calls, download music and videos, subscribe to mobile TV, play games, ... the best mobile entertainment services to win their customers. .... offered by the Internet, such as information searching, online shopping, online games, email, and.
Determinants of Mobile Entertainment Use: A Conceptual Model Dewi Rooslani Tojib, Yelena Tsarenko, Monash University Abstract Deriving from the Apparatgeist as well as Uses and Gratification theories, this paper proposes a conceptual framework for better understanding determinants of adoption of mobile entertainment services. It is proposed that symbolic use, perceived enjoyment, social escapism, and social norm will affect the adoption of such services. Mobile phone consumption style is postulated to mediate these relationships. Self-efficacy is suggested to moderate the relationship between the antecedents and consumption styles and actual use of mobile entertainment services. The proposed model is aimed to provide better insights on segmenting target audiences and tailoring mobile entertainment services more effectively. Introduction Advances in mobile network technologies have enabled telecommunication companies to offer more sophisticated mobile services to their customers. While they are used to only being able to send/receive calls and Short Messaging Services (SMS); they now are able to perform video calls, download music and videos, subscribe to mobile TV, play games, access mobile Internet, and much more. Consequently, people no longer perceive mobile phones as telecommunication tools only; rather they treat their mobile phones as entertainment gadgets. Many of the telecommunication companies see these as business opportunities that could assist them in reducing their revenue dependence on mobile voice services, which are nearly reaching saturation (Vlachos, Vrechopoulos, and Pateli, 2006). It is thus not surprising to see an increasing number of companies are now competing against each other; trying hard to provide the best mobile entertainment services to win their customers. Unfortunately, their heavy investments have not been paid off yet due to slow adoption rate in the marketplace (Kleijnen, de Ruyter, and Wetzels, 2007). It is therefore important to delve into factors affecting the adoption of mobile entertainment services. Researchers have long shown great interests in exploring the adoption of mobile services, however many of them have particularly focused on mobile commerce applications in general (e.g., Bigne, Ruiz, and Sanz, 2007; Koivumaki, Ristola, and Kesti, 2006; Sugai, 2007). To the best of our knowledge, only a few of them have devoted their research on mobile entertainment services, such as mobile Internet services (Pedersen, 2005) mobile multimedia services (Pagani, 2004), and mobile chat services (Nysveen, Pedersen, and Thorbjornsen, 2005). Many of the adoption models presented in these studies were derived from the Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989), Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975), and Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1985). This is not surprising as they are the fundamental theories for understanding adoption of new technologies. In this paper, we argue that mobile entertainment services, often classified as a part of mobile commerce, have distinct characteristics over other common mobile commerce applications. Their focus is on being able to entertain mobile users on the move (Wong and Hiew, 2005). Clearly, 1
the motives behind using such type of services are different from, for instance, using mobile financial services to pay electricity bills or to check bank account balance and the like. Thus, the aim of this research is to better understand the determinants of adoption of mobile entertainment services. Our proposed model aims to advance previous conceptualisation on technological adoption through the incorporation of the Uses and Gratification theory (Katz and Blumer, 1974) and the Apparatgeist theory (Katz and Aakhus, 2002). Theoretical Background Uses and Gratification Theory Originated from the communication theory literature, the Uses and Gratification theory is one of the most useful theories for explaining consumer patterns of media use. This theory seeks to recognise the important role of the individual in the use of mass media by focusing on what people do with mass media (Katz, 1959; Klapper, 1960). The theory has been proven to be helpful in understanding consumer motivations for media use and has been applied to scenarios ranging from radio, telephone, TV, cable TV, TV remote controls, Internet, and recently mobile phones (Ruggiero, 2000; Ye, 2005). Based on the previous studies, researchers have classified two motivational dimensions associated with this theory, namely content gratifications and process gratifications (Cutler and Danowski, 1980; Stafford and Stafford, 1996). The former relates to gratifications that result from learning information from media content and subsequently putting it to use in practical affairs while the latter focuses on pleasurable experience of media content which are realised during media consumption. By analogy, mobile entertainment users may be motivated by the variation of entertainment services offered by their mobile network (i.e. content gratifications) or they just use the entertainment services to derive a hedonic experience (i.e. process gratifications). The Uses and Gratification theory postulates that active users seek