FROM HEDONISM AND UTILITARIANISM TO ANTICIPATED ACTUAL BEHAVIOR: DO UK AND MALAYSIAN POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY TO MOBILE APPS?

• Published in: Economics, Management, and Financial Markets Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 11 - 34
• Main Authors: Carter, Stephen, Chu-May, Amy Yeo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Woodside Addleton Academic Publishers 01.06.2017
• Subjects: Attitudes; Behavior; Behaviorism; Business Economy / Management; Cellular telephones; College students; Comparative studies; Consumer behavior; Consumer research; Consumers; Graduate students; Hedonism; Hypotheses; Information systems; Information technology; Internet; Marketing / Advertising; Mental effort; Mobile advertising; Mobile applications; Purchasing; Questionnaires; Smartphones; Social networks; Social research; Socio-Economic Research; Software utilities; Student attitudes; Students; Technology; Technology Acceptance Model; Technology application; Theory of planned behavior; University students; Usefulness; Utilitarianism; United Kingdom; Malaysia; United Kingdom > UK; TAM; Malaysia; United Kingdom’s constitutional system; consumer behavior; mobile applications; TPB
• ISSN: 1842-3191; 1938-212X
• DOI: 10.22381/EMFM12220171

The purpose of this study is twofold. Firstly, to examine the relationship between consumer behavioral dimensions using Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and how these affect the intended usage of mobile app. Secondly, it is aimed to contrast the differences between the UK and the Malaysia mobile users largely from the approach of hedonism and utilitarianism. A sample of postgraduate students was taken from a UK university and another from a university in Malaysia. A questionnaire methodology using several statistical analyses such as Pearson product correlation, standard multiple regression and independent t-test, was employed to test the variables’ interactive effect of the two different set of data. Pearson correlation results indicated that there was a significant correlation between all the perceived behavioral dimensions (attitude, subjective norm, behavioral control, ease of use and usefulness), however, only “usefulness” was significantly correlated with the “intention” to use the mobile apps. Interestingly, the results from standard multiple regressions also showed that “perceived usefulness” was the only strong predictor of intention to use mobile apps but predominantly from the UK subjects. A transnational comparative study generated from the postgraduate respondents yielded results associated with hedonic, less mental effort and usefulness of apps which can be beneficial to marketers, apps content providers, advertisers as well as e-businesses.