AbstractsCommunication

This research study employed Q-methodology to explore retailer perspectives on the adoption of Near Field Communication. Near Field Communication m-payment has emerged as a promising payment alternative for retailers in the Netherlands, offering attractive technological advantages over existing payment methods. However, the multi-stakeholder nature of m-payment ecosystems means that a comprehensive understanding of the adoption factors and incentives for each stakeholder is needed in order to go past the adoption tipping point and reach critical mass. Limited adoption of previous m-payment systems coupled with an existing body of knowledge that has overlooked the adoption factors for retailers have instigated the need for this research study. This study identified 4 retailer perspective on NFC m-payment adoption. The first perspective represents retailers that rely heavily on customer demand before being enticed to consider adoption. This represents the typical wait-and-see behavior shown by the majority of retailers in the past when it comes to mobile payment adoption, and this is supported by the fact that the majority of participants loaded on this perspective. The second perspective represents retailers that are concerned with the financial consequences of adoption and rely less on the completeness of the mobile payment ecosystem. The characteristics of this perspective represent a group that may be enticed to adopt by offering extrinsic motivation such as financial support. The third perspective represents retailers that are less concerned with financial consequences, but instead focusses on the technical competence of mobile payment. The fourth and final perspective represents retailers that are satisfied with current payment alternatives and will only adopt if mobile payment can improve the efficiency of payment. The use of Q methodology enabled a deeper insight into adoption factors that other common techniques such as surveys may not have provided. The identification of retailer groups extends on conventional adopter groups such as “early adopters” and “laggards”, thus providing a wider breadth of views and responses towards NFC m-payment adoption. These findings inform NFC m-payment providers as to who are willing and capable of adoption, thus possibly accelerating adoption by creating a strong ecosystem. In addition, it also informs providers on the factors they need to improve on in order to attract those who are not yet ready for adoption. For the retailer this leads to an m-payment system that better fits their needs so that they can take advantage of the technological benefits of NFC m-payment.