The Effect of Benefits of Mobile Application use- Diffusion and Purchase Intention in Service Management

Transcription

1 Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 9(24), DOI: /ijst/2016/v9i24/96030, June 2016 ISSN (Print) : ISSN (Online) : The Effect of Benefits of Mobile Application use- Diffusion and Purchase Intention in Service Management Ki -Heung Yim 1 and Jin-Hee Kwon 2 1 Department of Silver Care, Kwangju Women s University, Gwangju, Korea; khyim15@hanmail.net 2 Department of Management, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea;terry123@hanmail.net Abstract Background/Objectives: One of the biggest recent issues in the communication market is the explosive distribution of smart phones. One of the reasons why a smart phone could have seen this rapid distribution in terms of the service management is because it enables the access to the Internet without getting restricted by place and time through customization by a user, unlike a feature phone which only has the existing functions mounted on that were already chosen by a suppler. The other reason is because of its applications. Methods/Statistical Analysis: This study performed a survey for a sample of people who have ever used the online shopping applications. It is looking on the demographic characteristics, among a total of 215 people. In order to verify the formed hypotheses and models, this study evaluated reliability using the Cronbach's Alpha scale and it was found that the high reliability had been acquired as most of the variables showed high values above 0.8. In advance of the verification of hypotheses, the reliability analysis was carried out to examine reliability of the measurement items for each construction concept used in this study. Also, to verify the hypotheses of this thesis, a structural equating model was set up and a path analysis of the relationship between construction concepts was carried out. Findings: This study aimed to make an empirical investigation of the impact of each of the different convenience types of mobile applications on the usage and the use diversity, consider the process of use diffusion and find out whether there is a difference in the effect of each convenience type on the use-diffusion. According to the findings of this study, it was firstly shown that the effect of each convenience type on the use-diffusion is different and secondly, it appeared that the more various functions of the mobile applications are used, the usage increases. Improvements/Applications: It is supposed that the portability and accessibility was less easy because they were the studies for a PC. On the other hand, in case of a mobile phone like in this study, it has the excellent portability and accessibility compared to anything else including a PC. Therefore, it is supposed that more usage and more chances to access to its functions must have had a positive impact on the increase of the usage. Keywords: Convenience Types, Feature Phone, Mobile Applications, Usage, Use Diversity 1. Introduction One of the biggest recent issues in the communication market is the explosive distribution of smart phones. One of the reasons why a smart phone could have seen this rapid distribution in terms of the service management is because it enables the access to the Internet without getting restricted by place and time through customization by a user unlike a feature phone which only has the existing functions mounted on it. The other reason is because of its applications. While in the mass marketing era, the unilateral marketing communication was only used by utilizing TV, newspapers and magazines, now the bilateral communication based on the Internet is being invigorated as the unilateral communication declines. The increasing demand for application based on this reason is attracting the interest of companies who want to make an active use of this trend. Furthermore, we are currently using the medium which is characteristic in terms that it can overcome limits to time and space through the customer-contact type of mobile medium which exist the closest to human beings among all the media in use. And * Author for correspondence

