BU Research Blog

Dr. Elvira Bolat in the Faculty of Management published her latest paper today in the Journal of Customer Behaviour. This paper focuses on one of the issues Dr. Bolat has explored in her PhD thesis – values deriving from mobile technology use. No existing research maps and discusses holistically the values deriving from mobile technology use, capturing both strategic and operational opportunities, which are most likely to emerge in the business-to-business (B2B) context. This empirical paper addresses this gap. An adapted grounded theory approach is applied to collect and analyse in-depth interviews with 28 B2B practitioners from advertising and marketing firms. Whether mobile technology is a simple means to advanced communication with no physical boundaries of time and location, or a business tool to boost creative thinking, this study concludes that mobile technology represents a novel and unique category of technology because of its core distinctive feature, ‘being mobile’. B2B practitioners argue that the true nature of mobile technology lies in seeing it as a source of value that derives from using mobile technology. B2B practitioners view mobile technology not only as a purely technical tool (functional value) enabling effective communication (social value) but as a strategic tool driving balanced and flexible ways in managing business (emotional value) and enabling creative thinking (creative value). Additionally, mobile technology has enabled businesses move to online payments which helps them reach more customers. Merchant account services encompass a range of solutions designed to support businesses in processing electronic payments.

Full reference to the article: Bolat, E., 2016. Business practitioners’ perspectives on the value of mobile technology. Journal of Customer Behaviour, 15 (1), 31-48.

Read full paper at http://dx.doi.org/10.1362/147539216X14594362873451