The moderating role of device type and age of users on the intention to use mobile shopping applications

This work was performed to understand the characteristics of the antecedents of m-shopping adoption using mobile applications, with respect to the age of the consumer and the type of device used. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Theory of Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) were used for the purpose. The antecedents for shopping-through-mobile-apps were perceived risk, perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use and perceived enjoyment. Satisfaction in using an information system and personal innovativeness were also considered to have significant influences on the intention to use mobile shopping applications. In this work, devices were classified into large and small based on the screen size and respondents were classified into young (≤35 years) and old (>35 years) based on age. An online questionnaire with 32 items, administered through survey monkey, was circulated through email to the respondents and a data set of 675 responses was taken for analysis. ANOVA was used to compare the means of the responses in terms of these variables between the classified device types and age groups. Structural Equation Modeling was used to study the factors influencing the intention to use mobile shopping applications. The moderating effects of device type and age on the intention to use mobile shopping applications were analyzed. Results showed a significant difference in the responses for the variables - perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, satisfaction and intention to use - between the subgroups. The study also showed the presence of moderating effects of device types and age on the intention to use mobile shopping applications. The survey, results and implications of the observations are discussed in this paper.