2 The Effect of Benefits of Mobile Application use-diffusion and Purchase Intention in Service Management all the current applications are being carried out through a mobile from the data research of a product to the purchase. Particularly as for the cutting edge technology products, to what extent it is used variously after having been purchased is the concern of a company and the acceptance-diffusion studies that exert a great impact on establishing a long term relationship with customers can explain customers behaviors after acceptance and help establish strategies to form a long-term relationship with customers. With the needs for this having been recognized recently, studies that try to make a theoretical and empirical verification of the situation where customers accept a technology product and then, use it have been attempted. In the general customer field, Shih andvenkatesh(2004) pointed out limits of the existing demand-diffusion model and proposed a use-diffusion model 1. Therefore, this study aims to make an empirical research on the convenience types of a convergence product and their relationships based on the existing use-diffusion theory suggested in the study 1 by Shin and Venkatesh(2004) and see whether the relationship between customers and the applicable brands improves when the rapid use-diffusion of customers is happening as technology product managers may expect. 2. Theoretical Background and Study Hypotheses 2.1 Concept of Convenience Convenience, as a need or want that customers become to feel in regard to the characteristics of a certain product, means the subjective compensation or expectation that customers want in relation to the use of a product. Also, convenience means the usefulness that customers wish to obtain from a product. It was said that the convenience perceived of a product is different among customers depending on their personal characteristics and situations 2. Keller(1998) divided convenience into three different levels according to the basic motivation associated with the convenience as functional convenience, symbolic convenience and empirical convenience. The functional convenience is the more essential convenience that can be acquired by consuming a product or services and it is generally consistent with the product-associated characteristics 3. This kind of convenience is relevant to the considerably basic motivation such as a psychological need and a desire for safety and also has something to do with the desire to solve or avoid problems. Peter and Olson(1987) defined in their study on the service field that convenience as a need or desire felt by customers in relation to the characteristics of a particular product or service is the subjective compensation or expectation that consumers want. Additionally, they subdivided the convenience in relation to the use of a product or service as functional convenience, psychological convenience and social convenience. The functional convenience means the direct usefulness acquired by using and consuming a product or service. On the other hand, the psychological convenience means the personal indirect usefulness that can hardly come into view and the social convenience is also the usefulness indirectly acquired and explained to be linked with the reaction of others to the property perceived by an individual 2. Holbrook and Hirschman(1992) argued that convenience has to include satisfying the experience through a purchase as well as the consumer s functional and practical convenience about a product 4. In addition, Bloch and Ridgway(1996) said that rather than restricting the purchasing behavior of a consumer to the practical convenience of a product, the hedonic and emotional convenience considering a subjective side should be taken into account 5. Berry(1995) argued that the relational convenience for the both sides is an essential factor in continuing bilateral relationship because quality of relationship can be improved and continuous relationship can be maintained when both sides obtain convenience through the relationship between companies and customers. Also, according to the study findings by Park and Kim(2006) for the online shopping websites, the relational convenience between a customer and a website has a positive effect on the immersion of a customer into the shopping website Previous Studies on the Use-Diffusion The study by Kim and Srivastava(1998) is representative among the researches on the use-diffusion which introduced the relational marketing perspectives to a technology product. This study restricted the diffusion concept to within an organization and thought that it is important in the industrial marketing situation for a 2 Vol 9 (24) June Indian Journal of Science and Technology

3 Ki -Heung Yim and Jin-Hee Kwon company to get many people within the organization to use innovative products after the acceptance as well as pay attention to the acceptance of these products and it is possible to establish a long-term relationship between purchasing companies and selling companies through this way 8. Kim and Srivastava(1998) looked at the usediffusion as the ratio of people using the innovative products within an organization. However, in the study by Jang Daeryun and Jo Sungdo (2000), the use-diffusion within an organization was not seen as the ratio of users within the organization but defined as the usage and the usage types, based on the study 10 by Ram and Jung(1990) in the consumer behavior field. They also argued that it is important for the establishment of a long-term relationship to overcome the resistance against innovation and promote the use-diffusion Relation between Functional Convenience and Use-Diffusion The diversity and the mixed use of mobile functions offers people with effective and practical values by changing working habits or sometimes cultures and reducing efforts for use. Also, there is a study arguing that this perceived improvement of functions can enhance the use innovation 11. In other word, the recent mobile phones through the recent convergence of technologies can be regarded as the functional convenience products which provide practical values including practical functions (communication function, data processing function, electronic commerce function). Furthermore, from the consumption problem solving perspectives through using a product, the functional convenience also mean an association level for basic functional characteristics such as quality recognition and problem solving ability. Therefore, the recent convergence mobiles can be viewed as functional convenience products having quality recognition, problem solving ability, easiness of use and economic utility. On the other hand, this diversity and mixed use of functions shows that technology is being elaborated to some extent. That is, due to the elaboration of technology, people can appreciate the utilitarian value of more convenient technology. Therefore, this can have an association with the hypothesis of the study by Shin and Venkatesh(2004) arguing that the verified elaboration of technology have a positive(+) effect on the use-diffusion 1. In light of this situation, it can be predicted that the practical and effective value of a mobile phone has a positive(+) effect on the frequent and various use by customers Relation between Empirical Convenience and Use-Diffuse As the entertainment functions of a mobile phone get diversified and consumers use these functions, they want to feel the effective values such as enjoyment and pleasure. As a result, the entertainment functions of a mobile phone can be viewed as products providing customers with the empirical convenience. Also, Park Sookyung, Park Jihye and Cha Taehoon(2007) made verification of the study arguing that the entertainment factors offer customers with pleasure and have a positive impact on satisfaction, repurchase intention and recommendation intention. This study proved the effect on the pleasure and satisfaction of experience and the repurchase intention through the experience economic theory by Pine and Gilmore(1998) and defined that the entertainment factors are all that stimulate and promote a pleasant change of mood and what is universally exciting and appealing 13. Through the study by Park Sookyung and two others 12, it can be expected that the entertainment functions of a mobile phone will be frequently used with more various functions available as well as satisfy customers. [Hypothesis 3] The empirical convenience of applications will have a positive(+) impact on the usage. [Hypothesis 4] The empirical convenience of applications will have a positive(+) impact on the use diversity Relation between use Diversity-Usage Shin and Venkatesh(2004) viewed as for the relation between use diversity and usage in the use-diffusion situation within a family that more use diversity would cause an increase in usage. They thought that when family members used a computer for various purposes, the usage would increase 1. Also, the study by Jo Sungdo and Kim Kyungeun(2007) proved the relation between use diversity-usage, which showed no increased usage for the high use diversity 14. Therefore, this study aims to reconfirm the relation between use diversity and usage based on these previous studies. [Hypothesis 5] The use diversity will have a positive(+) impact on the usage. Vol 9 (24) June Indian Journal of Science and Technology 3

