Investigating adopter categories and determinants affecting the adoption of mobile television in China

Abstract

This study investigates youths` perceived adoption of China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB), the largest mobile TV service (MTVS) in the world, and examines differences among adopter categories (i.e., continuers, potentials, and resistors) in Beijing and Shanghai. The web surveys of 336 young mobile users find the early adopter markets facing challenges of low brand awareness and service dissatisfaction. Showing more interest in conventional TV content, respondents are concerned about CMMB`s signal quality, energy use, and cost. Results reveal adopter categories (adopters and non-adopters, and potentials and resistors) vary in perceived characteristics of CMMB MTVS, including complexity, relative advantage, and perceived popularity. The two pairs are also found to be significantly different in innovativeness. Comparing young adults in the two cities, those in the latter expect more diverse content and better signal quality. A model consisting of 3G multimedia service use, disposable allowance, and perceived popularity is proposed to predict future adoption of mobile TV.