Exploring the influence of reference situations and reference pricing on mobile service user behaviour

Despite widespread proliferation of mobile devices providing access to a variety of advanced and data-rich services, adoption of those services remains low in most of the Western world. Thus, research related to the acceptance and use of mobile technology and services continues to develop. Traditional research in this domain has been useful for exploring adoption and use related to individual technologies or novel services. However, our research efforts indicate that users often reflect on former experiences with similar technologies or services when choosing mobile services. This suggests that when exploring mobile service usage decisions, focus cannot be placed on mobile services alone. Through two longitudinal field studies conducted in Denmark during 2004 and 2005, this article further explores the manner in which users' choices of mobile services are influenced by their reference situations and reference prices. The article suggests that users cognitive referencing is an influential factor that must be considered when exploring their usage behaviour in the mobile services market.