A STUDY OF IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY USAGE ON COGNITIVE ASPECTS IN MOBILE COMMERCE CONTEXT

Abstract

Ubiquitous Internet access and prevalent digitalisation have led people to complete many activities online using smartphones or other handheld devices such as tablets. Using mobile services has become a regular smartphone activity for most Internet users. While on the one hand, regular usage of information technology could influence users’ cognitive processes. On the other hand, it is also pertinent for e-commerce and Internet firms to know how mobile users’ IT characteristics determine their use of mobile services in the digitalisation era. In this research, we investigate both directions. We draw support from information systems (IS) literature on mobile-commerce adoption and usage to study both directions. Our research studied four types of mobile services: informative content, entertainment-related, location-based, and transaction-based. First, we study how IT users’ mobile services usage influences their engagement levels. We proposed a conceptual model and tested it empirically. We designed a survey instrument by adopting existing IS scales in the survey and targeted mobile users for data collection in India. We applied structural equation modelling to test the hypotheses and research model. Results indicate that mobile usage for informative content positively affects the engagement levels of users. The effects of mobile usage for entertainment-related mobile services, location-based mobile services, and transaction-based mobile services on user engagement were insignificant. The age of IT users was found to be positively controlling their engagement at cognitive levels. For the second direction, we conceptualised a novel user-oriented research model to understand their IT use and engagement with support from extant IS literature and self-determination theory. We adopted existing IS scales in the survey, collected data from mobile users, and conducted SEM to test hypotheses. Our findings show that user-oriented variables such as user experience with computers, personal innovativeness in IT, and computer self-efficacy play a crucial role in determining user engagement and IT use for all mobile service types: informative content, entertainment-related, location-based, and transaction-based. One novel finding of our research suggests that the impact of usage of mobile services on users’ engagement varies depending upon the type of mobile service consumed. Our study offers significant theoretical contributions to IS research and practical implications for e-commerce and Internet firms.