Mobile Commerce. How to leverage B2C business value through electronic/mobile commerce for China media express holdings

DEDICATION

All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to my dear parents; Mr. and Mrs They have been pillars of hope and strength to me and they have stood by me every step of the way to make this dissertation a success. I am grateful they understood my fears, listened to my troubled thoughts and stood by me throughout all my doubts and anxieties. I owe this dissertation to them, for the various sacrifices they have made to see me come this far and having stood by me in prayers and guidance. I also thank the almighty God for having made me come this far because without him, this dissertation would have become a futile endeavor. Glory and honor all go back to him.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The completion of this dissertation has not been a one man affair. I am very grateful to all those who have made this dissertation come to a completion in one way or the other. Though it is not possible to mention all of them by name, I wish to acknowledge the contributions of a few persons without whom this achievement would never have been.

First and foremost, I would like to extend my warm gratitude to my supervisor . who has endeavored to read through my work in detail and has been very helpful in advising me on how to improve on this work despite his busy schedule.

I also thank my parents who have facilitated me with resources both financially and materially and for greatly understanding the demands of this work to render me any assistance possible.

My special gratitude goes to . and . for always being there to encourage me both emotionally, materially and financially every step of the way.

I also extend my gratitude to all my classmates and those others I could not mention for their support and contribution throughout my long years at the university.

Above all else, I am so grateful to God for none of this would have been possible without him. He has been merciful to me and an ever present help not forgetting that he blessed me with ideas and the capacity to explore them so that this dissertation could come to a completion. Glory and honor all go back to him for I will forever be grateful.

ABSTRACT

In the same way that e-commerce and the internet have led to an immense revolution in regard to the promotion and marketing of services and goods, m-commerce is also poised to lead to another revolution in the business world. M-commerce is an extension of e-commerce which allows the interaction between different users anywhere and anytime with the use of wireless networks and modes. This dissertation is therefore based on leveraging B2C (business to customer) business value through mobile/electronic commerce for the China Media Express Holdings Inc.

To lay a general stage for the entire dissertation, the research will commence with an introduction that will assuredly usher in the China Media Express Holdings Inc, by outlaying major details of the media express holding relevant to this study and relating them to mobile and electronic commerce under chapter one. The introduction will also address the features of mobile commerce so as to provide a clearer picture of what the entire dissertation will be dealing with. More so, the introduction will also address the term B2C in the context of the China Media Express Holdings Inc. The research will then tackle the major objectives and aims of the entire research and describe the pharmacy in detail in relation to mobile/electronic commerce.

More so, in chapter two, the research will review available relevant literature in regard to the dissertation topic and chapter three will relay the research methodology. Chapter four will specifically develop a model for leveraging B2C business value through mobile/electronic commerce for the holdings. The study will then analyze the effectiveness of this developed model in the holding and discuss the empirical and theoretical implications of the findings. The study will then give relevant recommendations and a conclusion under.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

With the numerous unreal mobile websites entering the world markets in this 21st century, every consumer is understandably worrying about making purchases using mobile devices. Consumer trust in electronic and mobile commerce business have become a stringent issue since consumers seem to be demonstrating lack of enthusiasm in mobile and electronic advancements in business. This is so because mobile commerce operations are often characterized by anonymous vendors, complex technology, convoluted stakeholder interactions and lack of enough transparency. Thus, consumer trust becomes a very significant element in increased business operations that involve mobile commerce.

Hence, though mobile commerce is a representation of important developments in electronic commerce since it offers mobility, ubiquity, localization and accessibility, consumer trust and interactivity is the two major obstacles bottle necking its potential advancements. This is so because majority of consumers are always uncomfortable while conducting business on wireless mobile devices. It is upon this backdrop that this research embarks on leveraging business to customer business value thorough mobile commerce. The research builds on the China Media Express Holdings Inc framework in depicting the major components of consumer trust and interactivity in mobile commerce so as to develop a workable leverage for business to customer business value for the company (Lowell Charles, 2000).

