Beyond technology acceptance:understanding consumer practice

Steve Baron, Anthony Patterson and Kim HarrisUniversity of Liverpool Management School, Liverpool, UK

Abstract

Purpose – To critically examine the current definitions of key constructs of the technologyacceptance model (TAM) in a consumer technology-based service.

Design/methodology/approach – Two qualitative research studies were undertaken thatencouraged consumers to reflect upon their text message (short message service – SMS) behaviour.

Findings – The research highlights the inadequacy of a concentration on simple acceptance oftechnology where technology is embedded in a consumer community of practice. The existence ofcounter-intuitive behaviours, technology paradoxes and intense social and emotional elements inactual text message usage all point to the need for a review of the definition of the key TAMconstructs.

Research limitations/implications – There is a need to re-examine the construct of use behaviourin the context of the practice of technology-based services that owe much to consumer creativity.Theory development of the constructs of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceivedenjoyment should not be constrained by adherence to the existing (well developed) quantitative modelsof technology acceptance. There is a methodological potential of employing consumers as practicalauthors.

Practical implications – Where there is evidence of counter-intuitive consumer behaviour inthe marketplace for technology-based products or services, a study of practice, with a view to thesubsequent derivation of adapted theory constitutes worthwhile research. This may be of specialimportance to cell phone operators promoting SMS to US consumers.

Originality/value – The approach offers a method of complementing the dominant quantitativemodelling research on technology acceptance. The findings are relevant to an era where consumerco-creation of value is of increasing interest.

Keywords Consumer research, Communication technologies, Consumer behaviour

Paper type Research paper

IntroductionIt is widely accepted that developments in consumer research within marketing havecontributed to a paradigm shift in the field of consumer behaviour. According toMeamber and Venkatesh (2000, p. 88):

. . . consumer behaviour is no longer considered to be merely a psychologically motivatedindividual act, but also a culturally (as well as socially and ideologically) driven set ofconsumption practices and belief systems.

A growing number of researchers have recently provided us with soundmethodological foundations to examine culturally oriented consumption phenomena(for example, Arnould and Wallendorf’s (1994) discussion of market-orientedethnography).

Despite this growing trend, however, in many key areas of marketing, researchcontinues to view consumers as information processing computers who make

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International Journal of ServiceIndustry Management

Vol. 17 No. 2, 2006pp. 111-135

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited0956-4233

DOI 10.1108/09564230610656962

decisions based on their efforts to maximise the relations between attitudes, beliefsand attributes with little acknowledgement of the social and cultural context of theprocess. The dominance of this perspective is particularly evident in theoryavailable to explain and predict consumer acceptance of technological innovation,especially information and communication technology: the subject of this study.Here the technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis, 1989), derived from the theoryof reasoned action (TRA) (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975), has underpinned research intoorganisational acceptance of technology, and more recently provided theframework for understanding consumer acceptance of technology-based productsand services.

In this paper, we question whether the current conceptualisations of technologyacceptance based on predominantly quantitative modelling approaches emanatingfrom TAM, can capture the subtleties of marketplaces that owe much to consumercreativity and innovation. To do so, we explore consumer acceptance of aparticular technology-based service phenomenon: text messaging using mobilephones, also called short message service (SMS). The unpredicted (by thesuppliers) market for text messaging services offered an opportunity for researchon a culturally oriented consumption phenomenon, involving consumers in realaction.

The research contributes to the understanding of consumer technology-basedservice usage. It provides evidence that current definitions of the key constructs ofTAM can be inadequate for technology-based services where the consumers haveco-created the value of the service.

The findings:. highlight the inadequacy of a concentration on simple acceptance of technology

where technology is embedded in a consumer community of practice;. demonstrate the problems of measuring “perceived ease of use” and “perceived

usefulness” in a marketplace where consumers are devising coping strategies fordealing with technology paradoxes;

. provide evidence of subtleties of “social influence” and “perceived behaviouralcontrol” that are not captured by the TAM or its adaptations; and

. give prominence to the emotional aspects that accompany the use of atechnology-based service that augments real-life consumer activity.

It concludes that the limits to the understanding of technology acceptance (alreadyacknowledged by the proponents of quantitative TAM-based studies), can be extendedthrough applying an interpretivist perspective that focuses on the cultural context ofacceptance experiences.

The paper is structured as follows. A background to text messaging is followed by aliterature review that concentrates in the main on the development of models oftechnology acceptance. A methodological approach that encompasses the use of diariesto produce consumer autobiographical insights on marketplace practice is thendescribed. The findings from the qualitative research, relating to technologyembracement and embedment, counter-intuitive consumer behaviour and paradoxes,and text messaging experiences, are presented and implications for theory,methodology and mobile telephony practice are outlined.

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Text messaging: backgroundText messaging was first developed in 1991 for GSM digital mobile phones, almost byaccident. Its architects noticed spare capacity in the system and added the textmessaging facility in case it may prove useful (Giussani, 2001). Originally, itsusefulness was thought of in terms of its ability to deliver subscriber information, and,initially, mobile phone operators did not charge consumers for sending (or receiving)text messages. However, it was not until the late 1990s, when mobile phone providerspermitted users to send person-to-person text messages across different networks, thatthe consumer market for test messaging really grew, and grew rapidly, catching thenetwork providers by surprise. The subsequent market penetration over the earlyyears was vividly expressed by Joe Cunningham, head of wireless strategy at theLogica software group, who, in 2001, observed that:

. . . European carriers make around e6billion from SMS each year but three years ago it was azero euro industry (Cassy, 2001).

Over 24 billion text messages per month were being sent globally in 2002 (Netsize,2003). The volume of text messaging in the UK, for example, has grown from 1 billionmessages per year in 1999 to 26 billion in 2004, a mean of 1.2 text messages per capitaper day (Source – Mobile Data Association). SMS has been shown growth in otherparts of the world. For example, in Singapore, by 2004, there was a mean usage of2.1 text messages per capita per day.

Text messages are sent to and received from mobile telephones using the SMS.The text can be words, numbers or alphanumeric combinations, and each text messageis limited to 160 characters in length (for Latin alphabets). Messages are typed on themobile phone keyboard. They can be sent using standard text input or predictive textinput (Appendix 1).

The restriction of a maximum of 160 characters per message, far from being seen asa barrier to “ease of use”, was seen by (young) consumers as a problem-solvingchallenge of how to transmit as much information as possible within the characterlimit, thereby minimising costs. Creative solutions to the problem led to a textmessaging language; a specialised vocabulary used by a particular social group.Meanings were dynamic and provided a shared, decipherable shorthand for membersof the social group (Schau and Gilly, 2003). In the language of text messaging,abbreviations were required. Vowels were discarded, so that “text message” became“txt msg”. Alphanumeric “say-what-you-see” combinations were invented, such as “u”for “you”, “gr8” for “great”, and “2moro” for “tomorrow”. Acronyms were invented forcommonly used expressions, e.g. “cul” for “see you later”, “ruf2t” for “are you free totalk”, and “tb” for “text back”.

