Drivers and outcomes of branded mobile app usage intention
| Pages | 28-49 |
| Published date | 11 February 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-02-2017-1436 |
| Date | 11 February 2019 |
| Author | Lara Stocchi,Nina Michaelidou,Milena Micevski |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Drivers and outcomes of branded mobile app
usage intention
Lara Stocchi
Flinders Business, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
Nina Michaelidou
School of Business and Economics, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK, and
Milena Micevski
Department of International Marketing, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to examine the drivers and outcomes of the usage intention of branded mobile applications (apps), revealing findings of
theoretical and practical relevance. First, it uncovers the specific technological features that underpin t he perceived usefulness and ease of use of
branded apps driving (directly and indirectly) usage intention. Second, it outlines two key outcomes that are relevant to the strategic management
of branded apps: willingness to recommend the app and willingness to pay to continue using the app.
Design/methodology/approach –This study uses data randomly derived from a panel of one million UK consumers, analyzed via structural
equations modeling. The unit of analysis was individual apps prominently displaying a brand identity. The study tested indirect relationships
between the key drivers considered and usage intention via perceived usefulness and ease of use.
Findings –Consumers who view branded apps as protecting their privacy, customizable and compatible with what they do, will have stronger
perceptions of usefulness and ease of use and greater intention to use the app. These effects also occur indirectly. Furthermore, usage intention
drives the willingness to recommend the app and to pay to continue using it.
Practical implications –To influence usage intention, managers can improve the perception of usefulness of branded apps by protecting consumer
privacy and improving the app’s design and its compatibility with people’s needs and lifestyle. Managers can also enhance the perception of ease of
use of the branded app by heightening its security and ubiquity. Combined, these factors can enhance (directly and indirectly) the intention to use
the app, which will lead to the willingness to recommend the app and pay for it.
Originality/value –This study extends previous research by examining factors driving the intention to use branded apps and the resulting
outcomes. It also offers a model that yields predictions for individual branded apps (not the brand powering the app), thus providing practical
recommendations on how to manage, in general, apps with a brand identity.
Keywords Technology adoption, Mobile marketing, Branded mobile applications
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Mobile applications (thereafter apps) play a vital role in
supporting consumer acceptance and use of mobile
technologies (Tojib and Tsarenko, 2012). Apps also provide
organizations with countless opportunities for establishing
relationships with customers, which is in line with Sultan and
Rohm’s (2005) original definition of apps as “brands in the
hand.”More recently, Taivalsaari and Mikkonen (2015)
describe the “brandification”of apps as the process of
substituting the more simplistic functions available on mobile
devices, such as messaging, camera and music players with
custom-build apps. Such apps often become commercially
popular either as standalone offers (see the example of the
Spotify app for music streaming) or as extensions of existing
offline brands (e.g. the Facebook app). For example,Newman
et al. (2017) highlight that many retailers have the chance to
reacquire or reinforce their competitive advantages through
apps, especially if they are able to deliver value to consumers
across multiple touch-points –i.e. via ensuring that apps
complement and extend physical and virtual channels. While
there is still quite a long-way before apps will result in the
demise of Web as a software platform,the prominence of apps
in present day business ecosystemsis undeniable.
Unsurprisingly, as Kim and Ah Yu (2016) highlight, the use
of branded apps as mobile communication marketing tools is
increasingly common amongmany corporations. This strategic
shift seems justified, at least in part, by the documented effect
that branded apps have in relation to brand loyalty and
purchase intention. In fact, branded apps are an attractive
marketing tool for engaging consumers and interacting with
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
28/1 (2019) 28–49
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-02-2017-1436]
Received 27 February 2017
Revised 15 August 2017
18 January 2018
25 June 2018
25 July 2018
Accepted 26 July 2018
28
them in a manner that has clearly surpassed the opportunities
that the traditional web format can offer. However, with 3.8
million apps currently available to consumers via the Google
Play Store (Statista, 2018), managers need to know which
factors can be leveraged to encourage consumers to use
branded apps, and the potentialoutcomes of adoption that can
yield concrete economic returns. Also, as Ahmed et al. (2016)
mention, consumers download on average approximately 40
apps, but regularly use a mere 15 or fewer, with only some of
them branded. This is because consumers spend half of their
time using only about three favorite apps. In fact, Tarute et al.
(2017) remark that although the number of apps available to
consumers continue to increase margins remain relatively low,
possibly due to not focusing sufficiently on meeting the
evolving needs of technologyusers. Therefore, as Bellman et al.
(2013) highlight, the most prominent challenge for branded
apps is to remain in the short-list of apps that consumers
continue to use, because of their particular usefulness.
Accordingly, more insights concerning branded apps are
needed for businesses to make informed strategic decisions
when planning the introduction ofan app linked to an existing
offer or the launch of a new branded app –e.g. to start a new
business venture (Stocchi et al., 2017). The need for more
insights concerning branded apps is also highlighted in other
recent works such as Tarute et al. (2017) and Newman et al.
