Title: Acceptance of mobile health services in emerging markets: a study of Egyptian consumers

Authors: Heba E. Hassan; Suzanne C. Makarem; Van R. Wood

Addresses: Faculty of Commerce, Suez University, Suez 43527, Egypt ' School of Business, Virginia Commonwealth University, 301 W. Main Street, Richmond VA 23284, USA ' School of Business, Virginia Commonwealth University, 301 W. Main Street, Richmond VA 23284, USA

Abstract: This research examines the predictors of consumer adoption intentions for mobile health (m-health) applications in the Middle East and North Africa region. The proposed model adopts four predictors from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, assesses the roles of privacy and trust as two additional predictors, and examines the role of performance expectancy as a mediator. We test this model using survey data from 244 healthcare consumers in Egypt and structural equations modelling. Study findings confirm the importance of performance expectancy and its role as a mediator, especially for the effect of effort expectancy on adoption intentions, which is fully mediated by performance expectancy. In Egypt, a collective culture with high uncertainty avoidance, social influence and privacy are significant predictors of adoption intentions, and their effects are partially mediated by performance expectancy. Conversely, trust and facilitating conditions are not significant predictors of m-health adoption for Egyptian consumers.

Keywords: mobile health services; m-health; technology adoption in emerging markets; mediating role of performance expectancy; application of UTAUT in the MENA region.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEM.2024.137657

International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, 2024 Vol.16 No.2, pp.137 - 154

Received: 17 Jun 2022
Accepted: 16 May 2023
Published online: 02 Apr 2024 *

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