User behaviors toward mobile data services: The role of perceived fee and prior experience

Rapid advancements in information and communication technologies (ICT) have allowed people some opportunities to access digitalized contents without restrictions in time or place. Mobile data service (MDS) is an important emerging ICT, thus many studies on information systems (IS) and marketing examine key predictors of MDS user behaviors. However, although the usage-based pricing of MDS is considered as a unique feature, most studies on MDS have paid little attention to its influences on MDS user behaviors. This study proposes a theoretical framework integrating perceived fee into Van der Heijden's model to understand the role of perceived fee in wireless pay-per-use services. To capture the moderating effect of prior experience, this study also investigates the differences in determinants for the adoption decision stages and the continued usage decision stages. The proposed model is empirically tested by using survey data collected from 149 inexperienced users and 393 experienced users. The findings indicate that, compared with traditional IS such as a corporate IS and a website, perceived fee explains a large portion of the variances in adoption intention and continued usage intention toward MDS. This study also reveals that the antecedents leading to MDS user behavior vary in terms of prior experience. Finally, theoretical and practical implications of this study are described. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.