Impact of pricing strategies and telecommunications infrastructureIn the UK in 2005, and most countries outside North America, there are two methods ofpaying for text messages (and calls): through a contract or “plan” that specifies thenumber of calls/messages per month according to the price paid, or by “Pay as YouGo”, where there is no monthly contract, but each call/message is pre-paid at aspecified price (with text messages typically costing less than half the price of calls,especially at peak periods). As more people opted for “Pay as You Go”, it becametransparent to consumers that text messaging was much cheaper than calling.

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According to Netsize (2003), a clear pricing model, based on per message fee, has beenone of the key factors influencing the success of SMS across the world.

A striking feature of the market for text messaging services, and one that is veryunusual in terms of new service developments, is that it has shown rapid regionaldevelopment all over the world, with the exception of North America, one of thelargest marketplaces for consumer services. In the USA, in 2005, there is no relative costadvantage of text messaging. Indeed, there is often a relative disadvantage with textmessages charged above the charge for the monthly “plan”. “Pay as You Go” (prepaidcard) schemes, that clearly itemise the relative costs of calling and text messaging, are rare.

A technology-based service such as text messaging requires that person-to-personcommunication is technically possible across a country (and ideally, across the world),and that people are aware that this is the case. The adoption of the second generation,single standard GSM protocol enabled communication across telephone networkswithin that protocol. This provided the technological infrastructure that enabled textmessages to be sent across different networks, imbuing them with the property ofubiquity. Agar (2003) argues that the USA’s successful lead with first generationanalogue phones has, paradoxically, put it behind the rest of the world with second andthird generation systems, particularly in respect of launching a digital standard tocompete with GSM.

Nevertheless, commentators at the time of writing are indicating that text messagesare becoming popular in the USA (Cellular-News, 2003; Keegan, 2004), and textmessaging is gaining a higher profile through the advent of text message voting forshows, such as “American Idol”, where it is claimed that 2,300 text messages were senteach second of the voting period.

Literature reviewTechnology acceptance: models and developmentTechnology acceptance has become a central issue in IS research since the TAM wasfirst advocated by Davis (1989). Over the following 15 years, the TAM has been tested,re-examined, refined and expanded in order to reflect the range of technological(mainly IT/IS) developments over that period. The TAM was adapted from the TRA(Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975) which proposed that peoples’ actual behaviour in specificsituations was driven by behavioural intentions, which, in turn were driven by theirattitude toward behaviour and subjective norms (including other peoples’ opinions,and influences of superiors and peers). Attitude towards behaviour was driven bypeoples’ beliefs and evaluations, whereas subjective norms were driven by normativebeliefs and motivations to comply. Virtually all of the reported research has adopted aquantitative modelling approach to measure the effects of behavioural beliefs(originally “perceived usefulness” and perceived ease of use of the technology) onusers’ attitudes towards technology, their intention to use the technology, and actualusage of the technology. The focus has mainly been on technology acceptance inorganisations. Thus the determinant “perceived usefulness” was defined in terms of abelief about how the technology would enhance job performance, and “perceived easeof use” was defined in terms of a belief about how much the use would be free of mentaleffort (Lu et al., 2003).

The TAM has received much academic attention, and comprehensive summaries ofthe literature on the TAM and its adaptations can be found in Legris et al. (2003),

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Lu et al. (2003) and Han (2003). It has gained support for both its explanatory andpredictive properties. For example, Legris et al. (2003, p. 202) conclude that:

TAM has proven to be a useful theoretical model in helping to understand and explain userbehaviour in IS implementation.

While Lu et al. (2003, p. 207) state that:

Throughout the years, TAM has received extensive empirical support through validations,applications and replications for its power to predict use of information systems.

It has not, however, been the only model used to attempt to explain and predicttechnology acceptance. Venkatesh et al. (2003) reviewed the literature on eight ITacceptance research models (TRA; TAM; motivational model; theory of plannedbehaviour; model combining TAM and theory of planned behaviour; model of PCutilisation; innovation diffusion theory; and social cognitive theory). By integratingelements across the eight models, they developed and empirically validated a revisedversion of the TAM, that they called the unified theory of acceptance and use oftechnology (UTAUT) (Figure 1). As with TAM, UTAUT is claimed to aid explanationand prediction of technology acceptance in organisations, providing:

. . . a useful tool for managers needing to assess the likelihood of success for new technologyintroductions and help[ing] them understand the drivers of acceptance. . . (Venkatesh et al.,2003, pp. 425-6).

Adaptations to original TAM modelThree features of the UTAUT model in Figure 1 demonstrate the adaptations, madeover time, to the original TAM:

Figure 1.Unified theory of

acceptance and use oftechnology

Source: Venkatesh et al (2003)

Performanceexpectancy

Effortexpectancy

Socialinfluence

Facilitatingconditions

Behavioralintentions

Usebehavior

Gender Age Experience Voluntarinessof use

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(1) Unlike in the original TAM, attitude towards behaviour is not included in theUTAUT model, as attitude towards using technology was found not to be astatistically significant determinant of behavioural intention.

(2) There are three determinants of behavioural intention (performanceexpectancy, effort expectancy and social influence), and one directdeterminant of use behaviour (facilitating conditions), as compared with thetwo direct/indirect determinants of behavioural intention (perceived usefulnessand perceived ease of use) contained in the original TAM.

(3) Significant moderating variables have been identified for the modelrelationships.

In the second adaptation, “performance expectancy” is a label that captures theconstructs of perceived usefulness, extrinsic motivation, job-fit, relative advantage andoutcome expectations taken from the eight UTAUT-informing models. Likewise, thelabel “effort expectancy” captures the constructs of perceived ease of use, complexityand ease of use from the informing models. It should be noted that in anon-organisational (consumer market) context, the items of measurement ofperformance and effort expectancy, match those of measurement of perceivedusefulness and perceived ease of use, respectively. Social influence is defined byVenkatesh et al. (2003, p. 451) to be the “degree to which an individual perceives thatimportant others believe he or she should use the new system” and draws heavily onthe subjective norm construct. Facilitating conditions are defined as “the degree towhich an individual believes that an organizational and technical infrastructure existsto support use of the system” (p. 453), and is measured mainly in terms of elements ofperceived behavioural control; knowledge, resources and availability of advice andappropriate equipment to use the system.

Regarding the third adaptation, four key moderators – gender, age, experience, andvoluntariness of use – are included in Figure 1 as they have been shown to affect thestrength of the relationships between the core constructs of the model.

It is stressed again that most of the TAM-related studies, including the derivation ofUTAUT, have been undertaken to explain and predict technology acceptance byemployees within organisations. The TAM has been adapted and used, also, toincrease understanding of consumer markets for technological products and services,such as online shopping. Here, MIS research has been supplemented by the increasingamount of research by services marketers on technology-based services (Meuter et al.,2000; Szymanski and Hise, 2000). This has implied two modifications in the TAM.First, for consumer markets, it is not appropriate to measure perceived usefulness inrelation to job-related tasks. Thus, items such as “Overall, I find the (x) useful in myjob” would be rephrased as “Overall, I find the (x) useful.” Second, an additionaldeterminant, “perceived enjoyment”, has been found to be positively related toconsumer satisfaction with, and use of technology-based services (Van Dolen andde Ruyter, 2002; Teo, 2001). Perceived enjoyment of technology has been measured byitems such as “I enjoy it for its own sake” and “I do it for the pure enjoyment of it”(Mathwick et al., 2002).

