Abstract
Customers are switching to mobile wallets in making online purchases these days as the result of the convenience of this payment mode. This chapter aims to understand customer attitude towards the gratification sought from mobile payment and further investigate its influence on promoting customer engagement. Uses and gratification theory offered the underpinning theoretical explanation in the development of the conceptual framework for this study. This chapter provided a theoretical explanation in discoursing the role of the mobile wallet for promoting customer engagement. The linkage to the customer engagement for the mobile wallet operators was missing in the literature. In addition, the conceptual development of mobile wallets based on the uses and gratification perspective was critical in providing the foundation needed for mobile payment literature.
TopIntroduction
The increased use of mobile devices coupled with the advancement of mobile technology has impacted consumer shopping. The arrival of mobile wallets as the payment option has changed the way customer make their purchases. A staggeringly high percentage of consumers preferred mobile payment over other modes of payments in their daily spending (Shaw, 2014). It has a trend among customers especially young customers who were opting for cashless payments (Alwi, 2021). Furthermore, customers were inclined to use it frequently when more retailers are rewarding customers with discount coupons and cash rebates (Prabhakaran et al., 2020). Mobile payment turned out to be more demanding than it was during the pandemic of COVID-19 (Alwi, 2021; Zhao & Bacao, 2021). However, the risk of close contact to avoid virus transmission is only just one part of the story. Other benefits entailed with mobile wallets, such as discount coupons, fund transfer, and without the need to handling the return of coins were considered by the consumers.
Mobile wallet is considered a technological advancement that is essential in promoting a cashless transaction environment. It provides convenience for the customers and has been researched extensively in many studies (De Kerviler et al., 2016; Manikandan & Jayakodi, 2017; Verkijika, 2020). Existing studies focus mainly on the determinants of its use based on behavioral aspects (Liébana-Cabanillas et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2019; Matemba & Li, 2018). These include its impacts on customer adoption, brand loyalty and customer satisfaction, repurchase intention, etc. However, there is a dearth of research that aims to investigate the antecedents based on the customer’s uses and gratifications perspective. This perspective is critical in unlocking the missing link in the current literature. This study was rooted in Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) due to its predictive power in understanding customers’ social and psychological aspects (Eginli & Tas, 2018; Ray et al., 2019). The studies on the acceptance of mobile wallets have been extensive in the existing literature. Having said that, it has sparsely been investigated based on the customer relationship perspective for the use of the mobile wallet.
Aims and Contributions
Hence, it is essential of the research aims of this study to discover the determinants in attracting the adoption of mobile wallets from gratification gained by the customers. This led to the formation of the research questions. Will the types of gratifications gained by the customers influence the use of mobile wallets? Will the attitude of the customers towards it boost customer engagement? This study provides the knowledge of mobile wallet usage from the customer’s uses and gratifications aspect. As a note, the acceptance of this electronic payment option was investigated by researchers at large. However, it was sparsely focused on the antecedents based on customer gratified attitude. Hence, it enhances the understanding of the usage of e-wallet. Another contribution was the theoretical linkage between mobile wallet adoption and its influence on customer engagement that was missing in the current literature. This study revolves around the usage of mobile wallets by developing a new conceptual framework to explain the customer engagement gained from a mobile wallet.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Mobile Wallet: Mobile applications that substitute physical wallets for payment purposes.
Self-Efficacy: The faith in performing a shopping task with a mobile wallet confidently.
Customer Engagement: The level of connectedness between the seller and customers during their business transaction.
Hedonic Gratification: The rational and purpose-driven gratified attitude during the performance of conduct.
Uses and Gratifications Theory: The expected social and psychological desires to be fulfilled while using novel tools or technologies.
Social Gratification: Emotional outcome from the socially related feeling and support from activities.
Enjoyment: Emotional excitement gained while using the mobile wallet for products or services.
Utilitarian Gratification: The emotion and enthusiasm obtained while engaging in carrying out a task.