The role of mobile devices in online retailing – empirical evidence from Finland and Nigeria

Thesis event information

Date and time of the thesis defence

Place of the thesis defence

Linnanmaa, Arina auditorium (TA105)

Topic of the dissertation

The role of mobile devices in online retailing – empirical evidence from Finland and Nigeria

Doctoral candidate

Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration) Sunday Olaleye

Faculty and unit

University of Oulu Graduate School, Oulu Business School, Marketing, Management and International Business

Subject of study

Marketing

Opponent

Professor Hannu Makkonen, University of Vaasa

Custos

Professor Jari Salo, University of Helsinki

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The use of the tablet for online shopping

The affinity between mobile devices and electronic commerce is strong, and mobile commerce is a large potential market, as an offshoot of electronic commerce. The margin between electronic commerce and mobile commerce is becoming gradually thinner. The mobile device is more than a transaction tool; it plays a central role in the whole of online shopping as a connector between retailers, online platforms and online shoppers, with a rich experience of noticeable heterogeneity in online retailing.

The study concentrates on the use of the tablet for online shopping, how it correlates to general online shopping and how it differs from other mobile devices regarding online shopping. The study utilised an integration of different research domains (marketing, psychology and a technological approach). This integration gives a broader perspective and deepens the understanding of the research topic.

The study adopts a quantitative methodology and utilises survey research, because of the online specific behaviour of tablet users, with structural equation modelling techniques. The study contributes theoretically in four parts. First, the study is interdisciplinary and combines insights from marketing, psychology and information systems literature with an integrated model of tablet commerce to identify the antecedents of customer loyalty and contribute to marketing literature. Second, the study is a comparative study and discovers the impact of security, technology, utilitarian and eminent factors related to customer loyalty to the online retailer, which is a growing trend in two cultures.

Third, the study reveals the mediating role of trust in explaining the interaction between reputation and loyalty across borders and the mediation between online shopping experience and reputation, trust, self-efficacy and privacy to predict customer loyalty to an online retailer in a developed nation. Fourth, the study discovered variation by gender in tablet commerce, based on the integrated model. The gender divergence is more significant on one antecedent of loyalty than the others. Managers should also target online customers with promotional offers based on gender differences. The study’s managerial implication has been recommended and future research opportunities have been expanded.
Last updated: 1.3.2023