Unsurprisingly, much of research on the application of the TAM in consumermarkets relates to consumer acceptance (or not) of the world wide web ande-commerce. In an extensive literature review, Perea y Monsuwe et al. (2004), for

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example, provide a framework, based on the TAM, which forms the basis forunderstanding consumers’ intentions to shop online. In another review, Pedersen et al.(2003) apply the TAM to explain consumer intentions to use mobile services. Figure 2,a consumer TAM, is our depiction of an adaptation of UTAUT based on these tworeviews. It captures, we believe, the state of the art of the TAM research in the contextof consumer markets for technology-based products or services.

There are four observable differences between Figures 1 and 2:

(1) Figure 2 includes “Perceived Enjoyment” as an additional determinant ofbehavioural intention.

(2) “Facilitating Conditions” in Figure 1 is replaced by “Perceived BehaviouralControl” in Figure 2. Perceived behavioural control is the only element ofVenkatesh et al.’s (2003) construct of facilitating conditions that is transferableto consumer technology acceptance.

(3) The voluntary/mandatory distinction is not applicable to consumer technologyacceptance, and so voluntariness of use is a redundant moderator.

(4) The umbrella term “Consumer Traits”, introduced by Perea y Monsuwe et al.(2004), has been adopted as a way of including moderators that reflectdemographic factors, such as age, gender (as in UTAUT), education andincome, as well as personality characteristics, such as self efficacy and needfor interaction.

Technology acceptance models: limitsThe frameworks shown in Figures 1 and 2 represent summaries of mainly quantitativestudies, carried out in a positivist tradition. The frameworks are solid, intuitivelyplausible, and have much supporting evidence. Nevertheless, it is, we believe, no

Figure 2.A consumer TAM

Perceivedusefulness

Perceivedease of use

SocialInfluence

Perceivedbehavioral

control

Behavioralintention

UsebehaviorPerceived

enjoyment

Consumertraits Experience

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coincidence that in 2003-2004 there have been many separate reviews of TAMs. As thereview authors themselves acknowledge, the current research approaches are probablyreaching their limits in terms of explaining behavioural intention and technologyusage. For example, Venkatesh et al. (2003, p. 471) conclude that:

. . . given that UTAUT explains as much as 70 per cent of the variance in intention, it ispossible that we may be approaching the practical limits of our ability to explain individualacceptance and usage decisions in organisations.

And they call for the identification of constructs that predict behaviour beyond what isalready known through the UTAUT.

Given the relative freedom of choice of consumers, compared with that oforganisational employees, it is unlikely that consumer TAMs, such as that shown inFigure 2, would explain more than the 70 per cent of variations in intention that isclaimed for the UTAUT model. This leaves at least 30 per cent of unexplained variationin intention, even more so in technology usage. The totally unexpected acceptance of textmessaging – something that defied intuition at the time – underlines the relativeimportance of the, as yet, unexplained variation in intention and usage.

Paradoxes of technologyIn particular, the statistical-modelling-based TAM developments ignore the paradoxesof technology acceptance faced by individuals (Mick and Fournier, 1998). Consumersoften have mixed feelings regarding technological products or services. For example, thesame person may describe e-mail as a technology-based service whose use enableshim/her to accomplish tasks more quickly, but also prevents him/her accomplishingtasks more quickly. Mick and Fournier (1998) identified eight central paradoxes oftechnology products. Six of them apply equally to technology-based services, and aresummarised, with explanatory examples in Table I. They also identified strategiesthrough which consumers cope with the paradoxes. The consumption avoidance copingstrategies (neglect, abandonment and distancing), and the consumption confrontativecoping strategies (accommodation, partnering and mastering) appear especiallyrelevant to the degree to which consumers may accept technology-based services.

Articles that are specifically written about text messaging, especially those in thepopular press, give weight to the existence of paradoxes in the acceptance of thistechnology-based service. At the macro-level the paradoxes manifest themselves asnational debates and controversies. Two examples are provided for illustration. First,text messaging is both creative and destructive. UK newspapers have emphasised thecreativity of the text message language. For example, The Guardian organised a textmessage poetry competition (http://books.guardian.co.uk/textpoetry), and the DailyMirror published a whole page in text language (Borrows, 2003). On the other hand,feature writers find it convenient to blame text messaging for the ills of society, such asthe “demise” of the English language and the increase in marriage break-ups (Lyndon,2004). Second, text messaging is both decreasing and increasing the need for humancontact. While McCormack (2001) argues that text messaging, like e-mail, iscontributing to the decimation of everyday face-to-face communication, other writershave argued that, through text messaging, teenagers and “shy” people can overcomeinhibitions and ultimately communicate with more people on a face-to-face basis (Fox,2001; Haig, 2002).

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Two qualitative research studiesEven though Figure 2 could provide a basis for further hypothesis testing andmodelling, we were dissuaded, in the light of the review above, from undertaking yetmore quantitative analyses of TAMs. We sought a methodological approach that couldunearth the subtleties of consumer technology usage in the context of consumers’cultural constellation. Consequently, two qualitative studies were carried out that wereopen-ended in their approach to data collection, with a view to putting life into awell-established field (Bryman and Bell, 2003).

Study 1: consumer diary writingDiary-based research is a tried and tested methodology in disciplines such aspsychology (Frohlich and Meston, 2002) and education (Platzer et al., 1997), but israrely the predominant methodology in marketing or consumer research. In these

Paradox Explanation Example

Freedom/enslavement Technology can facilitateindependence but also lead to morerestrictive behaviour

Telephone voicemail servicesfacilitate mobility, but also maycause the user to adopt aregimented approach toaccessing/answering voicemailmessages

Competence/incompetence Technology can result in feelings ofintelligence/efficacy but also lead tofeelings of ignorance/ineptitude

Word processing facilities provide atechnological service that improvesstandards of written documents,but have features that perplexinexperienced users

Efficiency/inefficiency Technology can facilitate both lessand more time and effort spent onactivities

Internet holiday bookings can beachieved very quickly, but thefacility also encourages greateramounts of information gathering

Fulfils/creates needs As well as facilitating the fulfilmentof needs, technology can createawareness of needs not previouslyrealised

The digital camera fulfils the needfor controlling the “album” ofsnaps, but creates the need toimprove “menu” handling andcomputer interface skills

Assimilation/isolation Technology can facilitate humantogetherness, but also lead tohuman separation

The increasing availability ofnon-terrestrial TV can encouragegatherings of people to viewsporting events in bars, etc. but atthe same time encourage a bedroomculture for young people wishing tocustomise their viewing

Engaging/disengaging Technology can facilitateinvolvement/activity but also leadto disconnection/passivity

For the “backpacker”, sendinge-mail updates to all people in theaddress book ensures involvementof many people, but the e-mailcontent can quickly becomeunthinking and standardised

Source: Mick and Fournier (1998)Table I.

