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Exploring consumer attitudes towards mobile music services

January 2003
The International Journal on Media Management 5(2):138-148

Authors:

Alba Graduate Business School, The American College of Greece

The emerging capabilities of mobile telephony provide a promising alternative commerce channel, contributing to the configuration of the appropriate conditions for the forthcoming communication industry convergence. Elaborating on the rapid evolutions in the mobile commerce landscape, this paper investigates consumer attitudes towards mobile music services through an exploratory research approach conducted in Finland, UK and Greece. The objective of this study is to support content providers and mobile operators to capitalize on the unexplored marketing challenges existing in the virgin territory of mobile music. The findings indicate that content‐centric criteria (i.e., sound/image quality and content variety) are the most critical success factors for mobile music diffusion and consumer adoption, while content personalization capabilities, ubiquity, and easy‐to‐use interfaces constitute for the consumers the most desired features of a mobile music application. Significant differences were observed between consumers willing to adopt mobile music services and those that are not, in terms of the importance they assign to specific mobile music application selection criteria and features. Finally, significant differences were observed between the investigated countries in terms of consumers’ willingness to adopt mobile music services.

Relevant Research Findings on e-Service Quality Dimensions

…

Consumers' Evaluation on Mobile Music Services Selection Criteria

…

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www.mediajournal.org

Exploring Consumer Attitudes

towards Mobile Music Services

by Pavlos Vlachos, Dr. Adam P. Vrechopoulos, Georgios Doukidis,

Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece

Abstract

The emerging capabilities of mobile telephony provide a promising alternative com-

merce channel, contributing to the configuration of the appropriate conditions for the

forthcoming communication industry convergence. Elaborating on the rapid evolu-

tions in the mobile commerce landscape, this paper investigates consumer attitudes

towards mobile music services through an exploratory research approach conducted in

Finland, UK and Greece. The objective of this study is to support content providers and

mobile operators to capitalize on the unexplored marketing challenges existing in the

virgin territory of mobile music. The findings indicate that content-centric criteria (i.e.,

sound/image quality and content variety) are the most critical success factors for mo-

bile music diffusion and consumer adoption, while content personalization capabili-

ties, ubiquity, and easy-to-use interfaces constitute for the consumers the most desired

features of a mobile music application. Significant differences were observed between

consumers willing to adopt mobile music services and those that are not, in terms of

the importance they assign to specific mobile music application selection criteria and

features. Finally, significant differences were observed between the investigated coun-

tries in terms of consumers’ willingness to adopt mobile music services.

Pavlos Vlachos

(pvlachos@eltrun.gr)

is Research Officer at the ELTRUN E-Business Center of the Athens University of Eco-

nomics and Business. His research focuses on mobile commerce in the services industry

(Mobile Commerce) and on on-line Consumer Behaviour research implications for e-

and m-commerce.

Dr. Adam P. Vrechopoulos

(avrehop@aueb.gr)

is Visiting Lecturer at the Athens University of Economics and Business and Scientific

Coordinator of the Digital Marketing Research Area at the ELTRUN E-Business Research

Center. His research focuses on Electronic Marketing implications for e- and m-commerce.

Prof. Georgios Doukidis

(gjd@aueb.gr)

is Professor of Information Systems at the Department of Management Science and

Technology at the Athens University of Economics & Business (AUEB) and Visiting Pro-

fessor at Brunel University. His research and teaching areas are information systems

management, electronic commerce, decision-support systems, and simulation, and he

has published a total of 12 books and 90 research papers. He has acted as guest editor

for the Journal of the Operational Research Society, the European Journal of Informa-

tion Systems, the Journal of Information Technology, and the International Journal of

Electronic Commerce. He is Director of the ELTRUN eBusiness Center and member of

the executive board of GeM (GlobaleManagement MBA).

Introduction

Consumer behavior research is critical

towards accelerating the diffusion and

consumer adoption of m-commerce

services (Green et al. 2001; Nohria &

Leetsma 2001; Barnes 2002; Koivumaki

2002; Vrechopoulos et al. 2002). How-

ever, ‘rigorous theoretical and empirical re-

search on the marketing implications of m-com-

merce is lacking’ (Balasubramanian,

Peterson & Jarvenpaa 2002, p.359) and

consumer behavior in m-commerce has

not yet been the subject of much re-

search (Green et al. 2001; Ramsay 2001;

Barnes 2002).

While there is much discussion on the

emerging business models of the

mobile entertainment industry as a

promising market of m-commerce

(Tsalgatidou & Pitoura 2001; Maciness

et al. 2002, Panis et al. 2002), there is

still little evidence indicating what in-

fluences consumers in their decision to

adopt mobile entertainment services

and what specific features they would

like a mobile entertainment applica-

tion to offer (Balasubramanian, Peter-

son & Jarvenpaa 2002).

Elaborating on these challenges, this

paper investigates consumer attitudes

and behavioral intentions towards mo-

bile music services through an explor-

atory consumer survey run in Finland,

United Kingdom and Greece, within the

context of the ‘User Requirements Captur-

ing’ task of the MUSICAL1 project. The

core objective of this study is to explore

the emerging marketing challenges in

the field of mobile music and provide

direct managerial implications to the

key-market players (i.e., mobile opera-

tors and content providers). More spe-

cifically, this paper aims to (a) measure

the importance given from music con-

sumers to specific mobile music appli-

cation features (e.g., search facilities,

recommendations, etc.) and selection

criteria/ mobile e-service quality dimen-

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sions (e.g., low prices, sound quality,

ease of use, etc.), (b) investigate whether

there are significant differences be-

tween consumers that intent to use

mobile music services and those that do

not, in terms of a series of critical be-

havioral dimensions, and (c) test

whether there are significant differ-

ences between consumers from differ-

ent countries in terms of their willing-

ness to pay and adopt mobile music

services.