The existence of human beings is intrinsically dependent on good monitory machineries. Thus, if the business machineries are not efficient enough to maintain ones needs, then the existence of the entire human race is under threat. Nevertheless, irrespective of the many hardships faced by various small business enterprises, electronic and mobile commerce come in handy to render mobile commerce services more effective in today’s modern society. Mobile commerce can greatly improve efficiency in the China Media Express Holdings Inc by ensuring better retrieval and retention of documents, effective management of advertising and customer support and enhance interactivity and customer trust in a mobile way without the need to plug in to any gadget. Though these mobile devices have been prevalent in the market for a long period now, most of them have failed to meet the ultimate objective of generating small business enterprises in a mobile manner and it is along this view that this study embarks on developing a workable framework on leveraging B2C business value through mobile commerce for the China Media Express Holdings Inc.

Aim and Objectives of the Study

With the rising sale of Smartphone’s and Ipads, mobile commerce is headed to overtaking ecommerce and business enterprises should get ready for this mobile commerce onslaught. Subscribers of mobile devices are increasing every \single minute and in the year 2010, there was an estimate of over 234 million subscribers and this number is said to have increased to over 66 million subscribers this year (2011). Over 48% of these subscribers of these mobile devices such as Smartphone’s use them to run their businesses and do their shopping while an estimated 3 million use their Ipads to shop for goods and services online and also to browse.

Many large businesses have gone to the extent of creating mobile websites and optimizing their websites to enable viewing from a mobile web browser. Nevertheless, many medium sized and small businesses are still lagging behind. According to a recent study on small and medium sized businesses, only around 12% of small business enterprises (with about one to ninety nine employees) and 21% of medium sized businesses (with about 100-499employees) use mobile websites. It is upon this backdrop that the major aim oft his research is to develop a model for leveraging B2C business value through electronic/mobile commerce for the China Media Express Holdings Inc. The major objectives of this research are;

- Gain financial information regarding the use of mobile devices in the China Media Express Holdings Inc.
- Asses the B2C business value in the China Media Express Holdings Inc through mobile commerce.
- Assess profit margins in small business in order to gauge their competitive advantage in relation to their use of mobile/electronic devices.
- Assess the stability of small business enterprises like the China Media Express Holdings Inc in relation to their use of mobile devices.
- Assess the lifecycle of the company in regard to their use of mobile/electronic devices.
- Give recommendations and a workable way forward for the China Media Express Holdings Inc and other small business enterprises in relation to use of mobile/electronic devices.

Description of the China Media Express Holdings Inc

China Media Express Holdings Inc (CME) operates the advertising television network in the city buses in the country, through contractual agreements with the Fujian Fenzhong Media Co Ltd. It was lately ranked top small business enterprise by Forbes China. The company is majorly involved in mobile advertising in passenger express buses on highways in China. However, majority of its business operations are conducted through the Fujian Fenzhong company.

Though this company is majorly involved in mobile television advertising, its use of mobile commerce is very minimal and limited to mobile television advertising in passenger buses. The major key to enhancing mobile commerce is making it easier for persons to search and consummate the transactions carried out using mobile devices. With mobile websites and Smartphone’s getting more ubiquitous, mobile commerce is immensely changing the looks of ecommerce and this company should not be left out.

The Term B2C in Relation to Small Business Enterprises such as the China Media Express Holdings Inc

With the current proliferation of business through mobile devices, mobile commerce is bound to go through a substantive growth. Nevertheless, most small business enterprises have failed to execute the full use of mobile devices in their businesses and consumer trust has greatly bottle-necked the expansion of mobile commerce.

More so, consumer trust is also a major obstacle in the development of mobile commerce. China Media Express Holdings is no exception and irrespective of the fact that its operations involve mobile television advertising, it is not fully utilizing mobile devices to enhance its business. It is upon this backdrop that the researcher aims to assess the company’s adoption of B2C business value through mobile commerce. In spite of the significance of trust in mobile commerce, there is a lot of insufficiency in determining consumer trust in B2C (business to consumer) mobile commerce.

Statement of the Problem: Requirements of the China Media Express Holdings Inc

Mobile commerce is all about consumer trust and convenience. Thus, consumer trust is always a huge obstacle in its development and adoption. With the increasing use of mobile devices, deliverance of value-added, location based, interactive mobile services such as content download, banking and emergency assistance to customers appear to be increasingly significant in acquiring competitive advantage since they strengthen customer relationships. Thus, customer retention is imperative for the success of any mobile commerce business especially when it comes to attracting new customers to the business.

