What do we know about consumer m-shopping behaviour?

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the mobile shopping (m-shopping) acceptance literature to bring international marketing and consumer research attention to m-shopping acceptance factors and limitations in current understandings to propose recommendations for further academic and retailing attention.

Design/methodology/approach

Keyword searches identified the consumer-focused literature across mobile commerce, m-shopping, mobile browsing and mobile purchasing, published in English language journals. A classification framework is created and a time frame is established to provide a more focused direction for research.

Findings

Despite the growing popularity of consumers adopting m-shopping activities and the increasing academic attention, consumer m-shopping utilisation remains low and research into its causes remains in its infancy. This paper has subsequently identified a variety of recommendations for further research, including further insights into perceived risk, user vs non-user behaviours, the multi-stage shopping process, incorporation of time considerations and theoretical development.

Originality/value

There has yet been a review of the m-shopping literature collaborating literary findings and limitations in the consumer m-shopping environment. Three major themes arise in this paper. First, there are a variety of factors affecting consumer willingness to accept m-shopping which are often incorporated in existing theory in a sporadic manner. Second, factors can create positive and/or negative consumer perceptions, requiring further insight. Finally, research limitations predominantly surround theoretical and methodological constraints, prompting for wider geographical and more longitudinal approaches to research.

Citation

Marriott, H.R., Williams, M.D. and Dwivedi, Y.K. (2017), "What do we know about consumer m-shopping behaviour?", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 45 No. 6, pp. 568-586. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-09-2016-0164