The paper is organized as follows. Sec-

tion 2 includes a short description of

the MUSICAL project. The mobile enter-

tainment dynamics are discussed in sec-

tion 3. The next section (i.e., section 4)

includes the research methodology and

theory background, while section 5

deals with the analysis of the results.

Section 6 discusses the key research

findings and provides direct manage-

rial implications. Finally, section 7 deals

with the conclusions, limitations and

future research directions of this study.

Description

of the MUSICAL Project

The MUSICAL project aims to develop a

mobile music application with value-

added components in order to fully

exploit the capabilities of 2.5 and 3G

networks. MUSICAL application will en-

able consumers (business or leisure) to

compose their Personal Radio Station

Program (PRSP) or Personal Video-Clips

Program (PVCP) and receive targeted

multimedia content as well as person-

alized music information (e.g., aware-

ness on special events that match their

music interests) through intelligent

mobile devices (Palmtops, PDAs, Mobile

Phones, etc).

Mobile Entertainment

Dynamics

Mobile music is included in the mobile

entertainment services mix along with

mobile gaming, mobile sports and bet-

ting, icon downloads, etc. (Macinnes et

al. 2002). Maciness et al. state (2002,

p.218) that ‘mobile entertainment is an

example of a new pure e-commerce ser-

vice that can create substantial value’.

Despite the fact that m-commerce pen-

etration in Europe is still on its infancy

(Vrechopoulos et al. 2002), European

Commission and Andersen Consulting

(2002, p.5) forecast that on 2006 mobile

music market in Europe will worth

roughly _3 billion, while ARC Group

(2002, p.1) predicts that worldwide mo-

bile entertainment users will reach 780

million until 2005. Thus, the emerging

mobile entertainment market promises

to provide ‘...amusing and enjoyable services

via wireless technology to mobile devices’

quite soon (Baldi & Thaung 2002, p.6).

Baldi & Thaung (2002) underline, how-

ever, that mobile music services should

try to take advantage of the unique

characteristics of mobile network tech-

nology such as ubiquity (everywhere),

accessibility (anytime and immedi-

ately), reachability (users can be reached

wherever they are and anytime), local-

ization (content customized to the

user’s location), and personalization.

Consumer adoption of mobile phone

services is expanding rapidly. On Sep-

tember of 2002, global wireless sub-

scribers were 1.08 billion (EMC 2002),

while 10 billion SMS, on average, are

currently exchanged in Europe per

month (Wacklin 2002). It is widely ac-

cepted, however, that the mobile voice

market is fast reaching saturation. Ac-

cording to a Durlacher (2001a, p.18) re-

port, at the end of 2001 in Europe, 76%

of the population had used a mobile

phone. Wireless network operators in

their effort to diminish their revenue

dependence on mobile voice services on

one hand, and to recoup the huge in-

vestments made on third generation

networks on the other, try to develop

new services (e.g., mobile data services)

and business models (Durlacher 2001a;

2001b). To that end, they are fully sup-

ported by the global upward trend in

wireless data traffic, and the emerging

mobile internet applications (Jonason &

Eliason 2001). On the other hand, it

seems that business as usual in the

music industry (i.e., traditional music

value chain) is over, and market players

are trying to find new ways to deliver

music content and promote artists se-

curely and at a profit (Meisel & Sullivan

2002). To that end, following the suc-

cess of the ringing tones business, mu-

sic industry is working towards the

mobile music challenge trying to estab-

lish an alternative distribution channel

so as to deliver more advanced music

services in terms of technology innova-

tion and value added services.

Currently, there are lots of ventures try-

ing to develop and market a mobile

music service. UK-based mobile group

MMO2 has announced that it is to trial

the world’s first ‘music over mobile’ ser-

vice using existing mobile data net-

works. The O2 music service will enable

customers to select, retrieve and store

music songs via their GPRS-enabled

mobile handset onto a specially de-

signed ‘digital music player’ – and start

listening in around 12 seconds. The cus-

tomer selects a track and chooses either

to hear a free 30- second clip or pur-

chase the entire track. Once the track

has downloaded – which can take

around 90 seconds for a full track – the

digital music player can be unclipped

from the mobile handset and used as a

regular personal music device. Further-

more, on 2002 Elisa Communications

and Nokia have together developed a

mobile music service for Emma.fm,

Elisa’s on-line store for digital music, to

pilot the commercial distribution of

music to mobile devices. The service al-

lows customers in Finland to pay for

purchased tracks via their mobile

phone bill. Other methods of payment

include Internet banking and credit

cards. The music bought from the

online music store is downloaded to the

user’s computer and then transferred to

the device. Another major player in the

European mobile music market is

Musiwave. Musiwave is a mobile music

application service provider who en-

ables mobile operators to embed on

their mobile portals mobile music ser-

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vices such as music listening through

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) and/or

streaming, monophonic and poly-

phonic ringtones, real ringtones, music

events database and images. The music

content that Musiwave provides to mo-

bile operators through Europe is fully

legal since it is licensed with major pub-

lishing and record labels.

The mobile music service that it is to

be commercialized from MMO2 is

based on the “download” mobile music

business model, which leads to a dif-

ferent definition of mobile music. In

our case we define mobile music as the

provision of an on demand personal-

ized streaming music service over mo-

bile devices that include music audio,

music video clips and music related

content (music news, artists’ biogra-

phies e.t.c.).

