Per E. Pedersen

Intentions to use mobile services: Antecedents and cross-service comparisons

This article develops and tests a model to explain consumers’ intention to use mobile services. Through triangulating theories from the diverse fields of information systems research, uses and gratification research, and domestication research, the authors put forth an integrated model that explains intention to use mobile services. The model proposes four overall influences on usage intention: motivational influences, attitudinal influences, normative pressure, and perceived control. The authors study the type of interactivity and process characteristics associated with the service that moderate the effects on the relationship between the proposed antecedents and usage intention. The results from empirical studies of four mobile services show strong support for the effects of motivational influences, attitudinal influences, normative pressure, and perceived control on consumers’ intentions to use mobile services. Some of the effects are moderated by process characteristics (goal-directed vs. experiential services) that are associated with the service.

Explaining intention to use mobile chat services: moderating effects of gender

Purpose – In this article the authors aim to investigate the moderating effects of gender in explaining intention to use mobile chat services.Design/methodology/approach – An extended adoption model based on the technology acceptance model and theory of reasoned action is applied for pin‐pointing the antecedents of intention to use mobile chat services and for revealing cross‐gender differences. The hypotheses are tested on data from a survey of 684 users of mobile chat services.Findings – The study results suggest that social norms and intrinsic motives such as enjoyment are important determinants of intention to use among female users, whereas extrinsic motives such as usefulness and – somewhat surprisingly – expressiveness are key drivers among men.Research limitations/implications – The findings put renewed focus on non‐utilitarian motives and illuminate the role of gender in technology adoption.Practical implications – The cross‐gender differences observed give several guidelines for mobile service d...

Mobilizing the Brand The Effects of Mobile Services on Brand Relationships and Main Channel Use

Mobile devices and services are proposed to be powerful channels for both distribution and marketing communication. In this article, the authors study the effects of mobile channel additions on consumer-brand relationship dimensions. Surveys of three different brands reveal positive effects of mobile channel addition (SMS/MMS) usage on brand satisfaction, direct relationship investments, indirect relationship investments, and main channel usage. The results suggest that SMS channel additions are perceived as complements to the brands’ main channel, whereas MMS channel additions today primarily are perceived as supplementary channels. Moreover, the findings suggest that a promising strategy for increasing consumption of the brand’s main channel is facilitation of the consumers’ direct relationship investment in the mobile services. Implication for service researchers and industry players are discussed.

Business model choices for value creation of mobile services

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the link between business model decisions and customer value creation for mobile services.Design/methodology/approach – An empirical survey was conducted of 54 service provider professionals across six mobile services.Findings – The paper reveals that there is a categorization of mobile services according to extrinsic and intrinsic effects on end‐user values. Mobile specificity is found to be the most influential business model option. The research model was found to be adequate for empirical studies.Research limitations/implications – This is an explorative study.Practical implications – The findings of this study can be used by service providers of mobile services to choose options that improve the customer value of a service.Originality/value – This paper is a new economic study of the link between a business model and performance based on end‐user values. It is of value for service providers and researchers.

Shopbot banking: an exploratory study of customer loyalty effects

Agent technology has been applied to design new services simplifying product and merchant brokering in several customer industries. The term “shopbots” is now generally used to characterize these services. Proposes that shopbots will make customers more rational and less loyal and that loyalty will be adversely affected. Proposes that different forms of loyalty are affected by shopbot access and that the effect of shopbots on loyalty may differ among customer groups. These propositions were tested in an experimental study of customers choosing a financial service provider. The findings suggest that cognitive loyalty is the loyalty form most affected by shopbot access and that the loyalty effects of shopbots depend upon customers’ past switching behavior. However, no effects of shopbots on stronger forms of loyalty were found. Even though this research is exploratory, it suggests that financial service providers may not fear the effects of shopbots on the behavior of their affective and conative loyal customers. It also suggests that to avoid the threat of shopbots, strong forms of loyalty should be developed in long‐term relationships between providers and customers.

Tourism web sites and value-added services: the gap between customer preferences and web sites' offerings.

The purpose of this article is to report on a study of 1) what kind of value-added services offered by tourism businesses’ Web sites are perceived the most important by customers, and 2) a comparison between customers’ preferences for and the actual offerings of value-added services by tourism businesses’ Web sites. A survey among customers of online tourism businesses shows that search engines, service integration, and personalization are the most preferred value-added services by the customers. In addition to the survey among customers, a survey was undertaken among tourism businesses to reveal the level of value-added services offered on their Web sites. By comparing the results of customers’ preferences for value-added services and tourism companies’ offerings, it is found that tourism businesses should provide more value-added services on their Web sites in order to fill the gap between customers’ preferences for such services and the companies’ actual offerings.

The impact of service innovation on firm-level financial performance

This article empirically investigates if firms focusing on service innovation perform better financially than firms not focusing on service innovation. Analysis of the financial performance of 3575 Norwegian firms in the manufacturing industries supports the proposition that firms focusing on service innovation have significantly higher growth of operating results than firms not focusing on service innovation. However, this proposition is not supported in a corresponding analysis of 1132 Norwegian firms in the service industries. We elaborate on these results by investigating a variety of performance measures and by comparing the effects of service innovation between manufacturing and service industries. The article contributes to the service innovation measurement literature and to a better general understanding of the determinants of service innovation performance effects.

THE FIRM-LEVEL EFFECTS OF SERVICE INNOVATION: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Despite the importance of service innovation, its effects have been given relatively little explicit attention in the extant literature. Instead, researchers often implicitly assume that firm-level service innovation activities result in a number of positive financial and other effects. This paper conducts a systematic review of literature on the firm-level effects of service innovation and attempts to identify and categorize the effects suggested in the literature. The review reveals a considerable number of potential firm-level service innovation effects that have been discussed in extant research. We suggest that they may be divided into five effect categories: (1) business process effects, (2) capability effects, (3) relationship effects, (4) financial performance effects and (5) competitiveness effects. The findings suggest directions for further research that aims to develop a causal model of service innovation effects.

Exploring the Relationship Between Mobile Data Services Business Models and End-User Adoption

Adoption of mobile data services may be analyzed within the framework of two-sided markets. Service or content providers should adopt platforms for developing, integrating and distributing mobile services and end-users should adopt the offered services as well as the user platform offered. These two markets are often analyzed separately using different theoretical perspectives and models. In this article, we propose a model for integrating the two sides of the mobile data services market. The model is used to propose relationships between dominant actors’ choice of business models for individual services and the end-users’ perceived value of these services.

INNOVATION MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN PRODUCTION-INTENSIVE SERVICE FIRMS

This paper posits that innovation management practices are contingent upon the type of industry, and examines the innovation management practices in a distinctive set of service firms: production-intensive service firms. Production-intensive services are standardised services produced at a large scale. These services have received little attention from prior comprehensive qualitative innovation management practices research. The examination in this paper is based on in-depth interviews with 21 key-employees in five large Scandinavian production-intensive service firms. The results revealed a number of innovation management practices specific to production-intensive service firms in the four dimensions of strategy and culture, front end of innovation and portfolio management, development process, as well as intellectual and organisational resources. The findings expose that production-intensive service firms are less likely to have an explicit innovation strategy and they are unlikely to measure the strategic impact of innovation activities. Furthermore, the innovation processes in production-intensive service firms tend to be flexible, although formal descriptions exist. The findings extend knowledge on innovation management practices research and provide useful lessons and implications for managers who seek to develop new production-intensive services. The findings also demonstrate that there is a need to acknowledge a contingent view of innovation management practices that are receptive to the type of context the innovation occur in.