Technology paradoxes

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disciplines, consumer diary research is often associated with the collection of paneldata, where consumers are asked to keep diaries that detail their spending over aperiod of time, normally a month. Management researchers have employeddiary-based research in the “workplace”, for example, to establish what managersactually do, in comparison to what is on their job specifications (Stewart, 1967), or todiscover how students really spend their study-related time (Innis and Shaw, 1997).Guidelines for management researchers wishing to employ diary-based researchmethods concentrate mainly on the practical issues of increasing the diary completionrates. For example, Easterby-Smith et al. (1991) recommend the employment of astructured diary format with appropriate headings to provide a focus for the diarists,and Bell (1993) emphasises that a clarity and purpose of diary design can increase theaccuracy and commitment of the diarists. Following such advice in the context of textmessaging, Patterson et al. (2003) had concluded that, although a highly structureddiary format had resulted in a good response rate with consistent diary entries, thatsame formality, designed to capture as many eventualities as possible, was astraightjacket for the enthusiastic diarists. In many senses, it stifled the creativity andpersonal insights that are believed to be the essence of diary-writing.

In study 1, we wished to encourage the writing of diaries that were trulyautobiographical journals, unconstrained by structure or style, as long as the contentwas about text messaging behaviour in its everyday context. The diaries were to startliterally as blank pages, and the intention was to encourage the diarists (undergraduatestudents at a university in NW England) not only to give detailed accounts of their textmessaging, but also to reflect upon what they did in these activities in order to raiseconsciousness.

Study 2: personal interviews with consumersPersonal interviews were conducted with consumers (postgraduate students) from theUS who were resident in the UK at the time. Its need emerged from the identification offurther data collection requirements during the initial analysis of the diaries in study 1,and is one manifestation of the iterative approach to data analysis that was adopted.Each of the interviewees had lived in the UK for six to nine months at the time of theinterview. They had not used text messaging prior to their arrival in the UK, and sohad had only a recent exposure to text messaging and its potential. The intention ofstudy 2 was to hear the voices, and assess the attitudes towards text messagingof these consumers (who were relatively new to text messaging and temporarily livingin a different cultural environment), through accounts of their own experiences.

Data collectionStudy 1. The adopted approach assumed that the diarists would have, or could learnquickly, the skills of reflective diary-writing. Although examples can be found in themarketing literature of introspective accounts of consumption behaviour (Reid andBrown, 1996), there are few guidelines for potential writers of journals or diaries thatchronicle behaviour and reflection on a specific market.

The diarists, in this case, were first year business undergraduate students,aged 18-21 years, of a “Managing Markets” module at the university (n ¼ 113).The diary-writing constituted part of their module assessment in late 2003. To preparethem for their task/assignment, they were provided with details of requirements for the

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assignment (Appendix 2), and an exemplar of one person’s diary of a day’s textmessaging activity, an extract of which is shown in Appendix 3. The inclusion of theexemplar in the task instructions was intended to encourage the student diarists to behonest and reflective in their accounts of text messaging and its part in their everydaylives. We were aware, however, that its very inclusion could lead them to follow asimilar reporting style to that in the exemplar, and that this may represent a limitationto the approach. Unlike the research carried out by Patterson et al. (2003) that wasguided by earlier studies that had used highly structured diary formats for datacollection, in this study we had to place faith in our own judgements as to the balanceto be struck between encouraging creativity and providing guidelines. We aimed toachieve a balance such that the outcomes from this form of data collection werewell-written, individual, autobiographical journals, whose contents, importantly, werelargely beyond the control of the researchers. Continued encouragement andreassurance for the diarists (Easterby-Smith et al., 1991) was achieved through tutorverbal reminders and explanations in lectures before, and tutorials during, the diaryrecord-keeping period. The resultant qualitative database consisted of 113 diaries of2,000 words each.

Study 2. Five postgraduate students, who started their studies in a university in theNW of England in September 2003, were personally interviewed by one of the authorsin April and May 2004. Their profiles are shown in Table II.

The interviews lasted between 24 and 43 minutes. The interviewees willingly tookpart without any incentives. The interviewer, after explaining the background to theresearch, only used four prompts: to ask them about their experience of text messagingprior to their postgraduate course, their experiences of text messaging in the UK, theirobservations of text messaging in the UK, and the potential for text messaging inthe USA. Probing was used only to clarify points of information, or to seek illustrativeexamples. The interviews were recorded and transcribed with the permission of theinterviewees.

Data analysisIn order to identify themes and theoretical concepts from textual data, qualitativeresearchers have been provided with a variety of useful heuristics rather than precisealgorithms, often grouped under the heading of “grounded theory” (Strauss andCorbin, 1990). Although, in the early writings on grounded theory, qualitativeresearchers seeking theme identification were advised to ignore as far as possible theprior literature and theorizing on the area of study (Glaser and Strauss, 1967), there is

Interviewee Gender AgeHomelocation

Course beingstudied

Previous textmessagingexperience

Messages sentper week in UK

I1 Female 38 Chicago MBA None 10I2 Male 29 Boston MBA Very infrequent 25I3 Male 27 New York MBA None 40-50I4 Male 28 Chicago MPA None 30I5 Male 27 New York MA None 30-40

Table II.Profiles of interviewees

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general agreement now that it is unrealistic to expect researchers to suspend theirknowledge of the relevant literature until late stages of the analysis (Bryman and Bell,2003). For example, in the analysis of the data of study 1, it became obvious at an earlystage that the behavioural beliefs variables of perceived usefulness, perceived ease ofuse and perceived enjoyment, and the concept of technology paradoxes, would providebases for comparing and contrasting text segments. The approach we adopted isconsistent with the logical reasoning behind qualitative abduction. Abductionfacilitates the discovery of new concepts or rules through a creative combination ofintriguing and compelling empirical facts with previous theoretical knowledge (Kelle,1997). In this sense, there is a recognition that, in theme identification, a balance has tobe achieved between prior theorizing and the “fresh” insights contained in the data.

Given the large quantity of data, especially in study 1, and the associated largenumber of basic tasks of textual data management, the computer-aided qualitativedata analysis software package, NVivo, was used to facilitate the comparison of textsegments from different sources. NVivo was employed only to code and retrieve data,not as a driver of the analysis strategy (Siedel, 1991). From study 1, each diary hadbeen read in great detail as part of the marking/grading process. As a result, throughthe grading, the diaries were effectively ranked according to the quality of thereflective analyses carried out by the students. This provided us with a systematicmethod of dealing with the more than 200,000 words in the combined documents usingNVivo. For the most highly graded 20 per cent of the diaries, we imported most of thematerial (approximately 40,000 words) into NVivo. For the remaining 80 per cent, weonly imported sentences or paragraphs that we believed would reinforce or add to therichness of the findings from the most highly graded accounts. From study 2, the fulltranscripts of the interviews were imported into NVivo.

FindingsEmbracement and embedmentThe iterative process of reading, coding, re-reading and re-coding the textual materialunearthed very strongly the inadequacy of “acceptance” as a descriptor of behaviourwith respect to text messaging. Text messaging has been accepted eagerly(i.e. embraced) by most of the consumers studied. Furthermore, there is evidencethat this particular technology-based service is firmly embedded in their everydaylives.