Research Methodology

and Background

Taking into account the exploratory

nature of this study, the most used web

survey method – that is voluntary online

surveys using third party web sites

(Fenech 2002) – was employed. On-line

consumer behavior research is a sam-

pling technique (Miller & Dickson 2001)

in line with the requirements of conve-

nience sampling which can adequately

serve the objectives of exploratory re-

search designs like the present one

(Kinnear & Taylor 1996; Churchill 1999).

Data Collection Instrument

Development Process

The data collection instrument was a

questionnaire, which was first devel-

oped in English and then translated

into Finnish and into Greek. Hair, Bush

and Ortinau (2000) questionnaire de-

sign methodology was followed. A short

description of the MUSICAL mobile

music service and two screenshots of

the service’s probable interface were

included in the questionnaire, in order

to effectively inform consumers about

the features and capabilities of a mobile

music application (Burke 2002).

For the development of the question-

naires three methods were used: (a) ex-

tensive literature review of the mobile

entertainment industry, (b) insights

from mobile and music industry spe-

cialists (2 music content providers and

2 mobile operators) and (c) qualitative

in-depth interviews with 25 music con-

sumers from Greece and the U.K.

The questionnaires were uploaded for

one month (October 2002) in the form

of a pop-up window onto three Web

sites:

(a) www.emma.fm, a major online digi-

tal music store, subsidiary of Elisa

Communications-Finland’s leading

telecommunication service pro-

vider (The Emma.fm service was de-

signed in cooperation with _KT ry -

The Finnish National Group of IFPI-

international record companies

such as BMG, EMI and edel, and the

largest domestic record companies,

(b) www.mad.gr which is the online

presence of MAD TV, the leading

Greek music TV channel and

web site of the new media arm of

UK’s association of independent

music (AIM) which members repre-

sent 25% of UK’s music market.

These three web sites were selected due

to cost and convenience reasons and

due to ownership relationships of the

three partners of the MUSICAL consor-

tium with the specific sites. However,

all three web sites constitute major

online visiting points for Greek, Finn-

ish and British online music consum-

ers, respectively, that match the target

group of this study- that is technology

savvy young adult music consumers

and professionals.

Finally, 494 valid questionnaires were

collected (Finland: 301 respondents –

61%; Greece: 94 respondents – 19%; UK:

99 respondents – 20%). The respon-

dents’ allocation in the sample can be

interpreted by the fact that Finland pos-

sesses one of the highest internet pen-

etration rates in Europe (Vrechopoulos

et al. 2002).

Theoretical Background

and Research Hypotheses

In the previous years many researchers

have started working on what consum-

ers want out of e-commerce applica-

tions. More specifically, there is a grow-

ing research stream regarding specific

e-service quality dimensions (Table 1)

that marketers and developers should

properly handle so as to deliver supe-

rior value to consumers. Delivering su-

perior service quality is a well-estab-

lished strategy for achieving high levels

of consumer satisfaction, loyalty, in-

creased spending and profitability

(Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Malhotra

2002; Zeithaml 1996). According to

Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Malhotra

(2002 p. 363) ‘academic research has identi-

fied a number of criteria that customers use

in evaluating web sites in general and service

quality delivery through web sites in particu-

lar. These include (1) information availability

and content, (2) ease of use or usability, (3)

privacy/security, (4) graphic style and (5) ful-

fillment’. Table 1 summarizes academic

research regarding e-service quality di-

mensions. From the literature review it

is apparent that research has mainly

focused on a land-line /fixed internet

context with regard to e-service quality,

involving, however, only physical goods

delivery and not pure e-commerce ser-

vices (such as music). Thus, in this re-

search we try to identify and primarily

explore what are the dimensions that

consumers use while evaluating a pure

mobile e-tail service involving music

content. Furthermore, Zeithaml (2002,

p.138) argues that “...we also know noth-

ing about the demographic, behavioral and

experience correlates of e-SQ [Service Quality]”.

To this end, this study also tries to par-

tially investigate possible correlations

between demographic (e.g. gender and

nationality) and behavioral intention

variables on the one hand (e.g. willing-

ness to pay for a mobile music service)

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and between demographic and mobile

music service evaluative criteria and

functionalities on the other hand.

Combining the results included in

Table 1 with the findings provided

through the in-depth interviews with

25 music consumers, we develop a

framework including a series of the

most critical mobile music service

evaluation criteria/dimensions (Table 2)

that are applicable in the context of this

study. In other words, Table 1 served the

purpose of effectively administrating

the personal interviews by discussing

with consumers all the dimensions in-

cluded in this table and selecting the

most important ones. To this end,

Malhotra’s and Birks’s (2000) qualita-

tive research methodology was em-

ployed. It should be noted, however,

that it is out of the scope of the present

study to discuss the qualitative research

methodology followed rather to focus

on the quantitative results provided by

testing the framework. On the other

hand, elaborating on the capabilities of

an innovative mobile music application

with advanced personalization capa-

bilities (i.e. the MUSICAL application)

we develop a corresponding framework

including all the major features/

functionalities of a mobile music ser-

vice (Table 3). Both these frameworks

support the formulation of the research

hypotheses discussed below.

