Factors influencing the adoption of mobile internet services in Metro Manila

• Main Author: Quiambao, Romeo M., Jr.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2007
• Subjects: Internet telephony; Mobile communication systems > Philippines > Metro Manila; Internet > Social aspects > Philippines > Metro Manila; Marketing; Technology and Innovation
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/7013
• Institution: De La Salle University

The wireless communications industry has been transforming rapidly in the face of technological development through different dimensions involving infrastructure, mobile device, platform, and application. The mobile Internet is the result of the convergence of the Internet, which is characterized by information networks, and mobile telephony or wireless connection. With the availability of WAP and GPRS-capable handsets, consumers now have the power to access a variety of content through the mobile Internet. This exploratory research undertaking examined how mobile phone users in Metro Manila reached their decisions in adopting mobile Internet services. This study used the Theory of Planned Behavior model as conceptual framework in analyzing the motivations and salient beliefs of the respondents leading to the intention of adopting the mobile Internet. This paper determined which factors from the model influenced the respondents in adopting these innovative services. This study utilized a survey questionnaire containing a set of questions focusing on the different variables of the model consisting of the three antecedents (predictors) of behavioral intention, particularly, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, as well as their corresponding beliefs (determinants). Utmost care had been taken during the data collection period, making sure that each respondent had passed four pre- qualifications: 1) that the respondent was a current mobile phone user who was aware of 2 mobile Internet services, 2) that the respondent had never tried such services, 3) that the respondent was interested in availing of mobile Internet services in the future, and 4) that the respondent had a mobile phone with access to WAP or higher technology. Survey findings showed that majority of the respondents belonged to the 21 to 30 age group while respondents from the 17 to 20 age group had the next highest representation. Majority of the respondents belonged to the middle-income class which implied that existing users belonged to the upper-class segments due to their purchasing power. Half of the respondents of the sample were college students while working respondents accounted for 43%. The survey results showed that respondents were mostly aware of downloading of music files or games from the mobile Internet. Respondents who were aware of 4 to 6 mobile Internet services accounted for the largest share with 39%. Respondents who were aware of 7 to 10 services accounted for 34% share in the sample. The findings showed general support for the research model with positive attitude having the strongest influence on intention to use mobile Internet services. Among the attributes of attitude, perceived usefulness had the highest influence on attitude with perceived ease of use coming in second. Subjective norm or perceived social pressure had a weaker effect on intention to adopt mobile Internet services while perceived behavioral control had the weakest impact.