4 The Effect of Benefits of Mobile Application use-diffusion and Purchase Intention in Service Management 3. Empirical Analysis 3.1 Demographic Characteristics This study performed a survey for a sample of people who have ever used the online shopping applications. Looking at the demographic characteristics, among a total of 215 people, there were much more number of females with 174 females(82.3%) and 41 males(17.7%) but it is not supposed to be a significant issue given that a majority of customers of shopping malls are women. As for the age, people aged over 20 and below 25 had the highest rate at 44.7% and those aged over 25 and below 30 took up 25.6%. In the educational level, university graduates had an overwhelming rate at 47.4% and people still attending a university took up 36.8%. 3.2 Analysis of Reliability and Validity of Construction Concept In order to verify the formed hypotheses and models, this study evaluated reliability using the Cronbach s Alpha scale and it was found that the high reliability had been acquired as most of the variables showed high values above 0.8. In advance of the verification of hypotheses, the reliability analysis was carried out to examine reliability of the measurement items for each construction concept used in this study. The analysis was performed around the items extracted as main factors and the result is suggested in Table 1. The analysis to verify reliability used the Cronbach s α and all the Cronbach s α values for measurement items were over 0.7, which means that the measurement questions are equipped with reliability. Table 1. Reliability analysis of the configuration item Construction concept Component detail Cronbach s- Alpha Functional Benefits 3item.895 Empirical Benefits 3item.813 Usage Quantity 3item.873 Usage Diversity 3item.915 Most of the items used in this study were extracted through the research into the associated literature and the face validity was obtained because they went through the adjustment process such as the elaboration of items. Also, the validity was looked at through the confirmatory factor analysis for measurement items. The result of the confirmatory factor analysis of the whole model is suggested like in Table 2 and it was found that most of the goodness of fit was satisfied (chisqare/df= /140, GFI=.808, AGFI=.813,NFI=.832, TLI=.937, CFI=.935, RMSEA=.057). Therefore, it was decided that the whole model was by large suitable for the sample data. The Average Variance Extracted (AVE) was calculated to prove the convergent validity of the construction concept and it can be said that there is Table 2. Confirmatory factor analysis of the metrics Construction concept Functional Benefits Empirical Benefits Usage Quantity Usage Dversity Measured variable Load Factor Quantity C.R Functional Benefits Functional Benefits Functional Benefits Empirical Benefits Empirical Benefits Empirical Benefits Usage Quantity Usage Quantity Usage Quantity Usage Dversity Usage Dversity Usage Dversity Concept Confidence chi-sqare/df= /140, GFI=.808, AGFI=.813,NFI=.832, TLI=.937, CFI=.935, RMSEA=.057 The average extraction value (AVE) Vol 9 (24) June Indian Journal of Science and Technology