Table 1: Relevant Research Findings on e-Service Quality Dimensions

Authors

Wu (2003)

Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Malhotra

(2002)

Cox & Dale (2002)

Janda, Trocchia & Gwinner (2002)

Wolfinbarger & Gilly (2002)

Reibstein (2002)

Liljander, Riel & Pura (2002)

Vrechopoulos, Constantiou,

Mylonopoulos, Sideris, Doukidis (2002)

Koivumaki (2002)

Condos, James, Every & Simpson (2002)

Ramsay (2001)

Yang, Peterson & Huang (2001)

O’Neil, Wright & Fitz (2001)

Jun & Cai (2001)

Yoo & Donthu (2001)

Kayanama & Black (2000)

Liu & Arnett (2000)

Lociacono, Watson & Goodhue (2000)

Szymanski & Hise (2000)

Woo & Fock (1999)

Day (1997)

e-service quality dimensions

Effectiveness, purchase convenience, information abundance, delivery speed,

homepage design, company name familiarity, product selection

Efficiency, reliability, fulfilment, privacy, responsiveness, compensation, contact

Ease of use, customer confidence, on-line resources, relationship services

Performance, access, security, sensation, information

Web site design, reliability, privacy/ security, customer service

Ease of ordering, product selection and information, product representation,

navigation, on time delivery, customer service, privacy policy, shipping & handling

Site design, content, trust, empathy, security

Ease of use, security, inconvenience of mobile device, personalization

Security, privacy, ease of use

Careful use of graphics, avoidance of long lists, provision of clear error messages,

presentation of content, consistency in navigation, avoidance of dead ends,

minimization of user input, good structure of tasks

Expectations management, connectivity & download time, quality of error

messages, labelling of menu options, going backward, offering bookmarks, easiness of

reading data

Ease of use, content, accuracy, timeliness of response, security/privacy, aesthetics

Contact, responsiveness, reliability, tangibles

Contents, accuracy, ease of use, timeliness, aesthetics, security

Ease of use, aesthetic design, processing speed, security

Content, access, navigation, design, response, background, personalization

Information and service quality, system use, playfulness, design of the web site

Informational fit to task, interaction, trust, response time, design, intuitiveness, visual

appeal, innovativeness, emotional appeal (flow), integrated communications,

business processes, substitutability

Online convenience, merchandising, site design, financial security

Transmission quality and network coverage, pricing policy, staff competence,

customer service

Purpose, content, structure, aesthetics usability/action, promises delivered

Research

Setting

Web Site

Mobile Services

WAP

Web Site

Mobile Voice

Service

Web Site

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Additionally the present study elabo-

rates on the “willingness to pay for mobile

music services” dimension as an indicator

for potential adoption of such kind of

services. According to Dubas, Dubas and

Atwong (1999) the most common form

for measuring the purchase intention

and consumer adoption of a particular

product or service is the four-point scale

where 1 implies “definitely would pay”,

and 4 “definitely would not pay”.

The research hypotheses, packed-up

with indicative references, are there-

fore formulated as follows:

According to Vrechopoulos et al. (2002),

low prices of m-commerce services con-

stitute one of the most critical factors

for the diffusion and consumer adop-

tion of m-commerce services.

H1: Consumers that are not willing to

pay for mobile music services assign

more importance to low prices of such

kind of services than those willing to

pay for buying these services.

Fenech (2002) states that the variety of

content is one of the most basic drivers

for consumers to adopt mobile enter-

tainment services.

H2: Consumers willing to pay for mo-

bile music services assign more impor-

tance to the variety of music content

offered through these services than

those not willing to pay for such kind

of services.

According to Bellman, Lohse and

Johnson (1999), the most important in-

formation for predicting online shop-

ping habits and behaviors are measures

of past online behavior (H3, H4, H7 and

H8), while Li, Kuo and Russel (1999) re-

port that demographic characteristics

constitute one of the basic influencing

factors of consumer buying behavior

(H5 and H6).

H3: Consumers willing to pay for mo-

bile music services assign more impor-

tance (i.e. rate them higher) to mobile

music service features than those not

willing to pay for such kind of services.

H4: Consumers willing to pay for mo-

bile music services spend more money

on current mobile services (e.g. voice,

short message service, etc.) than those

not willing to pay for such kind of ser-

vices.

H5: Consumers willing to pay for mo-

bile music services belong in younger

age groups than those not willing to

pay for such kind of services.

H6: Consumers willing to pay for mo-

bile music services have higher incomes

than those not willing to pay for such

kind of services.

H7: Consumers willing to pay for mo-

bile music services use their mobile

phone for entertainment purposes

more than those not willing to pay for

such kind of services.

H8: There are significant differences

between consumers that select differ-

ent payment methods for buying mo-

bile music services (i.e., (a)”subscription

with a flat rate per month” group, (b) “per

case” group, and (c) “ads based” group) in

terms of the importance each group

assign to the (i) “variety of music content”,

and (ii) “low prices”.

For example we expect that those that

prefer the ads based model assign

greater importance than the other two

groups on the “low prices” dimension.

Analysis of the Results

The majority of the respondents belong

in the 18-35 age group (62%), they are

mostly male (70%) and single (61%) and

they earn less than _1.000 per month.

Almost one-third of the respondents

hold high school and post-graduate de-

grees (32% and 29%, respectively), while

half of them spend ten to twelve hours

out of home. While there is a great di-

versity in the respondents’ occupation,

37% of them are students.

Mobile Music

Service Selection

Criteria

Respondents evaluated almost all the

mobile music services selection/ evalu-

ative criteria as very important (Table

2). However, they assign more impor-

tance to the “quality of the content” being

delivered (in terms of sound and image/

video clip quality) and to the “variety of

the music content”. It is interesting to

note that while respondents believe

that “low prices” are important, they are

not so price-sensitive towards mobile

music services since they assign more

importance to content-centric criteria

(content quality and content variety).

The “ease of use” criterion is ranked

fourth, though interface design and

navigability issues are considered to be

of great importance when evaluating

the quality of m-commerce services

(Condos, James & Simpson 2002). “Cus-

tomer Service” and the provision of

“Flexible Payment Systems” criteria were

considered as less important than con-

tent-centric, price and interface-centric

buying criteria. Finally, consumers re-

ported that the “additional personalized

services” are not so important for them.

