Mobile App Usage and its Implications for Service Management – Empirical Findings from German Public Transport

By drawing on self-service technology literature, the technology acceptance model (TAM), and on results of qualitative research, a model is presented to explain consumers’ intentions to use mobile apps of service companies. Additionally, the research identified outcomes of actual mobile app usage. The model was tested by collecting data from 197 public transport app users in Germany. Results indicate that information fit to task, convenience value, and speed of transaction affect perceived usefulness of mobile apps. Moreover, ease of understanding, intuitive handling, and reliability were found to drive perceived ease of use. The research also identified perceptions of overall service quality, firm innovativeness, and subjective firm knowledge as three outcomes of app usage. These findings emphasize the benefits of developing company owned mobile apps and have important implications for encouraging customers to use such programs.