Adoption of Mobile Devices/Services — Searching for Answers with the UTAUT

Abstract

The future of mobile telephony is expected to rely on mobile services and the use of mobile services will be an integral part of the revenues to be generated by third generation mobile telephony. The adoption of new mobile services contradicts this proposition as it has been much slower than expected, especially in Europe. Basic services such as SMS, ring tones, icons and logos are still the most popular services. Several reasons have been suggested for the slow adoption rate, ranging from cultural to business models. In this paper we are searching for answers to the adoption rates by testing the applicability of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to explain the acceptance of mobile devices/services. Based on our empirical evidence from a survey conducted in Finland, it seems that the UTAUT to some extent and with some reservations can be used as a starting point to find some explanations for the adoption of mobile devices/services.