Revealing the Black Box of Shifting from Electronic Commerce to Mobile Commerce: The Case of Jordan

Mobile computing and the wireless web are likely to become the next major business models following the era of electronic commerce. In particular, rapid growth and the advancement in mobile technologies indicate that mobile commerce (m-commerce) will be the dominant business model in the future. In developing countries, services in mobile commerce are in a phase of rapid growth, yet the relevant research is limited. Thus, to increase the adoption of m-commerce among consumers in developing countries such as Jordan, the current study develops a model of consumers' intentions to transfer from traditional (internet-based) e-commerce to m-commerce. The proposed model was empirically validated using a total of 451 paper-based questionnaires that were collected from undergraduate students at three private Jordanian universities. The reliability and validity of the structural model were evaluated by performing exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, while the structural model was assessed by employing the structural equation modelling approach. The findings demonstrate that consumers' intention to shift from traditional e-commerce to m-commerce can be explained by factors related to perceived differences in technology and value. The research model offers useful and insightful information to help practitioners and developers focus their efforts in designing and delivering effective m-commerce applications.