Factors behind consumers' use intention of NFC payments - A comparative study of card and mobile based payments

Abstract

Objectives of the Study:

The objective of this study is to find similarities and differences between the factors behind consumers' intention to use NFC based card and mobile payments and to compare the magnitudes of the factor's effects.

Academic background and methodology:

The theoretical foundations of this research lie in technology and innovation acceptance related models. The proposed research model combines different theories including technology acceptance theory, switching barrier theory, diffusion of innovation theory, theory of perceived risks and proximity payment specific usefulness factors including transaction speed and transaction convenience. The empirical study is based on a data collected with an on online survey during spring 2013. The statistical method used to analyse the sample of 201 respondents' answers is Partial Least Squares analysis.

Findings and conclusions:

According to the research, the strongest determinant of consumers' use intention for both card and mobile payments is compatibility. Perceived risks have negative effect on intention to use both payment methods and this effect is especially emphasised on mobile based payments. There are also mentionable differences in the determinants of perceived risk. When assessing the risks related to card based NFC payments consumers tend to put emphasis on privacy related concerns whereas security concerns were highlighted with NFC mobile payments. Perceived usefulness of the system, for which perceived transaction convenience was found out to be the strongest determinant, has positive effect on both payment methods but this effect was slightly stronger for mobile payments. Perceived ease of use has a direct positive effect on use intention in terms of card based payments and with mobile payments it affects the system's perceived usefulness. In addition, there were also differences in the external factors behind use intention. With card based payments, consumers see the attractiveness of current alternatives as a negative factor towards intended usage but the data did not provide evidence for this in terms of mobile based NFC payments.

Keywords Technology acceptance, use intention, NFC payments