Understanding M-Commerce Adoption: A Multi-Group Analysis of Online Search and Purchase by Smartphone Users in Australia

This study examines two types of smartphone users in m-commerce: ‘Searchers’, who only search for products using their smartphones, and ‘Purchasers’, who both search and purchase using their smartphones. We offer a Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)-based conceptualisation of m-commerce adoption, including new measures of key constructs. Drawing on Psychological Ownership (PO) theory, we examine differences between Searchers and Purchasers. Data collected from smartphone users in Australia reveals that smartphone network and device characteristics play negligible roles in m-commerce adoption. Instead, users’ propensity to make purchases via their smartphone is influenced by user characteristics, including self-efficacy, hedonic experiences and habitual smartphone use. These latter variables represent viable pathways for retailers to convert searchers into purchasers. We also find that, for purchasers, Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) is an important direct driver of Intention to Purchase (ITP). In contrast, for searchers, the strong effects of PEOU on ITP are fully mediated by Perceived Usefulness. Last, we determine that psychological ownership is significantly higher among purchasers than searchers, suggesting increasing PO is an additional mechanism to transition searchers into purchasers.