(2017), where it is implied that although research efforts have
intensified the understanding of causeand effects relationships
is still rather limited.
Existing research in the mobile context can be categorized
into works discovering driversof technology adoption vs. works
examining post-adoption outcomes (Nysveen et al.,2015).
Research on adoption has been significant, although it has
primarily concernedthe uptake of mobile technology in general
and/or specific instancesof mobile technologies, such as mobile
data services, mobile payments, mobile marketing and, of
course, mobile apps. Importantly, as Alnawas and Aburub
(2016) remark, many scholarshave drawn upon the technology
acceptance model (TAM) (Davis et al.,1989) to understand
how and why consumers adopt apps. This strand of research
has consistently highlighted that perceived usefulness and ease of
use are the key drivers of attitudes, intention to use, and actual
use of mobile apps (Kim et al., 2016;Tojib and Tsarenko,
2012;Yang, 2013). However, these aspects have not been
explored in relation to branded apps, i.e. appsclearly showing a
brand identity (Bellman et al.,2011). Moreover, drivers of
adoption are often understood in relation to the brand or
organization powering the app (Chen et al.,2012;Chong,
2013;Cyr et al.,2006), rather than for the app itself.
At the same time, existing frameworkshave failed to consider
important outcomes, such as satisfaction and purchase
intentions, and have focused too narrowly on predicting the
intentions to use the app or to continue using the app. Other
outcomes beyond acceptance, such as engagement, are not
fully understood. In contrast, research on post-adoption have
focused on the factors that motivate consumers to continue to
use the technology, and have extended the confines of the
TAM model by combining it with other theoretical bases (e.g.
motivation theory and expectancy theory). For example, Yang
(2016) considers brand attachment and self-congruence
theory, while Kim et al. (2013),Wu (2015),andWang et al.
(2016) draw on brand engagement theory. As a result, to date,
there is no framework comprehensively explaining the drivers
and outcomesof branded app usage intention.
Furthermore, findings of studies that examine the effectiveness
of branded apps as advertising medium (Bellman et al.,2011)
confirm the need to understand more about the drivers and
consequences of branded apps usage. Finally, as Morosan and
DeFranco (2016) suggest, the understanding of mechanisms that
characterize consumer interactions with branded apps is
becoming increasingly difficult, given that consumer–firm
interactions occur seamlessly and simultaneously across multiple
channels. This is one of the reasons why scholars have been called
to intensify research efforts examining branded apps.
In light of the above, understanding of the full potential of
branded apps from a strategic marketing perspective clearly comes
across as an underexplored issue of theoretical and practical
relevance for a number of reasons. Above all, branded apps can
deliver important outcomes that can yield economic returns –e.g.
in the form of positive attitudes, purchase intentions, advertising
response and consumer engagement (Seitz and Aldebasi, 2016;
Yang, 2016). Furthermore, branded apps represent tools that
firms can use to establish new connections with customers and to
reinforce existing ones, creating unique customer experiences
(Kim et al.,2013;Peng et al.,2014). Moreover, branded apps
differ to some extent from other mobile technologies, given the
considerable potential for consumer engagement and
interconnectivity (Seitz and Aldebasi, 2016;Yu, 2013).
The present study contributes to existing knowledge of
consumers’adoption of branded apps, focusing on technology-
specific characteristics of mobile apps such as privacy, security,
design characteristics, ubiquity, and compatibility as antecedents
of perceived usefulness and ease of use. At the same time, it
examines outcomes such as word-of-mouth (WOM)
recommendation and willingness to pay for extra app features.
Last, this study also considers indirect connections between these
factors (mediation) to further enhance the understanding of the
drivers and outcomes of branded app usage intention. These
insights emerge from the analysis of a set of consumer panel data
gathered in the UK featuring demographic information,
consumer perceptions and other relevant information (e.g.
intention to use, willingness to pay for the app, and willingness to
recommend). The result is a robust framework that generates
predictions for individual branded apps, as opposed to the brand
powering the app. The framework offers insights that are
applicable to two important scenarios:
1 instances of existing brands wanting to launch an app to
communicate with their customers and engage them; and
2 instances of branded apps being offered and marketed to
consumers as standalone offers.
Accordingly, this study delivers a range of practical outcomes
that offer some guidance to managerial tactics in the mobile
context, especially in relation to determining product and
brand management strategies that, when applied to apps, can
yield economic returns.
2. Background
2.1 Existing research on branded apps
Bellman et al. (2011) define branded apps as mobile apps
prominently displaying a brand identity. Such apps retain the
Branded mobile app usage intention
Lara Stocchi, Nina Michaelidou and Milena Micevski
Journal of Product & Brand Management
Volume 28 · Number 1 · 2019 · 28–49
29
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