This could be explained by the fact that

since they are internet users, they are

suspicious about “personalization fea-

tures” due to privacy issues concerns

(Rust, Kannan & Peng 2002)

Mobile Music Service

Functionalities Evaluation

Respondents were asked to evaluate

the importance of specific features

of the MUSICAL mobile music ap-

plication (Table 3). It should be noted

that since MUSICAL’s features were de-

signed based on the state-of-the-art

technology and business insights (i.e.,

they cover all the basic and popular

consumer services that can be offered

though such kind of applications

today) they can well serve the research

objective of measuring consumer at-

titudes towards mobile music services,

in general.

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Mobile Music Services Specific Features

Ability to have music songs mixed for me (i.e., recom-

mended) according to my preferences

Listen songs / View video clips anywhere and anytime

Have a music song and music news full search facility

Could instantly listen and find out more about a song that

I’ve listened to a nightclub

Ability to create my own Personal Radio station/

Video Clips Program

The ability to listen to my Personal Radio Station Program /

Personal Video Clips Program with my friends

Ability to participate in vir tual communities and exchange

music play lists and news

Music consumers rated all the mobile

music service features with above the

average scores. The ‘ability to have music

songs mixed for me (recommended) accord-

ing to my preferences’, the ‘ability to listen to

songs / view video clips anywhere and any-

time’ and the ‘ability to have a music song

and music news full search facility’ were

found to be the most desired features.

The least desired feature is the ‘ability to

participate in virtual communities and ex-

change music play list and news’. This find-

ing is interesting if one takes into ac-

count the need of consumers to

communicate with peers (Hammond

2002; Wacklin 2002) and the P2P (mu-

sic file sharing) experience.

Willingness to Pay for Mobile

Music Services and Preferred

Payment Methods

More than half of the respondents (53%)

are willing to pay for enjoying mobile

music services, while 44% of them are

willing to change mobile device in or-

der to consume such kind of services.

Furthermore, the most desired pay-

ment method was found to be the “view

ads to cover the cost of the service” al-

ternative (41%) despite the fact that this

revenue model has not been proved suc-

cessful, till so far, on the fixed internet

context. The “subscription with a flat rate

per month” and the “pay per case/track” al-

ternative payment methods scored the

same (29% both), while only 1% of the

respondents selected another payment

method.

Hypotheses Testing

To test hypotheses H1 – H7, it is neces-

sary to classify the survey participants

into those “willing to pay” and those “not

willing to pay”. According to Dubas,

Dubas and Atwong (1999), marketers

utilize the combined scores of the top

two boxes (i.e., “definitely would pay and

probably would pay”) for predicting prod-

uct trial. The same approach was fol-

lowed in the present study. More specifi-

cally, those answered “definitely yes” and

“probably yes” in the “willing to pay for mo-

bile music services” question, were classi-

fied in the “willing to pay” group (n=258),

and those answered “definitely no” and

“probably no” in the same question were

classified in the “not willing to pay” group

(n=225). To compare the means of these

two broad categories, t-Tests were per-

formed.

The null hypotheses for H1 – H4 are re-

jected, while the null hypotheses for H5

– H7 cannot be rejected (Table 4). More

specifically, consumers not willing to

pay for mobile music services assign sig-

nificantly more importance to the “low

prices” (H1) and significantly less impor-

tance to the “variety” (H2), and to all the

“mobile music service features” included in

Table 3 (H3), than those consumers will-

ing to pay for such kind of services. Fur-

thermore, consumers willing to pay for

mobile music services spend signifi-

cantly more money on current mobile

services (H4) than those not willing to

pay for such kind of services. As far as

H5 – H7 are concerned, there is no sta-

tistically significant difference ob-

served between the two groups under

study in terms of income (H5), age (H6)

and usage of mobile phone for enter-

tainment purposes (H7).

It should be noted, however, that con-

sumers not willing to pay for mobile

music services, use their mobile phones

significantly more for communication

purposes (p<0,05), and significantly less

for job related issues (p<0,05), than

those consumers willing to pay for such

kind of services.

For testing hypothesis H8, the following

three consumer groups were formu-

lated using as classification criterion

the selected alternative payment

method:

(a) “subscription with a flat rate per month”

group (n=136),

Table 2: Consumers’ Evaluation on Mobile Music Services Selection Criteria

*(1= Not at all Important - 5= Ver y important)

Mobile Music Services Selection Criteria

Good sound/image quality

Variety of music songs/ video clips

Low prices

Ease of use

Customer Service

Flexible payment systems

Additional personalized services (news, discounts, events,

schedules, new releases, charts etc.)

Mean*

4,35

4,14

3,96

3,83

3,68

3,51

2,35

Standard

Deviation

0,95

1,04

1,16

1,18

1,23

1,29

1,22

Table 3: Consumers’ Evaluation on Mobile Music Services Specific Features

*(1= Not good at all - 5= Very good)

Mean*

3,81

3,77

3,74

3,52

3,15

3,14

2,66

Standard

Deviation

1,20

1,16

1,26

1,30

1,41

1,26

www.mediajournal.org

(b) “view advertisements to cover the cost of

the service” group (n=189), and

One-way ANOVA between groups with

post-hoc comparisons were performed

for testing the hypothesis. The null hy-

pothesis of H8 is rejected both for the

“variety” and for the “low price” dimen-

sions (Table 5). This implies that there

are significant differences between

consumers that select different pay-

ment methods for buying mobile mu-

sic services in terms of the importance

each of these groups assign to the “vari-

ety of music content”, and to the “low price”

dimensions. As far as the “variety” di-

mension is concerned, the only signifi-

cant difference lies between the “sub-

scription with a flat rate per month” and

the “per case/track” groups, since the

former assigns significantly more im-

portance than the latter to that par-

ticular dimension. On the other hand,

the “ads based” group assigns signifi-

cantly more importance to the “low

price” dimension than both the other

two groups do.

