During the summer period, two of my dissertation supervisees and I worked to turn part of their dissertations into conference papers. I was very pleased to learn that the two papers were accepted to be presented in the upcoming International Conference on Organization and Management (ICOM 2015) in Abu Dhabi. One of the papers focuses on mobile advertising, and identifies a gap in relation to the new formats of mobile advertising (in particular in-app advertising) and the factors affecting attitudes towards this type of advertising. The paper then develops and tests a scale for the construct of hindrance in this context. The second paper explores the behaviour of the digital natives in Dubai when shopping online using the well-known Technology Acceptance Model as departing framework. The findings in this paper suggest that for Generation Y consumers, several of the factors identified in the model do not longer hold the same importance as they did before. Below are the titles and abstracts for those papers:
- Nadeem, S., Rodriguez, L. and Perez-Vega, R. (2015). A scale of hindrance in mobile in-app advertising. The International Conference on Organization Management (ICOM).
Abstract:
This paper develops and tests a scale for hindrance in the context of in-app mobile advertising. With the changes in mobile advertising capabilities, research on attitudes towards mobile advertising has mainly focused on SMS advertising. However, the formats in mobile advertising have increased since the introduction of smartphones and mobile internet capabilities. We propose that within in-app mobile advertising, current models on attitudes towards this type of advertising do not reflect the use and perception of users of these platforms. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, we explore the role that hindrance within mobile advertising plays towards the attitudes of consumers. We then develop and test quantitatively a scale that measures the construct hindrance and its four dimensions (stoppage, distraction, delay and interruption).
- Ashraf, S. and Perez-Vega, R. (2015). Insight into Dubai’s Generation Y Online Shopping Behaviour: Exploring the Limitations of the Technology Acceptance Model with the Digital Natives. The International Conference on Organization Management (ICOM).
Abstract:
This research paper aims to expand the theory of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to study Dubai’s Generation Y’s intention to shop online. The paper presents the results of a series of interviews and explores the relevance of the constructs suggested by this theory for online shopping behaviour of this segment in Dubai. The findings of this research show various similarities and contrasts with previous studies using Technology Acceptance Model in the context of E-Commerce. Similarities include participants agreeing that usefulness of online shopping has a major role in their intention to shop online. In contrast with previous studies, where Ease-of-Use and Enjoyment are major contributors to consumer’s intention to shop online, our study shows that Generation Y participants were not concerned about Ease-of-Use or Enjoyment at all. In fact, the interviewee responses revealed a need for adding newer factors to the framework, situational factors such as consumers not being a debit or credit card holder and locational factors that suggest how having shopping malls within the reach of consumer’s can also affect their online shopping intentions.