Embracement is demonstrated through the reflections of the diarists andinterviewees:

Sitting in my room, I realise that texting is a fantastic tool for staying in touch with people onthe other side of the country. I can guarantee that I would not have telephoned each and everyone of my mates after I left for university because I simply would not have the finances to doso. With texting, however, I can stay in touch with everyone I want to, cheaply andconveniently (male diarist).

Someone showed me predictive text. . . I asked “How do you write your messages so quickly?. . . pretty good, what’s that?” . . . so they showed me . . . took a little while, but I guess rightnow, I can’t live without it. . . (interviewee 3)

Embracement of text messaging is evident also through specific accounts of dailyevents:

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Oh you beauty. Could I have received a better reply? There were so many positives to comefrom it. She actually wants to go for a drink with me, she would in fact “love” to! The fact thather reason for taking so long was her being in the gym is also good news because she willremain fit and energetic which is crucial! The hard part has been done. I now need to arrangethe date and she will be mine. Again the joy of texting is evident. Without this device I wouldhave had to do this verbally which would have been highly embarrassing as nerves kick in. . . when approaching an attractive woman, but with texting you can be smooth all the time.What a great invention (male diarist).

I look around the bus in a sly fashion when my phone alerts me that I have a new textmessage. People immediately start to check their phones on the off chance that it was theirs orthey have one too. Ha ha ha check me out, it’s mine! (female diarist)

I have 4 flatmates, 19 year old undergrad girls, and I’ll be watching TV with them, and all of asudden . . . tch, tch, tch . . . hours upon end using their credit up with texting. . . (interviewee 5)

Embedment of text messaging in UK day-to-day life is clearly seen through the eyes ofan interviewee in study 2.

When I first came [to the UK], I noticed that people, whether it be on the bus or differentscenarios, it looked like they were dialling . . . but they just kept on dialling . . . so I worked outthat they were actually hitting the keypad, and then a couple of seconds later you’d hear alittle beep . . . and then you’d see this is not just one person, but seems to be part of the way ofbeing . . . the behaviour of society . . . and then I had to make a decision to join this type ofactivity, whether it was just for social reasons or for picking up a part-time job, or foranybody to contact me, I needed to get into it . . . and so maybe a couple of weeks afterI arrived, I made the decision to buy in, and to start participating in much of the texting. . .(interviewee 4)

Examples of behaviours that exhibit text messaging embedment abound in the study1 diaries. In searching for clues that give some meaning to these behaviours it becameapparent that some of the reflections of the diarists offered rationalisations of theembedment that are resonant with what occurs in organisational communities ofpractice (Wenger, 1998). Here, it is suggested that individual practitioners are guidedby community rules of practice. The text messaging “community of practice” (althoughin the consumer domain) seems to be developing and defining its own rules of practice.For example:

Maybe it is because of these channels of written interactive communication, such as textmessages and internet messenger services, that we have become so astute at decodingmessages. Perhaps the development of our ability to decode such messages, where there are noclues as to the tone, volume or pitch of voice, might explain why such means of communicationhave become so widely accepted within our society and our culture (female diarist).

After completing this diary, I was quite shocked at how many texts were incoming andoutgoing in just one week. You don’t think about it until you are recording each one and allthe different “types” of text you receive. Each one making some sort of impact on my life(however, little it may be) makes me feel strangely complete (female diarist).

The market for text messages will always survive as there will be a need for people toorganise my life for me . . . My mum will always send me money on demand. G will alwaystell me what I’ve missed in lectures. A will always keep me updated on the gossip from home.D will always make me laugh, H will always frustrate me. C will always sympathise with me(male diarist).

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Counter-intuitive behaviour and paradoxesThe acknowledged limits to the exploratory power of TAM and UTAUT formulationsmay be attributed to the many ways in which consumers appear to behavecounter-intuitively. For example:

. . . I’m always amazed at the long conversations via text messages . . . one late night here,I called a friend of mine . . . she’s English . . . I texted her to see if she was up, she said “yes”,so I called her . . . she wouldn’t pick up her phone, so I texted her again and said “why didn’tyou pick up your phone?” She said “I don’t want to talk”. We then proceeded to have thesevery long text message conversations . . . I don’t really understand the concept of “I don’twant to talk but I’m willing to sit there forever typing messages on the mobile with you”,when the whole conversation would take about a minute [by calling], compared to about15 minutes by texting . . . but I actually rather enjoy it. . . (interviewee 5)

Given the practice just described, it is unsurprising that paradoxes are able to bedrawn out of the data.

Text messaging is both simple and complex. For people of the diarists’ age, themechanics of text messaging are simple and, in that sense, text messaging is easy touse. However, when it comes to composition or interpretation of text messages, theprocess becomes more complex, largely because of the different meanings that can beascribed to a message with no more than 160 characters.

Composition of a text message often requires much thought and refinement:

I ensure that I give my text a mildly gratifying quality because firstly, I want her to agreewith what I am suggesting and secondly, I want her to know that I am her friend. I achievethis quite generally by inquiring about her weekend and then I put an “x” at the end.This means that my text adopts a friendly and engaging tone, which is what I need to makesure I get the most positive answer possible. I also choose to ask her what she thinks becauseI don’t want her to think that I am being dictatorial (female diarist).

Received texts bring about both affective and cognitive responses throughinterpretations:

L texts: this is boring beyond belief, i’m not even drunk, I need to text you for my sanity.It makes me smile, wondering why she goes to snotty dinner parties that just bore the hell outof her. I imagine her sneaking off somewhere to text me, and smile a bit more to myself beforetexting back (female diarist).

This paradox resembles Mick and Fournier’s competence/incompetence paradox whenparents’ text messaging activities are seen through the lens of their offspring. Parentsreceive back-handed praise for achieving the very basic levels of competence, which, inturn, demonstrates how incompetent they are assumed to be:

R u ok? The messages from my mum always make me laugh, since they’re always so short.No doubt it would have taken her 5 minutes to write that (male diarist).

12.07 From: Mum HI LOVE HOPE YOU RE OK. Bless my mum! She is trying to get the hangof texting and has the frightful condition of being a technophobe. It took me absolutely agesto teach her how to simply get to the menu where you write a text! I therefore never had thepatience to try to explain to her how to change from capitals or add punctuation. Hence thereason for none of it in her text. I would have sent one back, but I haven’t taught her how toopen messages yet! (female diarist)

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Interestingly, both parties – parents and children – seem to have devised ways ofcoping with the perceived parental competence/incompetence paradox. For the parents,text messaging is worth learning to use simply to check if their offspring are alive andkicking, whereas, for the offspring, it is a useful way of avoiding telling parents anymore than they want to reveal about their lives/lifestyles – a win-win scenario? Thefollowing diary excerpt is illustrative:

How’s things? How’s your course going? Everything here is fine. My mum has only recentlybeen introduced to the world of texting, and to be quite frank, I really wished I’d neverbothered spending the extremely long time it took me to teach her to use her new phone.Now it never stops. Every day I get a similar kind of message, and every day I reply with lies(male diarist).