gratifications in media and technology use based on their individual motivations (Lin, 1996). In other words, different consumers have different motivations underlying the use of particular media and technology. Previous studies have suggested many underlying motives, both utilitarian and non-utilitarian, for media use including ease of use, usefulness, information seeking, relaxation, entertainment, social interaction, escape, companionship, time consumption, status, and other function related motives (Leung and Wei, 2000; LaRose, Mastro, and Eastin, 2001; Parker and Plank, 2000; Ferguson and Perse, 2000). Examination of these different motivations can help clarify the links between personal characteristics, such as those related to emotional and psychological factors and different uses of media. This theory thus provides a useful theoretical framework for better understanding the specific reasons consumers use particular media and technology. Apparatgeist Theory Katz and Aakhus (2002) argued that most past studies on Personal Communication Technologies (PCTs) including mobile phone have very much relied on instrumental, goal-oriented use (i.e. functionalist theory) and the process of using the PCTs (i.e. structuration theory). Both theories have been proven to be able to provide valuable insights on the way people use PCTs; however they feel that there are several issues insufficiently dealt with these theories, particularly in the area of mobile technologies whereby the characteristics are distinct from traditional 2
communication technologies. The issues include (1) the way people use mobile technologies as tools in their daily life in terms of tools-using behaviour and the relationship among technology, body, and social role; and (2) the meaning of the mobile technologies which occurs as people interact with others. These are the main précis of the Apparatgeist theory. The concept of Apparatgeist itself refers to ‘the spirit of the machine that influences both the designs of the technology as well as the initial and subsequent significance accorded them by users, non-users, and anti-users (Katz and Aakhus, 2002, p. 305). As such, this theory draws attention to both the meanings that people construct for technologies and their social consequences (Katz and Sugiyama, 2006). In particular, this theory suggests that users, nonusers, and anti-users of technology, as well as those who use it in different ways, assign different meanings to it. Consequently, it poses the questions of what kinds of meanings are assigned to them and by whom. It is thus important to look at the use of communication tools in the context of group membership and social identity to better understand the perceptions people have toward the use of PCTs. In relation to mobile technologies, Peters (1999) stated that the Apparatgeist theory is fuelled by the socio-logic of perpetual contact. People can engage in mobile communication technologies anytime anywhere and hence certain conceptual perspectives arise in people’s minds are a result of their interaction with these technologies. Katz and Aakhus (2002) further emphasise the importance of considering both utilitarian and symbolic meanings of mobile communication technologies. This is because, people’s evaluations and choices to use mobile communication technologies are not merely on the functional purpose but also on their own social roles, status, prestige, as well as public perceptions. The symbolic aspect could be one additional important ingredient which should assist in better understanding how and why people use particular communication technologies in social contexts. Conceptual Model In developing our conceptual model (see Figure 1) the main focus was placed on the symbolic aspect and social consequences of mobile entertainment use that are revealed in the Uses and Gratification research and the Apparatgeist theory. When engaging with mobile entertainment services, people in general are aware that they utilise their mobile phones not for utilitarian purposes. Furthermore, they may assign distinct meanings to their mobile phones compared to those who use their mobile phones for utilitarian purposes only. Indeed the investigation of the symbolic meaning of mobile phone use is of importance. Hence, given the nature of mobile entertainment services, our proposed model solely focuses on the hedonic aspect. Symbolic Use The widespread adoption of mobile phone has integrated their use in our daily life. While initially adopted for its functional value, many people are now using mobile phones as a symbol of their self-identity, social status, prestige, style, competition, and fashion (Lycett and Dunbar, 2000). Mobile entertainment services are indeed the secondary offer provided by telecommunication companies. People subscribe to such services clearly have other motives than utilitarian value. They may want to be seen as innovators who always keep up-to-date with new technology. We thus argue that the use of mobile entertainment services is influenced by the symbolic use of mobile phones, as indicated in the below proposition. 3
P1: Different symbolic meaning assigned to mobile phones will influence mobile entertainment use Self-efficacy Antecedents of use Symbolic use Perceive enjoyment Social Escapism Social Norm
Consumption Style
M-entertainment Use
