Changes in consumers' mobile payment behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic: a stimulus-organism-response model perspective

Abstract

Mobile payment (m-payment) emerged as an alternative payment method, especially after smartphones' rapid development and spread in the last decade. The convenience, efficiency, and ubiquity it provides made m-payment preferable over traditional payment methods. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of m-payment's another feature: its contact-free nature. Due to the pandemic, people want to avoid contact with others as much as possible. Consequently, consumers associate m-payment with certain benefits because it provides a shopping experience with minimal or no contact. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how consumers' m-payment intentions during the pandemic are affected by these perceived benefits. The factors affecting these benefits are also examined. The research reveals insightful results indicating that consumers' perceived hedonic, utilitarian, and relative benefits are positively related to their intention to use m-payment while perceived novelty, perceived compatibility, performance expectancy, and social influence affect the perception of these benefits.