Text messaging is a way of avoiding communication as well as enabling communication.The diary excerpt above demonstrates that the communication medium of textmessaging can paradoxically be used to avoid the unwanted chore of communicatingin a meaningful way. Text messaging can be used as a way of avoiding having tospeak to someone or see them face-to-face, often through “white lies”. Given theproperties of convenience of text messaging (they can be sent any time from any place),ubiquity (virtually all mobile phones in the UK have the SMS facility) and low cost(Haig, 2002), this particular mode of communication has been manipulated byconsumers to control their interpersonal interactions:

I thought the kind suggestion of tomorrow night might soften the blow and I find it’s a loteasier when you have bad or not so good news to send it in a text. It’s short, to the point andyou don’t get all the stuttering and having to apologise every other word that comes withsaying it to their face (female diarist).

. . . girls, like me, know that if they phone up a girlie friend who they have not seen for a while,they will be on the phone for at least a couple of hours. A simple text still demonstrates thatyou are thinking of them, but will not run up your phone bill as horrendously (female diarist).

At times like this I’m very grateful for the availability of text messaging, because I hardlyknow this girl, and if we called each other we wouldn’t have much to say (female diarist).

Sorry I missed your messages, I went to bed as soon as I came home from Uni xx What a loadof rubbish! I really hope she believes me, if not I’m screwed! (male diarist)

This feature, peculiar to communication technologies, has elements of similarity withthree of Mick and Fournier’s paradoxes – freedom/enslavement, assimilation/isolationand engaging/disengaging.

Text messaging is both public and private. Text message conversations can becarried out in public places without other people knowing their content (Haig, 2002):

The text was a welcome distraction from the pandemonium around . . . everything else inyour immediate surroundings disappears. All that you can think about, the only thing that isimportant is the words on the screen. The text reminds me of my mates at home and makesme feel a little homesick (male diarist).

This leads to behaviour that can be regarded as rude or inconsiderate in certainpublic places:

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Some people go over the top, and I find it to be rude . . . numerous times I’ve been sitting witha group of people, and people start texting . . . and it’s as if you’re not even there . . . with atext, you’ve lost their attention because they’ve received a text, then they’ve sent one back,then they put the phone down and are now back talking, then 2 minutes later they get a replyand are back texting again (interviewee 1).

However, many people are enticed by the opportunity of gossip (Fox, 2001) and ofconducting elicit, private conversations in places (e.g. lectures and meeting rooms)where they should not take place, or in the vicinity of people who may be the subject of,or deliberately excluded from the conversation. The receipt of a text message in apublic place is seen as a boost to self-esteem:

These two beeps are quiet and subdued enough to be discreet, but loud enough to let thosewho doubted my social esteem (because I was sitting alone on the bus) know that others dowant to communicate with me. This is the joy of the text message. Unlike a phone call, itallows you to look sociable and sought after, even if it is only your mum asking you what youwant for dinner that evening (female diarist).

Text message: the social experienceFox (2001) argued that text messaging has been found to be a useful mechanism forsocial bonding, and for “trailers” for forthcoming meetings and verbal conversations.There was plentiful supporting evidence for both from the diarists’ entries. Forexample:

Hia K! Hope ur OK & had a gud wknd! Du fancy goin 4 a drink tmoz nite? U can meet M! LoveN x. The message was from N, my friend I met at university on my first day. She is really niceand I am glad we have stayed friends. Going for a drink would be nice, especially if M’s goingto be there. N talks about him all the time. . . (female diarist)

I receive an unexpected text from J. on my way home poppet. havent seen u since Tuesdayand wont see u till sunday nite so have a gd weekend sweet heart x. . . She’ll be really bored atthe moment. I look forward to her getting back to the flat and having a good natter (femalediarist).

What is very striking on reading the diaries entries is the range of emotions thataccompany text messaging activities:

The more I thought about it, it became evident that there are a wide range of feelings involvedin messaging, however, simple it may be, and I had always taken them at face value. Textsseem to be used as a tool to fulfil a variety of emotional needs and sometimes seem to implymore than intended. . . (female diarist)

Maybe the message is from D, the ex that I just can’t seem to get over. All day I’ve beenthinking the same question over and over in my head. Does he still like me? Caught up in thehope that there is still a chance for us I eagerly read the message? Turns out it is not from him.Ah well, maybe next time! (female diarist)

As I continued reading, I glanced up and saw the blue light of my phone shine. Thank god,finally she had texted back! I continued reading for what felt like a minute, trying to foolmyself that I wasn’t bothered by her response. It was no use though, I had to get up and see ifI had blown my relationship (male diarist).

Schau and Gilly (2003) have found evidence that people find self-disclosure lessdifficult in computer-mediated environments than in face-to-face conversations.

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The following excerpt is one of many diary entries that provide evidence that the sameis the case with text messaging:

That’s the thing with texts you see. Things that would never be said in a face-to-faceconversation, or even on the phone, can be discussed in explicit detail. To be fair, we’d beenhaving a bit of a fling for some time, and then he moved to Aberdeen of all places! He’dconvinced me that we could make it work, that he was ready to settle down, and with a lack ofother appealing options, I agreed to give it a go. Thirty plus texts later, there we were, anitem! (female diarist)

Text messaging activity is engaging and the outcomes are often memorable –characteristics that are more distinctive of consumer experiences (Pine and Gilmore,1999) than simple product or service usage.

DiscussionSince the mid-1980s, understanding of marketplaces for technology products andservices has been guided by TAM methods, originating from information systemsresearch that has focused on technology acceptance within organisations. Proponentsof such methods have acknowledged that TAM-based studies may have reached theirlimit in explaining technology acceptance in organisational settings. They have urgedfor novel approaches towards extending understanding. Marketers have adaptedTAMs for consumer markets, for example, the market for online shopping, but it isunlikely that they can provide any greater explanation in consumer marketscharacterised by a seemingly more variable set of potential users of a technologicalproduct or service.

The present research set out to explore the consumer behaviour that accompaniedthe growth and evolution of the market for a particular consumer technology-basedservice – text messaging. The market is unusual in that it was consumer-led and wasunanticipated by the service providers. According to Green et al. (2001, p. 146):

. . . the diffusion and consumption of mobile telephony . . . cannot be understood withoutinvestigating the contexts and processes of their use in everyday life.

In order to capture, in context, the consumer practices in the marketplace, an approachwas adopted that involved consumer diary writing as the main data collection method.The findings have implications for theory, methodology and mobile telephony practice.

Implications for theory developmentExtensive summaries of the TAM and its adaptations (as shown, for example, inFigures 1 and 2), have concluded that the models can be applied to explain, understandand predict user behaviour with regard to information systems and technology. Theyhave been advocated also as being appropriate for consumer technology acceptance aswell as technology acceptance in organisations (Figure 2). Evidence collected in a studyof text messaging as a social and communal practice, suggests strongly thatTAM-based models are less useful for understanding technology use behaviour wherethere is a strong community component, and where there are examples of paradoxicaland counter-intuitive behaviours. As a means of extending the TAM/UTAUT theories,some key constructs are re-defined in the context of SMS/text messaging usagein practice.

