Consumers' use of mobile communication devices is increasing rapidly, and devices based on mobile technology are now commonplace in everyday life (Balasubramanian, Peterson, and Jarvenpaa 2002). Mobile services are becoming increasingly important for firms and consumers because of ubiquitous, universal, and unison access to information and services and the possibility for unique and personalized exchange of information (Watson, Pitt, Berthon, and Zinkhan 2002). Despite these advantages, consumers use mobile devices mainly for simple services, such as voice services and text messaging. It is important to understand the driving forces of consumers' intentions to use mobile services and to adapt the services to fulfill consumers' motives for using them.Within the information system perspective, studies pertaining to consumers' intentions to use mobile services have been conducted on the basis of Davis's (1989) technology acceptance model (TAM) (Hung, Ku, and Chang 2003). Although the TAM is very useful in explaining behavioral intention, several extensions of the model may be relevant to explain intention to use mobile services. First, it has been suggested that, in general, TAM may be too parsimonious and that it should be supplemented and extended by means of concepts such as subjective norm and image (Venkatesh and Davis 2000). This recommendation is followed by Hung, Ku, and Chang (2003) and Teo and Pok (2003), who propose subjective norm, adapted from the theory of reasoned action (TRA) (Fishbein and Ajzen 1975), as an antecedent on consumers' intentions to use mobile services. Second, TAM is most often used in a workrelated context that does not imply any costs for the user. In contrast, consumers who use mobile services are usually charged by both the company offering the service and their mobile operator. Thus, consumers' use of mobile services also depends on their available resources 4 (perceived control), as predicted in the theory of planned behavior (TPB) (Ajzen 1991). Third, because the TAM is most often used in an organizational context rather than in an everyday life context for mobile services, it is reasonable to include nonutilitarian motives to explain consumers' intentions to use mobile services. Consumers' nonutilitarian motives (e.g., expressiveness, enjoyment) for using mobile devices are reported in studies from uses and gratifications research ( In this article we study the use of mobile services such as text messaging, gaming, contact, and payment. Mobile services have several different characteristics. According to Hoffman and Novak's (1996) categorization, text messaging services and contact services represent person-to-person interactive services, whereas gaming services and payment services are machine interactive. Furthermore, text messaging and payment can be characterized as goaldirected services, whereas gaming services and contact services are more experiential.Because of the differences in mobile services' characteristics, consumers' motives for using them differ across service ...

Purpose -In this article the authors aim to investigate the moderating effects of gender in explaining intention to use mobile chat services. Design/methodology/approach -An extended adoption model based on the technology acceptance model and theory of reasoned action is applied for pin-pointing the antecedents of intention to use mobile chat services and for revealing cross-gender differences. The hypotheses are tested on data from a survey of 684 users of mobile chat services. Findings -The study results suggest that social norms and intrinsic motives such as enjoyment are important determinants of intention to use among female users, whereas extrinsic motives such as usefulness and -somewhat surprisingly -expressiveness are key drivers among men.Research limitations/implications -The findings put renewed focus on non-utilitarian motives and illuminate the role of gender in technology adoption. Practical implications -The cross-gender differences observed give several guidelines for mobile service developers and marketers in how to accommodate female versus male users. Originality/value -The paper provides important and new insights both into mobile services adoption and into gender as an important segmentation variable in marketing.

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The purpose of this article is to study the influence of customer cocreation participation on customers’ brand experience, brand satisfaction and brand loyalty. We apply a service logic approach in which cocreation participation refers to cocreation of customer value together with the brand, cocreation of new value with the brand and cocreation of value together with other customers within the context of the brand. The reasoning applied is that customers’ cocreation with a brand – stimulating their engagement with the brand – influences brand experience, and through that, brand satisfaction and loyalty. A study among bank customers shows that cocreation participation positively influences sensory, affective, cognitive, behavioural and relational dimensions of a brand experience. However, influences of brand experience dimensions on satisfaction and loyalty are revealed to be complex as some of the dimensions influence satisfaction positively, while others have a negative influence. Furthermore, we show that the satisfaction and loyalty effects of cocreation participation are partially mediated by brand experience. Thus, there are both indirect and direct effects on satisfaction and loyalty from customers’ cocreation participation. Implications point to the importance of carefully managing cocreation participation in order to gain competitive advantages. Companies should be careful about how brand experience is stimulated through cocreation because of the potential risk of negative effects on satisfaction and loyalty.

This paper explores the role of self identity expressiveness and social identity expressiveness in the context of Multimedia Messaging (MMS) adoption. An extended version of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), including a wider array of identity and social influences, is developed and tested. As hypothesized, self identity expressiveness and social identity expressiveness prove to be significant determinants of intentions to use. Moreover, the extended TPB model explains 62% of the variance in usage intentions. The paper also investigates the relationship between self identity expressiveness and attitude and between social identity expressiveness and subjective norm. The study results indicate that the concept of subjective norm alone is insufficient to capture the rich universe of identity and social influences driving behavioral intentions. Implications for marketing managers and scholars are discussed.