What factors influence a consumer's intention to use a mobile device in the grocery shopping process?

Abstract: The worldwide exponential increase in smartphone penetration has changed the way in which many consumers shop, as their personal device is more frequently used as a shopping tool. Retailers now have to consider the integration of this technology in their omnichannel strategy. While some industries, such as customer electronics, have been highly affected by this trend, m-commerce has not received the same attention within the grocery sector. One country where m-shopping within the grocery sector has remained at an infant stage is Sweden, despite having a population that is characterized by a high willingness to adopt new technology. As m-commerce research is lacking within the grocery industry and has mainly been conducted in the USA and East Asia, this study will be of both practical and theoretical relevance, focusing on the research question: What factors influence the Swedish consumer’s intention to use a mobile device in the grocery shopping process?. In order to answer the research question, a quantitative study has been conducted in cooperation with Coop Online, the e-commerce division of Sweden’s second largest retailing group. The data was collected from a large sample, which enabled the researchers to test hypotheses regarding different factors that influence an individual's intention to use m-commerce services. The data analysis provided a valuable theoretical contribution, reinforcing the validity of Davis’ (1986) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in the empirical context of this study. Moreover, the significance of additional factors were tested, which revealed a strong influence of Subjective Norm and Trust on a the shopper’s intention to use m-commerce services. A factor that was found to be less relevant was Hedonic Motivation, since its influence could not be supported by the analysis. The results indicated that the consumers’ intentions were strongly influenced by utilitarian motivations, as they sought efficiency and convenience in the shopping process. These practical implications should be considered by retailers for the future integration of m-commerce services. The main limitation of this thesis is that the generated results are not representative for individuals who did not take part in the survey, as a convenience sampling was used. It also has to be considered that due to the sampling method, some demographic groups were overrepresented, introducing a bias to the study results. The stated limitation can be addressed in future research by applying a non-probability sampling method, which would provide generalizable results.