted from prior studies. With a usable sample size of 340 respondents, this study employs partial least squares structural equation modeling to assess the model.

The study revealed the significant indirect role of behavioral intention on financial inclusion through use behavior, behavioral intentions on use behavior through service trust, and use behavior on financial inclusion through financial literacy. The role of behavioral intentions on financial inclusion through serial mediation of service trust, use behavior and financial literacy was also found to be significant.

This study's novelty resides in examining the indirect relationship between behavioral intentions and financial inclusion, specifically via the serial mediation of service trust, use behavior and financial literacy.

This paper studies the Digital Service Innovation (DSI) concept by systematically reviewing earlier studies from various scholarly communities. This study aims to recognize how recent advances in DSI literature from different research streams complement and can be incorporated into the growing digital servitization literature to define better and understand DSI.

After systematically identifying 123 relevant articles, this study employed complementary methods, such as author bibliographic coupling, linguistic text mining/textual analysis and qualitative content analyses.

This paper first maps the intellectual structure and boundaries of the DSI-related communities and qualitatively assesses their characteristics. These communities are (1) Innovation for digital servitization, (2) Service innovation in the digital age and (3) Adoption of novel e-services enabled by information system development. Next, the composition of the DSI concept is examined and depicted to comprehend the notion's critical dimensions. The findings discuss the range of theories and methods in the existing research, including antecedents, processes and outcomes of DSI.

This study reviews, extends the understanding of origins and critically evaluates DSI-related research. Moreover, the paper redefines and clarifies the structure and boundaries of the DSI-concept. In doing so, it elaborates on the substance of DSI and identifies the essential themes for its understanding and conceptualization. Thus, the study helps the future development of the concept and allows knowledge accumulation by bridging adjacent research communities. It helps researchers and managers navigate the foggy emerging research landscape.

The goal of this paper is to identify the main factors influencing mobile service adoption and define a universally applicable holistic concept capable of explaining all types of mobile service adoption that will be useful to all stakeholders.

A systematic method was used to identify and select relevant articles for appraisal and analysis of their data, as well as to summarize existing research in mobile service adoption studies.

After reviewing and analyzing the articles, 25 major variables were identified. According to the article analysis, usefulness and experience were identified as the primary motivators for adoption, and that negative barriers to adoption must be controlled in order to improve adoption. Demographics play a role in adoption and technology acceptance model (TAM) emerged as the most suitable model to study the variables affecting mobile service adoption.

The generic concept of mobile services adoption will help industry stakeholders and researchers to use a more focused approach to study and encourage adoption and use of mobile services. Empirical testing of the proposed concept is a limitation which can also be a future scope of the study.

The review provides a holistic mobile services adoption process which is able to define adoption for all kinds of mobile services and is universally applicable as well. The study presents potential implications and relevant insights in mobile services adoption and contributes to a better understanding of mobile service adoption process.

Information and communications technology (ICT) offers enormous opportunities for individuals, businesses and society. The application of ICT is equally important to economic and non-economic activities. Researchers have increasingly focused on the adoption and use of ICT by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the economic development of a country is largely dependent on them. Following the success of ICT utilisation in SMEs in developed countries, many developing countries are looking to utilise the potential of the technology to develop SMEs. Past studies have shown that the contribution of ICT to the performance of SMEs is not clear and certain. Thus, it is crucial to determine the effectiveness of ICT in generating firm performance since this has implications for SMEs’ expenditure on the technology. This research examines the diffusion of ICT among SMEs with respect to the typical stages from innovation adoption to post-adoption, by analysing the actual usage of ICT and value creation. The mediating effects of integration and utilisation on SME performance are also studied. Grounded in the innovation diffusion literature, institutional theory and resource-based theory, this study has developed a comprehensive integrated research model focused on the research objectives. Following a positivist research paradigm, this study employs a mixed-method research approach. A preliminary conceptual framework is developed through an extensive literature review and is refined by results from an in-depth field study. During the field study, a total of 11 SME owners or decision-makers were interviewed. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using NVivo 10 to refine the model to develop the research hypotheses. The final research model is composed of 30 first-order and five higher-order constructs which involve both reflective and formative measures. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is employed to test the theoretical model with a cross-sectional data set of 282 SMEs in Bangladesh. Survey data were collected using a structured questionnaire issued to SMEs selected by applying a stratified random sampling technique. The structural equation modelling utilises a two-step procedure of data analysis. Prior to estimating the structural model, the measurement model is examined for construct validity of the study variables (i.e. convergent and discriminant validity).

