Resumo

This study intends to evaluate the latest development and trends of researches on mobile commerce and its diverse facets. The research on m-commerce has increased steadily over the years since 2000, with a surge in 2008 and another in 2013 (Hew, 2016). Mobile technologies are enabling consumers to experience shopping differently, and marketers are increasingly aware of the urge to deliver new strategies (Pantano & Priporas, 2016). Therefore, this research aims at identifying main theories, paradigms and constructs involved in mobile commerce, research cliques and directions for future studies

The purpose of this work is to shed light on both traditions and trends in mobile commerce, by identifying main theories, paradigms and constructs, possible research cliques and research avenues for future studies. The focus was to spot seminal articles, as well as the most cited authors in this field of study, and collaboration patterns. This study follows the path recommend by Hew (2016) on his previous bibliometric evaluation of mobile commerce: to perform a further content analysis, both quantitatively and qualitatively, in this field.

Seminal theories examining acceptance of new technologies such as Diffusion of Innovation Theory (Rogers, 1983), Technology Acceptance Model - TAM (Davis, 1989) and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology - UTAUT (Venkatesh et al., 2003) are the core to the majority of researches regarding mobile shopping adoption (San-Martín, Prodanova & Catalán, 2016; Hubert et al, 2017; Gupta and Arora, 2017). In a quest for a more comprehensive framework in mobile shopping acceptance, recent studies added different factors to the seminal technology acceptance theories.

The research was carried out in three stages, involving both quantitative - bibliometric and bibliographic - and qualitative content analyses. The data was gathered from Web of Science (WoS) Database in May, 2017. A ‘‘Basic Search” was conducted by specifying ‘‘mobile commerce” or ‘‘m-commerce” or “mobile shopping”, with timespan 2014-2017, resulting in a sample of 199 articles. At this point, the bibliometric analysis started, using the BibExcel Software. The articles identified as most relevant to the topic (mobile commerce) where to be analyzed in greater depth, in a total of 26 articles.

The analysis provided an overview on how this field of research has developed, bringing to light both traditions and trends. The co-citation matrix in table 2 displays four main pairing patterns: Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) and Davis (1989); Davis (1989) and Venkatesh (2000, 2003, 2012); Davis (1989) and Wu (2005); Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) and Venkatesh (2000). The content analysis identified four main research areas: mobile shopping acceptance and adoption; mobile shopping journey; value creation; post adoption and satisfaction, with the first holding the majority of the publications.

Mobile is a digital paradigm shift in retail. Retailers should be on their way to adopt a mobile mind-set if they wish to perform a successful omnichannel strategy. A discerning factor regarding mobile commerce is that convenience is key. Besides, mobile shopping involves not only cognitive benefits versus risks tradeoffs, but also habit formation. Understanding the latest advances of mobile commerce and what lies ahead of it is essential for both scholars and marketers in grasping the essentials of today’s digital consumer.

Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340. Hew, J. (2016) Hall of fame for mobile commerce and its applications: A bibliometric evaluation of a decade and a half (2000-2015) Telematics and Informatics Volume 34, Issue 1, 1 February 2017, Pages 43-66 Wu, J., & Wang, S. (2005). What drives mobile commerce? An empirical evaluation of the revised technology acceptance model. Information & Management, 42719-729.