The value of life histories in researching m-services adoption and use

Mobile-commerce has the potential to radically improve flexibility and convenience for consumers. Theoretical frameworks used for studying the selection of products and services include innovation theory, theory of planned behaviour and more recently consumer value theory. The latter has been used to determine the values people attach to mobile services. This paper explores further the usefulness of consumer value theory for investigating the adoption and use of in-services at the individual level. In particular. we propose that a life-history research approach will advance research and understanding of m-services adoption and use. The use of lift-histories allows a link to be made between the values attached to a service and an individual's characteristics, lifestyle, experiences, work practices and communities of use. This in turn allows the researcher to investigate what actually drives a person's adoption and use of in-services.