Small business enterprises such as the China Media Express Holdings Inc should borrow a leaf from large companies like google in regard to the use of mobile commerce devices. Just like people doubted the taking off of electronic commerce in the 1990’s, mobile commerce is currently going through the same difficulties and borrowing a leaf from large companies would b e the best option for small business enterprises. The china media express company is currently faced with the problems of unsuitable prevalent traditional applications, immature mobile commerce techniques and more so, its facing various challenges with its mobile commerce tactics.

Significance of the Study

- Creation of effective business affiliations; another significance of this research is to create business affiliations for the company through mobile commerce.
- Automation of workflow; This research aims at automating workflow for the China Media Express Holdings by developing a model for leveraging B2C business value for the china media express holdings Inc.
- Development of effective customer services; The research will also relay effective ways of creating and maintaining customer trust.
- Reduction in time consumption; the developed model of leveraging B2C business value through mobile commerce will focus on reducing time consumption while conducting business in the company.
- Reduction of time and venue restrictions; Mobile commerce as acidulated in this research will also aim at reducing time and venue restrictions since mobile devices can be used anywhere anytime.

Conclusion

In conclusion therefore, the China Media Express Holdings should pursue closer ties with the customers as well as adopting efficient mobile commerce methods. They therefore invest in improving their mobile commerce technologies. The monopolistic characteristics of the industry in China make it hard for the China Media Express Holdings to establish a competitive edge compared to other firms due to other strong players in the market. To obtain a competitive advantage, the company should create a good reputation amongst the customers and market their service to differentiate it from the rest creating loyalty and monopoly power through mobile commerce.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

The nurture of mobile commerce exposes consumers to new risks and vulnerabilities and in such a situation, consumer trust becomes a crucial element of effective conduction of business operations. In addition, majority of mobile commerce vendors are always tied with unethical business behaviors giving the consumer a reason not to trust them. Mobile commerce technologies also expose the consumer to internet related risks like cyber crime, viruses, spam, and illegal contents. Trust is therefore a focal point in every business operation as a result of the inherent human need to understand ones surroundings so as to understand who, why, how and why other people behave the way they do since there is never a proven guarantee that mobile commerce vendor will conduct business in an acceptable manner.

Review of relevant literature proves that customer trust in mobile commerce is a resultant of various causal links that majorly hold their roots in electronic commerce with only difference being the mobility twist. Increasing consumer trust in mobile commerce is significant to the enhancement of B2C m-commerce (Bailey, Faraf % Palmer, 2000). According t o Hunt and Morgan, consumer trust is the confidence executed between parties to a particular business transaction that demonstrates integrity and reliability (Hunt & Morag, 1994). On the other hand, Moorman has it that trust is the voluntary reliance on another business partner with whom one has confidence (Moorman, 1993). In other words, it is a particular belief that enables consumers to voluntarily take risks and accept vulnerability to mobile commerce (Chervany & McKnight, 2002).

Definition of B2C Mobile/Electronic Commerce

Business to consumer electronic/mobile commerce simply refers to business carried out between consumers and companies and it majorly involves the gathering of data and information by consumers, the purchase of tangible or intangible goods such as informational goods, and the receipt of products through electronic or mobile devices. The origins of electronic/mobile commerce date back to the times of online retailing in the 1990s. It is through online retailing those companies such as Amazon, Beyond, Drugstores and Noble became commonly known as online retails B2C business models.

Theoretical Literature Review

Trust greatly influences the uptake of services of mobile commerce. More so, consumer trust is always a stringent issue especially in situations perceived to be risky during business operations. It is upon this backdrop that the researcher reviews relevant theoretical frameworks in regard to consumer trust, interactivity, innovation and assesses relevant literature in regard to the future of B2C mobile commerce.

Consumer Trust Theoretical Framework for B2C Mobile Commerce

Reviews of the B2C mobile/electronic commerce literature clarifies that majority of researchers have focused more on the internet rather than on mobile devices. Nevertheless, the advent of the 21st century generated a series of challenging mobile commerce questions majorly dealing with consumer behavior. Today, every mobile commerce business that does not address the issue of consumer trust is likely to fail in this new wave of modern advertising. (Vrechopoulos & Siomkos, 2002). Besides, B2C mobile commerce has one major generic aim which is customer satisfaction and building strong business to customer relationships on the basis of loyalty (ECR, 1999). Therefore, an investigation of the needs of consumers, their preferences, attitudes and behaviors constitutes a reliable method of achieving consumer rust in B2C mobile commerce.

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