Finally, it was found that those consum-

ers willing to pay for mobile music ser-

vices belonging in the “ads based” group

were significantly less in number than

those not willing to pay for such kind

of services (Pearson chi-squares less

than 0,001). Furthermore those willing

to pay belonging in the “subscription with

a flat rate per month” were significantly

more than those not willing to pay. On

the other hand, there was not any sig-

nificant difference observed regarding

this particular dimension within the

“per case” group.

4,11

4,00

3,66

3,59

3,53

3,44

2,98

2,81

2,58

2,13

2,41

2,71

1,51

Willing to pay

for mobile music

services**

(Yes=258/No=225)

Yes

Criterion*

Low prices (I)

Variety (I)

Music songs mixed (recommended)

according to preferences (II)

Listen songs / View video clips

anywhere and anytime (ii)

Search facility (ii)

Instantly listen to a song just

heard of (ii)

Create Personal Radio Station

Program (ii)

Listen with friends (ii)

Virtual Communities (ii)

Mobile phone spending (iii)

Income (iv)

Age (v)

Mobile phone for entertainment

purposes (vi)

Hypotheses

H3a

H3b

H3c

H3d

H3e

H3f

H3g

Table 4: t-Test Results for Hypotheses 1-7

* (I): 1= not at all important – 5= very important; (II): 1= not good – 5= ver y Good; (III): 1= less than _ 15 – 6= over _ 75; (IV): 1= less than _1000 –

5= over _ 2,500; (V): 1= less than 17 – 6= over 54; (VI): 1= light usage – 4= heavy usage

** (italics indicate groups with statistically significant larger mean value)

Mean (1-5)

3,89

4,31

4,05

4,01

3,67

3,36

3,50

2,77

2,60

2,48

2,73

1,63

-2,150

3,427

3,686

3,999

4,849

2,015

3,278

5,545

1,681

3,234

0,448

0,160

1,440

p<0,05

p<0,01

p<0,001

p<0, 05

p<0, 01

p<0,001

p<0,1

p<0, 01

Not Significant

t-value Sign. (2-tail.)

www.mediajournal.org

Other Findings

It was attempted to investigate whether

there are statistically significant differ-

ences between consumers from the

three countries under study regarding

“willingness to pay for mobile music services”.

It was found (chi-square statistic) that

in the UK and in Greece those willing

to pay are statistically more in number

than those not willing to pay (asymp-

totic significance < 0,1 and <0,05, re-

spectively), while in Finland there was

not any significant difference observed

between these groups.

Investigating whether gender affects

consumers’ evaluation for the mobile

music service selection criteria (those

included in Table 2), it was found (t-Test)

that females assign significantly more

importance to “customer service” (p<0,05),

“flexible payment methods” (p<0,1) and “ad-

ditional personalized services” (p<0,05), and

significantly less importance to “low

prices” (p<0,05) than males.

Finally, the majority of the respondents

believe that online music should be free

and unprotected (65%). In addition, there

is no significant difference observed be-

tween those willing to pay and those not

willing to pay regarding this belief,

which confirms and enhances the evi-

dences of the existence of a “music for free”

mentality in Europe (IFPI 2002a, 2002b)

Managerial Implications

The aforementioned findings can be

utilized by marketers when making

promises and creating expectations

about mobile music services. They

should correspondingly manipulate

the promotion element of the market-

ing mix towards communicating in a

personalized manner the special char-

acteristics and features of mobile mu-

sic applications (Ratliff 2002). Market-

ers should focus on pricing issues,

though low prices proved to be less im-

portant than content-centric buying

criteria. However, focusing on price is

important since those consumers not

willing to pay assign significantly more

importance to low prices than those

willing to pay. This implies that market-

ers could convince the “no willing to pay”

group through the manipulation of the

pricing element of the marketing mix

and the provision of innovative pricing

mechanisms (Jonason 2002). Further-

more, the importance assigned to the

“ease of use” as well as to the “content-cen-

tric” (i.e., quality and variety) dimen-

sions, dictates that great emphasis

should be placed on the manipulation

of the product and distribution ele-

ment of the marketing mix towards

ensuring high sound/image quality and

wide content variety. On the other

hand, consumers’ assigned ratings to

the mobile music service features/

functionalities strongly indicate their

search for convenience and effortless use

of the mobile music service application.

Respondents have rated first the features

that allow them to find the music con-

tent they want without putting too

much effort (“ability to have music songs

mixed for me according to my preferences” and

“full music songs and news search facility”).

It was also found that consumers in-

tending to adopt mobile music services

have significantly different preferences

from those consumers that do not, in

terms of several critical dimensions.

According to the diffusion of innova-

tion typology, innovators are those con-

sumers who first adopt a new product

or the innovation (Gatignon & Robert-

son 1991; Ram & Jung 1994; Schiffman

& Kanuk, 2000). Consumers belonging

to the same category have some com-

mon characteristics and, therefore,

marketers develop specific strategies to

target each consumer category sepa-

rately (Rogers 1983; Brown 1992). Thus,

marketers should design their strategic

marketing planning, targeting the

most attractive customer segment,

which in the case of the mobile music

industry are the innovators, and posi-

tion their offerings correspondingly. To

that end, they can use the findings of

the present study (discussed in section

5) in their marketing planning towards

developing tailored marketing mix

strategies to meet the needs of this

specific customer segment (Siomkos &

Vrechopoulos 2002) and accelerate the

diffusion and consumer adoption of

mobile music services.

