What drives the innovation, diffusion and adoption of mobile services? -An analysis of four alternative studies

8/01/2008
(Original Publish Date: 11/1/2007)

A number of social, technological and economic trends have produced an environment which promotes the demand and distribution of mobile communication services. This has caused dramatic changes in the mobile communications value chain which is in a state of flux. While numerous studies seek to explain the varied pace of diffusion and adoption of mobile services by looking at such trends in isolation, relatively few examine the complex interplay between them. This paper studies available accounts of mobile services adoption and diffusion in order to examine the regulatory, market and the innovation systems which are the main drivers behind the innovation, diffusion and adoption of mobile services. This highlights the requirement for a more holistic analytical framework to explain this complex and dynamic phenomenon. Lyytinen’s and King’s (2002) model is adapted as a holistic analytical tool and four different accounts of mobile diffusion are examined using text analysis. The findings indicate that existing reductionist and fragmented perspectives used to explain the adoption and diffusion of mobile and wireless services across markets are of limited use when seeking an overall understanding of the changes that are transforming the provision of mobile services. On this basis we therefore advocate the use of a holistic research framework which incorporates the interacting and dynamic interconnected value systems framing the multi-faceted wireless enabled marketplace.