Exploring customers' switching from native to lightweight apps: a push–pull–mooring framework perspective
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-04-2022-0234 |
| Published date | 08 September 2022 |
| Date | 08 September 2022 |
| Pages | 2633-2656 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
| Author | Yuan Chen,Xiaodong Li,Qi Li,Wenjie Li |
Exploring customers’switching
from native to lightweight apps:
a push–pull–mooring
framework perspective
Yuan Chen
University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China and
Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing, China
Xiaodong Li
School of Economics and Management, Anhui Polytechnic University, Wuhu, China
Qi Li
School of Business, State University of New York, New Paltz, New York, USA, and
Wenjie Li
University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
Abstract
Purpose –Lightweight apps such as WeChat mini programs (WMPs) are an emerging mobile channel
(m-channel) touchpoint that have gained remarkable popularity among consumers. Despite the focus of
migration research on traditional m-channel touchpoints (e.g. native apps and mobile websites), but few
researchers have examined why consumers switch from native to lightweight apps. Drawing on the push-pull-
mooring framework, this study aims to identify the key factors influencing consumers’switching related to
lightweight apps.
Design/methodology/approach –The data were collected using a questionnaire survey of 416 WMP
consumers and the proposed model was analyzed through structural equation modeling.
Findings –The results show that the push effect, specifically, high privacy concern, nudges consumers
away from native apps, whereas the pull effects, including relative ease of use, convenience of access and
exit and socially-oriented interaction, entice consumers to lightweight apps. Further, consumer switching
intentionisinfluencedbyhabitandperceivedtechnology control, both of which reflect the mooring effects.
Switching intention also stands as an important precedent of actual behavior.
Originality/value –This study is among the first theoretical explorations of consumer switching across
m-channel touchpoints in the context of mobile commerce. For information system practice, these findings
provide new insights for both incumbent providers and newcomers on how to retain existing shoppers as well
as attract potential shoppers effectively.
Keywords Switching, Push–pull–mooring framework, Lightweight apps, Native apps, M-channel
touchpoints
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Lightweight apps have begun to create a massive user base that is alluring to potential
marketers. Zhang Xiaolong, the founder of WeChat, has claimed that free WeChat mini
programs (WMPs), which are the most representative of the current lightweight apps, can
substitute for low-frequency native apps while complementing high-frequency native
Switching from
native to
lightweight
apps
2633
The work was substantially supported by the Anhui Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project
(No. AHSKY2017D24), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 71701002) and the
Industry-school Cooperative Education Program of Ministry of Education (No. 202102629049).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0263-5577.htm
Received 16 April 2022
Revised 14 August 2022
Accepted 22 August 2022
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 122 No. 12, 2022
pp. 2633-2656
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-04-2022-0234
apps (Zhang, 2017). WMPs with over 450 million monthly active users generated a total
transaction value of more than 1,600 billion Chinese yuan (equivalent to $252 billion US) in
2020 (CNNIC, 2022). As one example of migration to lightweight apps, many major online
retailers and brands in China have recently been encouraged to adopt WMPs to sell their
products directly within the WeChat platform (Rao and Ko, 2021). Likewise, in the USA,
Snapchat introduced a new third-party app program called Minis with features reminiscent of
WMPs (eMarketer, 2021). Nevertheless, native app download has still been experiencing a
positive growth trend in the majority of the examined countries, especially in China and India.
As of the fourth quarter of 2021, native apps in China drew 98 billion downloads from users
(Statista, 2022), implying that native apps may pose a significant challenge for the long-term
development of the lightweight app market by, for instance, weakening the likelihood of
continued usage.
Given that the involvement of Tencent Inc. and Snap Inc. confers lightweight apps with
sustainable competitive advantages, consumers are incrementally beginning to view
lightweight apps as a good alternative to native apps, thereby leading to increased switching
from native to lightweight apps. In particular, consumers shift their consumption journeys
from traditional m-channel touchpoints (specific digital shopping formats, e.g. native apps
and mobile websites) (Wagner et al., 2020) to a new m-channel touchpoint (i.e. lightweight
apps). Compared to native apps, lightweight apps have a unique advantage in that consumers
do not need to download, install, or configure them (Tang et al., 2021), thereby sidestepping
many consumers’concerns about privacy risks associated with the download or installation
of native apps. Moreover, lightweight apps may not only be less cumbersome to use also be
easier for customers to learn because they integrate authentication, purchase, payment and
communication (Chen and Chen, 2020). The business value created by lightweight apps
for mobile commerce is also markedly differentiated from that created by native apps.
For example, lightweight apps focus on the diversity and simplification in channel portals
(i.e. in-app functionality) (Rao and Ko, 2021), whereas native apps emphasize the integration
of multiple channels (Narang and Shankar, 2019). Through this simplification (Cheng et al.,
2019), customers can access and exit lightweight apps more conveniently than native apps.
Therefore, deep insight into the specific characteristics of lightweight apps is needed to
illuminate the ontological network of customers’switching.
In spite of the rapid penetration of lightweight apps, little academic effort has been
devoted to studying the switch to lightweight apps at the individual level. Furthermore,
previous research that has examined WMP (i.e. lightweight app) usage has not improved the
theoretical explanation of the underlying mechanism because its characteristics have not
been fully identified. For example, Tang et al. (2021) focus exclusively on usage enablers
(e.g. trust and perceived convenience) by drawing from the innovation diffusion theory. More
importantly, research using switching intention as a proxy for actual usage behavior has
rarely been mentioned in the information systems (IS) literature.
However, understanding customers’switching in the mobile commerce context is
imperative for the success of lightweight apps. For one thing, switching to lightweight apps
may be particularly feasible for customers because lightweight apps can be accessed
ubiquitously through the native mega apps (e.g. WeChat and Baidu) that have been adopted
by almost every Chinese smartphone user (Zheng et al., 2019). Hence, mobile commerce firms
and online lightweight app providers can realize business benefits from the moment of a
customer’s initial switch to their final use. In addition, it is possible that attracting consumers
directly to switch from native to lightweight apps is a key ingredient and a prerequisite for
facilitating the continuous and extensive usage of the lightweight apps and thus can help
consumers earn the substitutability or complementarity benefits. For instance, incentive-
induced adoptions may result in a substitutability in customers’purchases across the native
app and the mobile website (Sun et al., 2019). Thus, it is important for both incumbent
IMDS
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