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First, the dependent variables in Figures 1 and 2 – “behavioural intention” and “usebehaviour” – are examined. The underpinning models ultimately seek to explain andpredict use behaviour, i.e. technology acceptance. TAM-based approaches that aim toexplain or predict use behaviour often measure it by “two or three questions about thefrequency of use and the amount of time spent using the system” (Legris et al., 2003,p. 196).

Our findings point to the need to re-examine the construct of use behaviour in thecontext of the practice of technology-based services that owe much to consumercreativity. Where there is evidence of counter-intuitive consumer behaviour in themarketplace, it is reasonable to question the effectiveness of theory derived fromrationality expressed in the suppliers’/providers’ terms. Arguably, consumers havecreated the value of text-messaging, or, at the very least, co-created the value withproducers (Szmigin, 2003; Vargo and Lusch, 2004). In doing so, they own and embracethe technology-based service, and have not had to be persuaded to accept thetechnology. While technology acceptance, based on measurement of frequency/time ofuse, may be adequate if consumers are considered simply as recipients of technologicalgoods/services, it does not reflect adequately the strength of embracement that occurswhen consumers co-create the value of the technology.

Studies 1 and 2 certainly support the contention that consumers considerthemselves as owners of the broadcast rights to the text messaging channel. The ideathat consumers can embrace, rather than simply accept technology-based services,suggests that theory development should concentrate on increasing understanding ofwhat communities of consumers do with the technology, in addition to counting thefrequency of use and rate of adoption.

In Figure 2, the independent variables are perceived usefulness, perceived ease ofuse, perceived enjoyment, social influence, and perceived behavioural control.Regarding the first three of these variables, the TAM and its adaptations have beenconstrained by a methodological straightjacket, brought about by the reliance onrelatively simplistic items of measurement, coupled with the meta-theoreticalassumptions that demand approaches that are consistent with previous research,and the development of parsimonious models. Thus, for example, individuals are askedto evaluate statements such as “Using the system enables me to accomplish tasks morequickly” as one of the items of measurement of performance expectancy/perceivedusefulness. Such items of measurement ignore technology paradoxes, where, forexample, text messaging (as with other technology-enabled services, such as e-mail)can be seen as both simple (quick to accomplish) and complex (slow to accomplish) atthe same time. Where the methodology explicitly searches for directions ofrelationships, it precludes the possibility that the relationship may be both positiveand negative at the same time, and fails to address how consumers cope with this stateof affairs. It is argued, therefore, that theory development of the constructs of perceivedusefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment should not be constrainedby adherence to the existing (well developed) quantitative models of technologyacceptance, but, rather, approaches that derive theory from studies of consumerpractices are likely to be more effective, especially in marketplaces that are created andled by consumers. The study of the text messaging community of practice addssupport to a research direction that identifies the consumption confrontation strategiesused by consumers to cope with technology paradoxes (Mick and Fournier, 1998).

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For Venkatesh et al. (2003), in the UTAUT model, social influence derives from thesubjective norm construct, and is centred on an individual consumer’s perception of thebeliefs of other consumers. In a marketplace, such as that for text messaging, with astrong community component, social influence has an enhanced role in technologyembracement. The data in studies 1 and 2 provide confirmation that the technologyallows consumers to augment their face-to-face social encounters, through facilitating“trailers”, gossip, and the maintenance of social bonds. It becomes, therefore, a devicethat embellishes real-life, with all the attendant emotions. The use of the technology isdetermined not only by subjective norms but also by user’s need for relationships withothers and social groups (Schau and Gilly, 2003). The current conceptualisation of thesocial influence construct is likely to be inadequate for the consumer of the future forwhom, according to Wilska (2003, p. 459), “relation to technology impacts on his/herwhole way of life, including work and consumption” (emphasis added).

Perceived behavioural control, as included in Figure 2, relates to an individual’saccess to knowledge, advice and equipment. It is primarily concerned with control, bythe individual, of the operation of the technology; an emphasis that emanates fromresearch on technology acceptance by employees within organisations. Whileoperation of the technology is an issue in consumer marketplaces, the study of textmessaging has confirmed that the construct of perceived behavioural control is moresubtle, and related to the micro dynamics embedded in human action and interaction.For example, perceived behavioural control includes the ability of consumers to reverseexisting power differentials. This is especially evident in parent-child relationships,where the child controls parental inquisitiveness through manipulating parentalincompetence and sending text message replies with minimal content, or teacher-pupilrelationships, where the pupils are “texting at school under the radar screen of theirteachers” (Brier, 2004, p. 16).

Implications for methodologyIn the introduction to this paper, the move in consumer research to study active socialnetworks through a range of interpretive methods was highlighted. This has resultedin the development of a consumer culture theory (Arnould and Thompson, 2005).In parallel, in organisation theory research on micro strategy, there has been a call alsofor increased interpretive methods (Johnson et al., 2003). In particular, use of self reportmechanisms, through which informants can supply data without the presence of aresearcher, are considered effective:

. . . where we want to understand what our practitioners are doing and gather their reflectionson their own practices (Balogun et al., 2003, p. 208).

Wenger (1998, p. 47) argues that:

. . . the concept of practice connotes doing, but not just doing in and of itself. It is doing in ahistorical and social context that gives structure and meaning to what we do.

Studies of practice are concerned with sense-making of both the tacit and explicitelements. Learning from practice arises through a process of transforming un-reflectedpractice into reflected practice. Our experience with the use of “blank page” consumerdiaries, with a requirement of reflection, explicitly recognises the opportunities ofregarding consumers as practical authors (Shotter and Cunliffe, 2003). This parallels a

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view that managers can be regarded as practical authors who deal with complexconcepts using a language that makes sense for them. As such, practical authorship isbeing championed in organisational studies as a means of articulating a clearformulation of a shared significance to impressions or views that other organisationalmembers may seem to be vague or even chaotic (Holman and Thorpe, 2003). In theorganisation studies literature, the value of managers as practical authors is in creatingintelligible formulations of the organisation’s social landscape and bringing experienceto a living reality (Shotter and Cunliffe, 2003).

In consumer communities of practice, such as the community of text messagers,the particular form of consumer diary writing used for the current research hasshown great promise in directing the consumers to attempt, through reflection, tomake sense of their living reality through becoming consumer practical authors.

The diary-based approach adopted in the study of text messaging offers an effectivetool for studying consumer communities of practice in buoyant marketplaces. It willdepend on the writing and reflective capabilities of the diarists. Although the use ofstudent samples for research is increasingly scorned (James and Sonner, 2001), wherestudents reside at the epicentre of a culture, they can be regarded as potential diarists.For example, (student) consumer diaries can underpin studies of communities ofpractice such as backpackers or Chinese students studying higher education in the UK.In many marketing studies employing student samples, the emphasis has been on“samples”; students have been seen as potential respondents to questionnaire surveysor subjects of experiments. Regarding students as practical authors, with abilities toreflect on generally un-reflected consumer routines and processes, emphasises the“student” attributes of intelligence and inquisitiveness, rather than the mereconvenience of the consumer resource base.

