Title: From text messages to WhatsApp: cultural effects on m-commerce service adoption in the UK and Russia

Authors: Julian Bühler; Markus Bick

Addresses: Chair of Business Information Systems, ESCP Europe Business School Berlin, Heubnerweg 8-10, 14059 Berlin, Germany ' Chair of Business Information Systems, ESCP Europe Business School Berlin, Heubnerweg 8-10, 14059 Berlin, Germany

Abstract: Smartphone's and other mobile devices are omnipresent in many people's daily lives. Penetration of mobile devices has caused a significant increase in m-commerce usage, leading to both new opportunities and new challenges for providers. In this cross-cultural study, we investigate Smartphone usage of people from Russia and the UK to identify differences regarding the adoption of 14 prominent m-commerce services. We follow the empirical approach of Harris et al. (2005) and update it with new service items in four main m-commerce categories. Our theoretical foundation rests on the GLOBE study and the UTAUT2 acceptance model. We found that British m-commerce users, compared to Russians, have significantly higher performance expectations for m-commerce services, especially hedonic services. Social surroundings play a minor role in both countries during the decision-making process.

Keywords: mobile commerce; cross-cultural study; UK; Russia; GLOBE study; UTAUT2; smartphones; instant messaging; WhatsApp; short message service.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMC.2019.100506

International Journal of Mobile Communications, 2019 Vol.17 No.4, pp.441 - 464

Received: 22 Jul 2017
Accepted: 24 Jun 2018
Published online: 29 Jun 2019 *

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