The estimates show cognitive evaluation as an important antecedent for expectation which is shaped primarily by the entrepreneurs’ beliefs (perception) and also influenced by the owners’ innovativeness and culture. Culture further influences expectation. The study finds that facilitating condition, environmental pressure and country readiness are important antecedents of expectation and ICT use. The results also reveal that integration and the degree of ICT utilisation significantly affect SMEs’ performance. Surprisingly, the findings do not reveal any significant impact of ICT usage on performance which apparently suggests the possibility of the ICT productivity paradox. However, the analysis finally proves the non-existence of the paradox by demonstrating the mediating role of ICT integration and degree of utilisation explain the influence of information technology (IT) usage on firm performance which is consistent with the resource-based theory. The results suggest that the use of ICT can enhance SMEs’ performance if the technology is integrated and properly utilised. SME owners or managers, interested stakeholders and policy makers may follow the study’s outcomes and focus on ICT integration and degree of utilisation with a view to attaining superior organisational performance.

This study urges concerned business enterprises and government to look at the environmental and cultural factors with a view to achieving ICT usage success in terms of enhanced firm performance. In particular, improving organisational practices and procedures by eliminating the traditional power distance inside organisations and implementing necessary rules and regulations are important actions for managing environmental and cultural uncertainties. The application of a Bengali user interface may help to ensure the productivity of ICT use by SMEs in Bangladesh. Establishing a favourable national technology infrastructure and legal environment may contribute positively to improving the overall situation. This study also suggests some changes and modifications in the country’s existing policies and strategies. The government and policy makers should undertake mass promotional programs to disseminate information about the various uses of computers and their contribution in developing better organisational performance. Organising specialised training programs for SME capacity building may succeed in attaining the motivation for SMEs to use ICT. Ensuring easy access to the technology by providing loans, grants and subsidies is important. Various stakeholders, partners and related organisations should come forward to support government policies and priorities in order to ensure the productive use of ICT among SMEs which finally will help to foster Bangladesh’s economic development.

Given that smartphones are widely used as a key means for mobile commerce, the purpose of this paper is to provide in-depth understanding of determinants of the utilitarian value that customers seek to obtain from using smartphone-based mobile commerce. Drawing on the technology acceptance model (TAM), the study proposes that usefulness and ease of use are two typical factors representing utilitarian value and verifies their impacts on smartphone-based m-commerce use. Moreover, the paper expands the TAM by considering mobile-specific characteristics (i.e. service ubiquity and location-based service (LBS)) and a self-service technology (SST) characteristic (i.e. user control) as determinants of utilitarian value.

The study entailed conducting a survey, and analyses were conducted based on a total of 379 responses from undergraduate and graduate students who had experience using smartphones for mobile commerce. The analyses used structural equation modeling to test the research model and hypotheses.

First, in the context of the various technologies-involved m-commerce, TAM serves as a theoretical lens to predict user behavior. Second, usefulness is greatly increased by service ubiquity, LBS, and user control. Third, ease of use is enhanced by service ubiquity and user control. Finally, ease of use is a determinant of usefulness.

The findings imply that mobile-specific and SST characteristics are the key determinants of utilitarian value in performance-oriented mobile commerce, and utilitarian value is a key determinant of smartphone-based mobile commerce use.