Investigating the users’ behavioral intention toward using 3G mobile value-added services in Macedonia

The advances in the mobile technology have substantially increased the number of people using mobile services (Tang, 2008). The growing number of mobile users and the decline in conventional voice service tariffs have gradually reduced average revenue per user (ARPU), thus decreasing the service providers profits (Kuo and Yen, 2009). Gazis et al.(2001) claim that in a 3G market, the major revenue source for telecommunications operators will originate from packet-based value-added services provided by independent value-added service providers, rather than traditional voice telephony. Although the importance of 3G services in providing faster communication services and improving the productivity and effectiveness to individuals, it is surprising that Macedonia’s society show little interest towards 3G services (AEC, 2009), implicating to investigate consumer’s behavioral intention to use 3G mobile value-added services. Based on extant literature, the factors which are observed as more influential in the 3G mobile value added service adoption together with the factors derived from previously proposed models on technology adoption (TAM, IDT), constitute the research model of this study. In order describe the relations between the constructs a quantitative approach has been applied, more specifically survey has been employed as the most appropriate research strategy for this study. The questionnaire designed for the purpose of the study was distributed among 500 Macedonian consumers, relatively young people and university students, from which 361 are accepted as valid making the response rate of 72 %. After the data was collected the research model and the proposed hypotheses were evaluated by the structural equation model. Therefore, according to this research, the total effect of the factors that influence the behavioral intention of Macedonian consumers to use 3G mobile value-added services is ranked as follows: Compatibility, Perceived Enjoyment, Self – Efficacy, Perceived Cost, Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness and Attitude. Based on these results some recommendations for the telecom service providers are given. Beside the theoretical contribution of this study, the results found are relevant to both telecom service providers and consumers. Respectively, the research gives service providers an insight on the behavioral intention criteria of their customers, suggesting them to focus on educating their consumers about the offered services, foster the expansion of their 3G network coverage and also introduce new versatile and entertaining 3G mobile value-added services which are easy to use in order to attract new customers and also to retain the old ones. While from the consumers’ point of view, understanding the motives for adoption of these services can increase the consumer’s awareness of their own motives for the use of 3G mobile value-added services.