Advances in electronic banking technology have created novel ways of handling daily banking affairs, especially via the online banking channel. The acceptance of online banking services has been rapid in many parts of the world, and in the leading e‐banking countries the number of e‐banking contracts has exceeded 50 percent. Investigates online banking acceptance in the light of the traditional technology acceptance model (TAM), which is leveraged into the online environment. On the basis of a focus group interview with banking professionals, TAM literature and e‐banking studies, we develop a model indicating online‐banking acceptance among private banking customers in Finland. The model was tested with a survey sample (n=268). The findings of the study indicate that perceived usefulness and information on online banking on the Web site were the main factors influencing online‐banking acceptance.

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) continues to have a profound impact on the global business environment, but technologies and applications also have begun to focus more on mobile computing, the wireless Web, and mobile commerce. Against this backdrop, mobile banking (m-banking) has emerged as an important distribution channel, with considerable research devoted to its adoption. However, this research stream has lacked a clear roadmap or agenda. Therefore, the present article analyzes and synthesizes existing studies of m-banking adoption and maps the major theories that researchers have used to predict consumer intentions to adopt it. The findings indicate that the m-banking adoption literature is fragmented, though it commonly relies on the technology acceptance model and its modifications, revealing that compatibility (with lifestyle and device), perceived usefulness, and attitude are the most significant drivers of intentions to adopt m-banking services in developed and developing countries. Moreover, the extant literature appears limited by its narrow focus on SMS banking in developing countries; virtually no studies address the use of m-banking applications via smartphones or tablets or consider the consequences of such usage. This study makes several recommendations for continued research in the area of mobile banking.

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Purpose: The study provides insights into the utilization and goals of digital marketing, and examines factors that influence the adoption and use of digital marketing channels in SMEs.Design/methodology/approach: The data comprises semi-structured theme interviews in SMEs among 16 managers and 421 survey respondents in Central Finland. Findings:The results of this study reveal that SMEs seem not use the full potential of the new digital tools, and so are not deriving benefit from the opportunities they provide.Furthermore, the results also raise the question of whether SMEs have understood the fundamental change in the nature of communication brought about by digitization. Research limitations:The data comes from one region and thus the research context limits the generalizability of the results. Practical implications:SMEs seem not to be keeping pace with digital developments, mostly due to the lack of knowledge of digital marketing. Most of the studied SMEs do not apply the full potential of the new digital tools and hence are not benefitting fully from them. Social implications:Discussions on the future regional development of SMEs have called for training programmes to help SMEs exploit digitization. This is something that the government should take note of. Originality/value: Whereas the adoption process of new technologies such as IT in general and the internet in particular have been examined in the SME literature, this is among the first studies examining adoption and usage of digital tools from the marketing perspective.

The study explored the effect of different factors affecting attitude formation towards Internet banking (online banking) in Finland. The purpose of this paper is to determine those factors that influence the formation of attitude towards Internet banking on the one hand, and their relation to the use of online banking services, on the other. To attain these, a large survey (1,167 responses) was carried out during the summer of 2000 in Finland. Attitude formation was studied by the use of a structural equation model. The results are expected to provide both theoretical and practical contributions in the area of electronic retail banking and understanding of consumer behaviour in the turbulent financial services industry.

Purpose This study aims to test and extend Carroll and Ahuvia’s (2006) model on the antecedents and outcomes of brand love by examining the moderating effects of experience and price on the relationship between brand love and offline word of mouth (WOM) and between brand love and electronic WOM (eWOM). Design/methodology/approach An online survey was conducted on Facebook, which generated 342 valid responses. The data were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Findings The results mainly support the model by confirming that the self-expressiveness of the brand and trust are positively associated with brand love. No association between hedonic product type and brand love was found. The study’s findings also suggest positive associations between brand love and both types of WOM. Experience and price were found to strengthen the relationship between brand love and offline WOM but not the relationship between brand love and eWOM. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by introducing and testing an extended model of brand love. It tests two moderating effects on the relationship between brand love and WOM.

Finland is a world leader in electronic banking, and over 39.8 percent of all retail banking transactions were made over the Internet in August 2000. Using the data of a large survey, we analyzed mature customers' Internet banking behavior. Internet banking was the third popular mode of payment among mature customers. Household income and education were found to have a significant effect on the adoption of the Internet as a banking channel, so that over 30 percent of wealthy and well-educated mature males make e-banking their primary mode of making payments. Perceived difficulty in using computers combined with the lack of personal service in e-banking were found to be the main barriers of Internet banking adoption among mature customers. Internet banking was also found to be more unsecured among mature customers than bank customers in general.

Mobile information services have revolutionized business models and service delivery methods by facilitating consumer access to information and order placement via mobile apps. In developed markets, mobile banking (m-banking) and mobile payment (m-payment) applications have replaced text-based mobile services. However, extant research has not addressed these mobile financial services apps (MFSAs) adequately from the perspective of consumer behavior. Thus, the present study developed and tested a series of hypotheses related to the antecedents of perceived value of MFSA use; it also examined how such use affects the development of customers' overall relationships with banks. Our hypotheses were tested using two samples (N=992; N=524) comprising different types of MFSA endusers in one of the leading countries in digital banking, Finland. The results supported most of the hypotheses and revealed that self-congruence and new product novelty are the principal drivers of perceived MFSA value. In addition, the findings show that the perceived value of MFSAs yields strong positive effects on customers' overall satisfaction and commitment to their bank. The present study's key managerial implication is that banks' investments in developing MFSAs result in improved relationships with customers and increased business.