Overcoming barriers to the successful adoption of mobile commerce in Singapore
by Samtani Anil, Leow Tze Ting, Lim Hoon Moe, Goh Po Gin Jonathan
International Journal of Mobile Communications (IJMC), Vol. 1, No. 1/2, 2003

Abstract: ''Prediction is very difficult,'' wrote Nobel laureate Niels Bohr, ''especially about the future.'' This is clearly the case in the emerging market of mobile commerce (m-commerce). Many pundits believe that m-commerce will be huge. This belief is based on the assumption that, if you merge two services that are already popular, you will inevitably create a third that is even more popular. Mobile telephony is one of the most pervasive forms of modern communication and the internet already has more than 300 million users. However, experience to date has not matched up to expectations; m-commerce is moving relatively slowly. But we are still in the early stages of the mobile innovation wave. Like any innovation, there will be ''moments in time when irrational exuberance rules the day, as well as moments when extreme pessimism reigns''. We believe that m-commerce does have the potential to revolutionise our lives, and is thus an important topic for study. By disconnecting their equipment, people are becoming increasingly connected. This research study seeks to gauge the current receptiveness of consumers towards m-commerce; to determine the concerns consumers have about m-commerce; to determine the factors that would facilitate and encourage the adoption of m-commerce; and to determine the kind of mobile internet services that appeal to consumers. Our study deals with these issues with a focus on consumers in Singapore. From our research, we found that high costs and slow speeds were prime concerns. Low costs and improved connection speeds were cited as important factors that would facilitate the adoption of m-commerce. E-mail, ticketing, entertainment and news were the m-commerce services with the highest appeal. Predicting consumer behaviour is far from an exact science, but by analysing emerging trends in technology, latent customer needs, markets and other areas, we hope our research can contribute to the future success of m-commerce.

Online publication date: Fri, 18-Jul-2003

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