Implications for mobile telephony practiceThe players in the mobile telephony marketplaces are regularly seeking to introducenew products, and make huge investments that reflect their predictions of acceptanceof the technology and services that they develop (for example, with WirelessApplication Protocol (WAP) and Third Generation Systems). Additionally, in thecontext of text messaging, the US market is understandably tempting, especially fornetworks, such as Vodaphone and T-Mobile, that have experience of such marketsacross the globe. If text messaging became accepted in the US, even a modest usage often messages per week by only one member of each household would result in 60 billiontext messages being sent in a year. Subsequently, if text messaging was to beembraced at the level of more than one message per head of population per day(the current UK statistic), there would be over 105 billion messages sent in a year. Thefindings in study 2 indicate that there is nothing in the American psyche to preventthe embracement of person-to-person text messaging, and a report in 2004 speculatedthat the 90 per cent of the 13-21-year olds in the US who currently use instantmessaging facilities on their computers could be the text messagers of the future, giventhe strong appeal of cell phones amongst that group (Brier, 2004). Without changes inpricing strategies for text messaging, and infrastructural improvements of the USnetworks, however, the growth of the marketplace will be stifled.

The findings of this study suggest strongly that explanations and predictions basedon rational, intuitive models of consumer behaviour may be an insufficient basis for

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determining a major investment. In mobile telephony marketplaces, consumers can,through creative use-initiation, deliberately foil intuitively sound supplier actions.Take the case of picture messaging. The UK mobile phone networks expected picturemessaging to match the success of text messaging, and offered the service atapproximately double the cost. For experienced text messagers, picture messaging iseasy to use. A picture is perceived to be more enjoyable to send and receive. Picturemessages are perceived as a useful way of sharing life with friends and relatives. Yet,frustratingly for the suppliers, after initial “early adoption”, the frequency of sendingpicture messages by the networks dropped by nearly 50 per cent between September2003 and 2004 (Gibson, 2004). Consumers still took photographs with their mobilephones, but, instead of sending them via the networks, they created electronic photoalbums in the handset’s memory, which they then showed to friends and relativesface-to-face. They saved money and experienced the shared enjoyment associated withviewing the pictures together.

It is argued, therefore that, where there is evidence of counter-intuitive consumerbehaviour in the marketplace for technology-based products or services, a study ofpractice, with a view to the subsequent derivation of adapted theory constitutesworthwhile research. Through early identification of communities of practice, and acareful employment of consumer practical authors, the focus can be on embedment ofthe product/service and consumer use-initiation.

Further researchHarkin (2003) observes that Europeans send more text messages than e-mails orpersonal letters, and yet mobile technologies have received much less intellectualattention than the internet. We hope, in this paper, that we have moved some smallway towards redressing the balance, and towards providing a stimulus for researchinto the markets for mobile technology-based services, using open-minded inquiry(Matthing et al., 2004).

There is an opportunity for further research into the importance of text messagingas a social and cultural practice in everyday lives, with emphases on addictivebehaviours, learning and the development of repertoires of communication skills byincreasingly sophisticated consumers, and feelings of exclusion by non-participants.The data provided through consumer reflections in this and future diary research hasthe potential to provide important insights into youth and other cultures, especially inrespect of technology embracement and its embedment, or embeddedness in the socialfactors that have an effect on the nature of marketplaces.

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Further reading

Rainer, T. (1978), The New Diary: How to Use a Journal for Self-Guidance and ExpandedCreativity, Penguin Putnam, New York, NY.

Appendix 1. Standard and predictive text inputStandard text input requires the sender to press each key the relevant number of times toobtain the letter needed. So, for example, given that the letters “a”, “b”, and “c” are all onthe same key, the user must press the key once for “a”, twice for “b” and three times for“c”. The same goes for all other letters in their combinations on the keys, i.e. def, ghi, jkl,mno, pqrs, tuv, and wxyz. Thus, the phrase “text message” would require 22 thumb-strokes(including the space) to type. Predictive text input predicts the word you are typing fromthe key that is pressed, often not getting it right until the last letter has been typed. Usingpredictive text input mode, the word “text” would be entered by pressing first the key thatcontains “t”, then the one that contains “e” then the one that contains “x” and finally theone that contains “t”: four thumb-strokes in total. On screen, it appears as “t”, “ve”, “vex”,“text”, as at each stage the best prediction of the likely word is displayed. In the predictivetext mode, only 12 thumb-strokes are needed to type in “text message” compared to the 22using standard text input. Clearly, text messagers must also familiarise themselves withinputting various types of punctuation, etc. with reference to the equipment manual, butfrom this brief description it can be seen that the process of text messaging isunsophisticated, whichever input mode is used.

Appendix 2. Study 1 guidelines for studentsA diary of texting activity: reading between the linesAssignment taskEach student is required to maintain a personal introspective diary for one week recording alltext message activity.

. Note: this refers to your own texting behaviour (it does not refer to the market for theseproducts generally).

. For an example (see attached diary – note it only spans one day!) Your diary shouldfollow this format.

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. The personal introspective diaries should be creatively written and approximately 2,000words in length.

. This assignment is due during the 12th week of class. It should be submitted to theUndergraduate Office no later than Thursday 18 December 2003.

. The essays will not be returned, though feedback will be provided for each student.

NB: Remember you must critically engage with the text message. You must go farbeyond merely reporting what the text states. You must, as the title alludes, readbetween the lines.

Appendix 3. Study 1, extract of exemplar of introspective diary. . . 23:29Emma sends me a weird text. No introduction, no “hello” or “how are you?” Just thequestion: Do spiders grow new legs?

Did not know the answer. I wonder briefly why she needs to know the answer to such acurious question. I conclude that she must be doing a pub quiz. She never said she wasparticipating in such an event, but she has done that before, texted me during a pub quiz toascertain the answer to some random esoteric or other. Anyway, I looked it up on the internet.Found the answer in about 30 seconds. Apparently, spider’s legs do re-grow. I was surprised atthat. Ah well, they do say that you learn something new every day. I sent her a one-wordreply: Yes.

23:59The screen on my computer screen wobbles and I know that another text message is imminent.I worry sometimes about the radiation these phones emit. I mean if it can scramble my computerscreen what on earth is it doing to my brainwaves? Are we all gonna drop dead sometime soon ofmassive mobile-phone induced brain tumours? In a few decades is it possible that the people ofthe future will look back on our stupidity with the same incredulity as we now view cigarettesmokers of the 1950s who seriously believed that cigarettes were good for their health? Anyway,when the fuzz clears, another text arrives from Emma: Got long drive 2moro so having an earlynight x.

I am a bit taken back by this. Normally she calls for a late night review of the day’s events, thehighs and the lows, the peaks and the troughs. Yes. This is unusual behaviour and no mistake.The insertion of the x does at least show some affection, but I cannot help but detect a definitecooling off. I reply instantly with: Yeah ok. Sleep well. Safe journey.

No x. I do not do xs. . .

Corresponding authorSteve Baron can be contacted at: j.s.baron@liv.ac.uk

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