Figure 1. A Conceptual Model of M-Entertainment Use Perceived Enjoyment In the context of mobile entertainment, perceived enjoyment refers to the extent to which the activity of using mobile entertainment services is perceived to be fun and enjoyable in its own right, apart from any performance consequences that may be anticipated (Davis, Bagozzi, and Warshaw, 1992; Van der Heijden, 2004). Several previous studies have found that perceived enjoyment is an important motivation for mobile services adoption, particularly the one that offers hedonic services (Leung and Wei, 1998; Hoflich and Rossler, 2001). P2: Perceived enjoyment will positively affect mobile entertainment use Social Escapism For this study, we define social escapism motivation as the extent to which mobile entertainment services can relieve people’s day-to-day boredom and stress while they are on the move. Previous studies have revealed that social escapism is an important predictor of the web use (Korgaonkar and Wolin, 1999; Ebersole, 2000). This may be due to different types of activities offered by the Internet, such as information searching, online shopping, online games, email, and chat services, could help them getting away from undesirable reality. The same analogy could apply to mobile entertainment services in that people who feel bored or stress can get a temporary relief by subscribing such services regardless of time and location. We thus believe that social escapism will also be an important predictor of mobile entertainment use. P3: Social escapism motivation will positively affect mobile entertainment use Social Norm Social norm refers to the degree to which an individual perceives that most people who are important to him/her believe he or she should use a new technology (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis, 2003). Previous studies have found that social norm has positive influence on system use, such as web usage (Cheung, Chang, and Lai, 2000), mobile technology usage (Webster and Trevino, 1995), mobile services (Hung, Ku, and Chang, 2003; Kleijnen, de Ruyter, and Wetzels, 2004; Nysveen et al., 2005). Thus, we postulate that social norm will positively influence mobile entertainment use. P4: Social norm will positively affect mobile entertainment use 4
Consumption Style Depending on the importance role of mobile phones in their life, different people have different consumption styles. Some people are heavy users and use most services offered by their mobile providers; while others only use their mobiles when necessary for connecting people and organising work and/or personal-related tasks (Wilska, 2003). Clearly, their consumption styles are influenced by the underlying motivations in using mobile phones. Hence, we suggest that consumption style mediates the relationship between the antecedents and mobile entertainment use. P5: The relationship between the five antecedents and mobile entertainment use is mediated by consumption style Self-Efficacy In our context, self-efficacy refers to the ability of a person to successfully execute the use of mobile entertainment services via a mobile phone. Self-efficacy has been proven to positively affect individual acceptance of various technologies, such as WAP-enabled mobile phones (Teo and Pok, 2007), Internet (Eastin, 2002; O’Cass and Fenech, 2003; Lian and Lin, 2008), wireless banking (Ratten and Ratten, 2007), and general mobile commerce applications (Khalifa and Shen, 2008). Given the high adoption rate of mobile phone, we believe people should be proficient in using their mobile phones. The fact that mobile entertainment services are accessible from their mobile phones means that they are only required to uplift their current skills (i.e. highly specialised skill is not required). Consequently, in our study, we do not propose self-efficacy as the direct predictor of mobile entertainment adoption. Rather, we assert that selfefficacy will moderate the relationship between the antecedents on both consumption style and the mobile entertainment use. P6: Self-efficacy will moderate the effect of antecedents of mobile entertainment use on consumption style. Compared with high self-efficacy customers, low self-efficacy customers will less likely engage in active consumption style. P7: Self-efficacy will moderate the effect of antecedents of mobile entertainment use on actual mobile entertainment. Compared with high self-efficacy customers, low self-efficacy customers will less likely actively use mobile entertainment. Discussions and Conclusions The proposed adoption model of mobile entertainment services provides a new perspective into the current traditional adoption models of mobile technologies. First, the Apparatgeist theory leads to the investigation of whether symbolic use will influence adoption of mobile entertainment services. Second, consumption style of mobile phone is proposed to mediate the relationship between antecedent variables and actual use of mobile entertainment services. Third, self-efficacy commonly tested as antecedent of service use, is here proposed as a moderating variable. The conceptual model and propositions have substantial theoretical support; however empirical research is essential for theory advancement. Our future research will then focus on the development of hypotheses based on the presented propositions and test them through an empirical study. It is expected that the research findings could facilitate practitioners in formulating better marketing strategies that could enhance the adoption rate of mobile entertainment services. 5
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