Conclusions, Limitations and

Future Research Directions

This study tries to investigate the “what

happens” dimension in a highly innova-

tive case setting that is the mobile mu-

sic services industry. Employing online

quantitative research techniques and

qualitative in depth interviews, we in-

Table 5: One-Way ANOVA Tests with Post-Hoc Comparisons for Hypotheses 8

*(1: not at all important – 5: ver y important) **>>: Significant >: Not Significant

Hypotheses

H8a

H8b

Criterion*

Variety

Low Price

2,569

5,859

Sig.

,054

,001

Tukey HSD Post-Hoc

Comparisons*

Subscription>>Ads Based

Per case>Ads based

Subscription>Per Case

Ads based>>Subscription

Ads based >>Per Case

Subscription > Per Case

Subscription

(n=361)

4,36

3,86

Per Case

(n=133)

4,08

4,24

Ads Based

(n=189)

4,17

3,76

Preferred Payment Methods

www.mediajournal.org

vestigated the preferences of music and

mobile services consumers regarding a

personalized streaming mobile music

service. Content characteristics (quality

and variety) and specific features of the

service that would make it convenient

to use (search facility, recommended

personalized music play lists) were

found to be extremely important. Mar-

keters and developers can use these

findings for developing user-friendly

applications and designing effective

promotional strategies.

An inherent limitation of this study is

its sampling methodology and collec-

tion mechanism. Pop-up questionnaires

is a sampling technique that on the one

hand is inexpensive and convenient but

on the other is quite uncertain regard-

ing the representativeness of the sample

population, which in our case is “music

consumers using a mobile phone and who at

the same time are internet users”. However,

online questionnaires using third party

web sites constitute a methodology quite

suitable for exploratory research like the

present one and common research prac-

tice in the area of e- and m-commerce

academic research (Fenech 2002).

Further research should elaborate

more on each of the dimensions dis-

cussed in the present study using more

formal sampling methodologies and

qualitative research techniques. Fur-

thermore, cultural differences regard-

ing consumer attitudes towards mobile

music services should be investigated.

Future research should also elaborate

on the “why happens” dimension em-

ploying conclusive research designs

and investigating cause-and-effects re-

lationships through laboratory or field

experiments Laboratory and field ex-

periments should be also employed to-

wards testing and further improving

mobile music services. This will be

done in the context of MUSICALproject

in 2003.

Endnote

1 MUSICAL (Multimedia Streaming of Interactive

Content Across Mobile Networks – eContent Pro-

gram/European Commission – Contract No.:

22131Y2C2DMAL2 – Duration: 2002-2004.

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Lect Notes Comput Sci

Thirty-one usability problems for a smart TV music service system have been identified by different user groups through the cooperative evaluation method. Design solutions can be provided based on the priority of the identified usability problems, the classifications between functionality and quality issues, or between display and control issues, and the foci on specific user groups.

A Study on the Structure of Mobile Information Quality of Convention Centers Influencing Behavioral Intention

Article

Jun 2014

Global Mobile Media

Article

Oct 2010

Gerard Goggin

With billions of users worldwide, the cell phone is not only a successful communications technology; it is also key to the future of media. Global Mobile Media offers an overview of the complex topic of mobile media, looking at the emerging industry structures, new media economies, mobile media cultures and network politics of cell phones as they move centre-stage in media industries. The development, adoption and significance of cell phones for society and culture have been registered in a growing body of work. Where existing books have focused on communication, and on the social and cultural aspects of mobile media, Global Mobile Media looks at the media dimensions. Goggin provides a pioneering yet measured evaluation of how cell phone corporations, media interests, users and policy makers are together shaping a new media dispensation. Global Mobile Media successfully places new mobile media historically, socially and culturally in a wider field of portable media technologies through extensive case studies, including: the rise of smartphones, with a detailed discussion of the Apple iPhone and how it has catalysed a new phase in convergent media, audiences and innovation, the new agenda in cultural politics and media policy, featuring topics such as iPhone apps and control, mobile commons, and open mobile networks, a succinct map of the political economy of mobile media, identifying key players, patterns of ownership and control, institutions, and issues, a critical account of cell phones' involvement in and contribution to much-discussed new forms of production and consumption, such as user-generated content, p2p networks, open and free source software networks, an anatomy of how cell phones relate to other online media, particularly the Internet and wireless technologies. Global Mobile Media is an engaging, accessible text which will be of immense interest to upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers in Communication Studies, Cultural Studies and Media Studies, as well as those taking New Media courses.

The Behavioral Consequences of Service Quality

Article

Full-text available

Apr 1996
J MARKETING

If service quality relates to retention of customers at the aggregate level, as other research has indicated, then evidence of its impact on customers’ behavioral responses should be detectable. The authors offer a conceptual model of the impact of service quality on particular behaviors that signal whether customers remain with or defect from a company. Results from a multicompany empirical study examining relationships from the model concerning customers’ behavioral intentions show strong evidence of their being influenced by service quality. The findings also reveal differences in the nature of the quality-intentions link across different dimensions of behavioral intentions. The authors’ discussion centers on ways the results and research approach of their study can be helpful to researchers and managers.