5 Ki -Heung Yim and Jin-Hee Kwon a convergent validity because the variance extracted was over As a result, it is decided that the whole suggested model of this study is somehow suitable for the sample data. 3.3 Verification of Hypotheses To verify the hypotheses of this thesis, a structural equating model was set up and a path analysis of the relationship between construction concepts was carried out. The estimation of a path coefficient adopted the Maximum Likelihood Estimation and it is generally appropriate if over 0.8 in case of GFI, AGFI and NFI and desirable if over 0.9. In case of RMR and RMSEA, it is suggested to be proper when it is between 0.05 and ,16. The goodness of fit index of the study model of this study is suggested in Table 3(GFI=.913, AGFI=.978, NFI=.832, TLI=.825, CFI=.934, RMSEA=.058). According to the analysis result of the goodness of fit, this study model is acknowledged as proper for the sample data because all the goodness of fit figures appear to be proper as a study model. According to this study, both the Hypotheses 1 and 2 were dismissed because the functional convenience of the mobile application was shown to have no influence on both the usage(p=.059, S.E=.084 C.R=0.558) and the use diversity(p=.132, S.E=.070 C.R=0.394). Next, the empirical convenience was found to have a meaningful impact on both the usage(p=.000, S.E=.062 C.R=3.899) and the use diversity(p=.000, S.E=.088 C.R=4.180), so the Hypotheses 2 and 3 were adopted. Lastly, it was concluded that when the various functions of the mobile application are used, the usage(p=.000, S.E=.078 C.R=4.080) increases and the Hypothesis 5 was adopted. 4. Conclusion and Implications This study aimed to empirically figure out what impact each of the different mobile applications has on the usage and the use diversity, consider the use-diffusion process of mobile applications and find out whether there is a difference between convenience types in their effect on the use-diffusion. The analysis results of the study hypotheses are as follows. Firstly, the effect on the use-diffusion according to the convenience types is different. In other word, according to this study, it was found that the functional convenience of mobile applications has no impact on both the usage and the use diversity whereas the empirical convenience has a meaningful impact on both the usage and the use diversity. In other word, it is apparent according to this result that the entertainment function and the factors offering pleasure have more significant impact on the use frequency and use diversity of consumers. It can be because marketing managers of companies are communicating based on the entertainment factors or the emotional convenience, not simply as a practical and effective communication device for shopping. Secondly, the usage increases as more various functions of mobile applications are used. Based on the study findings, it was shown that the use diversity of mobile applications has a positive(+) impact on the usage. As for the relation between the use diversity and the usage, the empirical analysis was performed in each of the studies by Shin and Venkatesh(2004) 1 and by Jo Sungdo and Kim Kyungeun(2007) 14. In the study 1 by Shin and Venkatesh(2004), it was believed that more use diversity would increase usage as for the relation between the use diversity and the usage in the use diffusion situation within a family. However, in the study 14 by Jo Sundo and Kim Kyuneun(2007), it was found out that the high use diversity did not increase the usage. One of the reasons of this difference is thought to be because of the difference of the selected products for the studies. In case of the Table 3. Hypothesis testing results Path Estimate S.E. C.R. Verification Results Hypothesis1 Functional Benefits Usage Quantity Reject Hypothesis2 Functional Benefits Usage Diversity Reject Hypothesis3 Empirical Benefits Usage Quantity Accept Hypothesis4 Empirical Benefits Usage Diversity Accept Hypothesis5 Usage Dversity Usage Quantity Accept chi-sqare/df= /120, GFI=.913, AGFI=.978, NFI=.832, TLI=.825, CFI=.934, RMSEA=.058 *: p<.05. Vol 9 (24) June Indian Journal of Science and Technology 5

6 The Effect of Benefits of Mobile Application use-diffusion and Purchase Intention in Service Management two studies above, it is supposed that the portability and accessibility was less easy because they were the studies for a PC. On the other hand, in case of a mobile phone like in this study, it has the excellent portability and accessibility compared to anything else including a PC. Therefore, it is supposed that more usage and more chances to access to its functions must have had a positive impact on the increase of the usage. 5. References 1. Fong SC, Venkatesh A. Beyond adoption: Development and application of a use-diffusion model. Journal of Marketing. 2004; 68: Peter JP, Olspn JC. Consumer behavior, marketing strategy perspectives. IL: Irwin; Lane KK. Conceptualizing, measuring, managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing. 1993; 57(1): Holbrook MB, Hirschman EC. The experiential aspects of consumption: Consumer fantasies, feelings and fun. The Journal of Consumer Research. 1982; 9: Bloch and Ridgway. The shopping-mall as consumer habitat. Journal of Retailing. 1996; 70(1): Berry LL. Relationship marketing of services: Growing interest, emerging perspectives. Academy of Marketing Science. 1995; 23: Park C, Kim Y. The effect of information satisfaction and relational benefit on consumers online shopping site commitments.journal of Electronic Commerce in Organization. 2006; 4(1): Kim NW, Srivatava RK. Managing Intradorganizational diffusion of technological innovations. Industrial Marketing Management. 1998; (27): Jang DR, Cho SD. A study on the organization innovation resistance in the purchase situation of technology product - focused on the enterprise resource planning. Marketing Research; p Ram S, Jung HS. The conceptualization and measurement of product usage. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 1990; 18(1): Greenberg M, McDonald SS. Successful need, benefits segmentation: A User s Guide. The Journal of Consumer Marketing. 1989; 6: Park SG, Park JH, Cha TH. Experience factors (4Es) affect the re-visit and the experience joy and satisfaction. Ad Research; p Pine BJ, Gilmore JH. Welcome to the experiences economy. Harvard Business Review; p Cho SD, Kim YE. A study on the factors that affect the spread of using technology products: Using sheep, using the right kind of diversity standpoint. Marketing Research; Bagozzi RP. The self-regulation of attitudes, intentions and behavior. Social Psychology Quarterly. 1992; 55(2): Bagozzi RP, Dholakia U. Goal setting and goal striving in consumer behavior. Journal of Marketing. 1999; 63(4): Blackwell RD, Miniard PW, Engel JF. Consumer Behavior. Harcourt; Vol 9 (24) June Indian Journal of Science and Technology