ABSTRACT
Experts and industry reports agree that the COVID-19 crisis spurred the adoption of new retail technologies, like mobile payment. However, empirical academic evidence that compares their adoption and usage before, during, and after the crisis remains scarce. So far, academic mobile payment research has focussed almost entirely on the different building blocks of technological acceptance models, like perceived usefulness and ease of use, and their role in explaining intention to use. We need to learn more about the profile of the actual user. In this Belgian study, we investigate the evolution in mobile adoption based on survey data from 2019 to 2020 (2019: N = 897;2020: N = 895). We examine differences in the profile of mobile payers in terms of their socio-demographics, retail, and social media behaviours. The pandemic triggered a clear uplift in mobile payment users between 2019 to 2020. Nonetheless, striking differences in socio-demographic profile and retail patronage remain. Our data shows that there is still inequality in adoption, related to age and social grade. We also observe a clear association between general impulse buying tendency and mobile payment. The link between internet/online shopping and mobile payment is firmly established. Finally, mobile adoption is related to the use of Instagram and Facebook. Consequences for retailers, researchers and public officers are further discussed.
ABSTRACT
A great deal of research has been carried out on adoption of mobile payments, focusing on user intentions. However, little is known about the actual users and what circumstances trigger mobile payment. Mobile payment is of particular interest to retailers, as it can facilitate and thus encourage finalization of the sales transaction. In this Belgian study (N = 1792, average age = 44.3, SD = 13.3, 49% female), we take a closer look at the profile of mobile payers in terms of their socio-demographics, frequency of patronizing convenience retail channels, and social media usage, and their underlying general impulsive buying tendency before and during the COVID-19 crisis. We observed a clear uplift in users between 2019 and 2020. We further find a higher occurrence of mobile payers among younger ages and those with a higher socio-economic profile. The link between internet/online shoppers and mobile payment adoption seems to be firmly established. Our data also indicate a higher incidence of mobile payment among petrol station shoppers but not for vending or newsagent shoppers, indicating that certain convenience stores seem more suitable contexts for using mobile payments than others. Furthermore, a clear positive association was observed between general impulse buying tendency and mobile payment incidence. Finally, higher mobile payment incidences can be found amongst Facebook and Instagram users, but not amongst Twitter and YouTube users. Understanding these differences can help retailers set their digital and commercial agendas and researchers in the field of mobile payment adoption to select appropriate moderators for their models. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
It is believed that due to quarantine regulations during the covid-19 crisis, more people are attracted to social media. Especially TikTok seems to be linked to this crisis, given its rise to fame during the same period. However, to date, very little is known about TikTok regarding the number of users or usage characteristics. While considered a Social Network Site (SNS) oriented toward a younger audience of kids and teens, we hypothesized that TikTok would find its way to mainstream adult audiences, given the increasing attention devoted to this particular SNS in popular media. Cross-sectional data from 2500 Belgians (age between 18–64 years old) during the covid-19 crisis in 2020 show an expanding adoption of TikTok in daily active users (DAU). Further logistic regression analyses on the number of DAU show individual differences in sociodemographic background comparing SNS Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. The adult’s resulting profile on TikTok is younger, less graduated, with a lower income, living in urban areas, and having kids. Contrary to expectations, we did not find a gender effect nor a student effect. While not yet at the level of Facebook and Instagram, TikTok succeeded to quickly gain momentum in the adult space, to a level that is reaching that of a longer-standing platform like Twitter. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.