The Behavioral Consequences of Service Quality

Article

Full-text available

Apr 1996
J MARKETING

If service quality relates to retention of customers at the aggregate level, as other research has indicated, then evidence of its impact on customers' behavioral responses should be detectable. The authors offer a conceptual model of the impact of service quality on particular behaviors that signal whether customers remain with or defect from a company. Results from a multicompany empirical study examining relationships from the model concerning customers' behavioral intentions show strong evidence of their being influenced by service quality. The findings also reveal differences in the nature of the quality-intentions link across different dimensions of behavioral intentions. The authors' discussion centers on ways the results and research approach of their study can be helpful to researchers and managers.

The Customer Economics of Internet Privacy

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2002

The World Wide Web has significantly reduced the costs of obtaining information about individuals, resulting in a widespread perception by consumers that their privacy is being eroded. The conventional wisdom among the technological cognoscenti seems to be that privacy will continue to erode, until it essentially disappears. The authors use a simple economic model to explore this conventional wisdom, under the assumption that there is no government intervention and privacy is left to free-market forces. They find support for the assertion that, under those conditions, the amount of privacy will decline over time and that privacy will be increasingly expensive to maintain. The authors conclude that a market for privacy will emerge, enabling customers to purchase a certain degree of privacy, no matter how easy it becomes for companies to obtain information, but the overall amount of privacy and privacy-based customer utility will continue to erode.

Some Difficulties in Predicting New Product Trial Using Concept Test Scores

Article

Full-text available

Feb 1999

At an early stage in the new product development process, marketers often evaluate several concept statements in terms of customer preferences to choose the best concept for further development. Purchase intention scale is often used to measure consumer preferences at this stage when the product is still a concept statement or a mathematical position on a perceptual map. This paper discusses the limitations of two methods of aggregating individual preferences, namely plurality (first-choice) and the Condorcet (pair-wise majority) methods. The plurality method is subject to the top-box paradox while the Condorcet method suffers from the paradox of voting. The Copeland method is presented as an alternative to the Condorcet method when the latter fails to identify the majority’s choice. Some limitations of predicting product trial are also presented.

Technology and the Customer Interface: What Consumers Want in the Physical and Virtual Store

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2002

Raymond R. Burke

For companies to realize the benefits of recent innovations in customer interface technology, they need to understand the value consumers place on technology as part of the shopping process. A national survey of 2,120 online consumers was conducted to explore how people want to shop in both online and in-store environments and determine how interactive and conventional media work together to move consumers through the purchase process. The study investigated 128 different aspects of the shopping experience, from common elements to recent innovations. The results indicated that consumers are generally satisfied with the convenience, quality, selection, and value provided by retailers today. They are less satisfied with the level of service provided, the availability of product information, and the speed of the shopping process. The findings suggest that new technologies can enhance the shopping experience, but applications must be tailored to the unique requirements of consumer segments and product categories.

The impact of the Internet on the law and economics of the music industry

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2002

Business as usual in the music industry is over. Online music is a force to be reckoned with now and increasingly in the future. This paper first describes the current revenue streams and cost causers that characterize the traditional business model in the music industry. Then, the impact of the Internet on the current business model is described, especially as it relates to the distribution stage of the value chain in the record business. Also, the impact of the Internet’s disruption of the distribution stage on the state of existing copyright law, as manifested through the introduction of Napster’s peer-to-peer innovation, is explained. Third, an analysis of salient economic, political/legal, and technological issues arising from these changes on the entire industry is presented. Finally, the paper identifies characteristics of a viable business model in the music industry and offers lessons for other digital content industries.

Marketing Research: an applied approach: 3rd European Edition

Book

Jan 2007

Marketing Research: An Applied Approach is comprehensive, practical, applied, managerial, and presents a balanced coverage of both qualitative and quantitative material. This book is written from the perspective of users of marketing research. It reflects the current trends in international marketing, ethics and the integration of the Internet and computers, as well as a focus on the practice of marketing research by featuring Sports Marketing Surveys and other marketing research organizations.

NTT DoCoMo and its i-mode Success: Origins and Implications

Article

Apr 2002

John M. Ratliff

In slightly over two years, NTT DoCoMo, Japan's leading wireless telecommunications network provider, has been able to win over 30,000,000 subscribers to i-mode, its mobile Internet service. I-mode represents the first successful implementation of the convergence of the Internet and mobile telephony into a new industry. This article examines the origins of i-mode's success, both in terms of NTT DoCoMo's technological strategy and business model and why Japan has proven such a fruitful environment for mobile Internet. It also explores whether i-mode's success provides a global first-mover advantage to NTT DoCoMo's plans to employ strategic partnerships to spread the i-mode standard.

Mildly irritating: A WAP usability study

Article

May 2001
ASLIB PROC

The Internet is poised to go mobile. Much has been said about the technology that will make this possible, but little about what potential users expect from WAP and mobile Internet. This article is based on the experiences of 20 test users who participated in a usability evaluation. The users were given WAP enabled phones to use for one week. The conclusion of the research was that WAP is not a user-friendly servicde. Connection times are far too long and even when the user is able to get connected to a WAP site their connection is often timed out even before any data is downloaded. When the test users were asked whether they thought they would have a WAP enabled phone within one year, 70 per cent said no. However, when they were asked whether they would like one within three years the negative responses dropped to 20 per cent. So there is hope for the service. Indeed the research shows that there is a market for data services delivered through a mobile Internet and gives a strong indication as to what the users would want from such a service.

Key quality factors in Web site design and use: An examination

Article

Nov 2002
Int J Qual Reliab Manag

The focus of the research described in this paper was to identify the key quality factors in Web site design and use. From the factors identified, a conceptual model has been developed to assess how a Web site can deliver what its users expect. The model is based on: ease of use, customer confidence, on-line resources, and relationship services. These facts have been validated in an assessment of a range of Web sites. The model comprises a useful measurement tool which designers can use to suffice the quality of their Web sites.