This research investigates the impact of the interaction between the consumer and mobile service provider on the adoption of advanced mobile commerce services by existing consumers of mobile technology. These factors include: 1) Perceived Relationship Quality (PRQ), which is the consumer’s evaluation of the quality of his/her relationship with the mobile service provider, and 2) Perceived Value of the Adoption Incentive (PVI), which is the consumer’s evaluation of the value of incentives that are offered by the service provider to entice him/her to adopt the mobile service. The influence of these factors on consumer attitudes and intentions towards adopting mobile commerce services is studied and compared with three other well-known adoption factors including perceived usefulness, ease of use and the subjective norm. / This study was undertaken in three parts. Firstly, a conceptual study was conducted to investigate and analyse the existing literature on consumer adoption of mobile commerce services. This phase started with a general review of the existing studies using a novel model: the Entities-Interactions Framework, EIF. The EIF explains adoption behaviour in terms of interactions between the consumer and the other entities including the mobile service, the service provider and the social system. This framework was used to analyse the extent to which important adoption factors have been covered by past research and therefore identify the research questions. The conceptual study resulted in the development of a research model and relevant hypotheses. / Secondly, a large-scale questionnaire survey was conducted to test the research model and the proposed hypotheses. This part of the research helped give a broad picture of the influence of consumer-service provider factors on consumer adoption of mobile commerce services. Thirdly, face-to-face interviews with mobile phones users were conducted in order to validate the survey results and provide an understanding of the mechanisms that control the impact of the investigated factors. The research found that PRQ and PVI have an important influence on the attitude and intention of existing mobile phone users towards accepting and using advanced mobile commerce services. Furthermore, the research found that these newly introduced factors are more influential on consumer adoption perceptions than other well-established factors. / The study enriches our understanding of technology adoption by individuals because it explains why an existing user of a technology, such as mobile technology, will or will not adopt advanced versions of that technology. The findings affirm that in the context of communication technologies, which are interactive by nature, understanding the interaction between consumers and service providers is a key to understanding the progressive adoption by consumers of advanced forms of these technologies. The thesis provides practitioners (particularly mobile service providers) with a better understanding of the impact and implication of their interaction with consumers on consumers’ acceptance and use of mobile services. The study emphasises the importance of incorporating this understanding throughout the mobile service provision process, starting from the conceptualisation of the service to the actual provision of the service to the market. The study also offers a novel comprehension of how to view each mobile service offer as a consequence of the previous offer and a precedent of the next in order to enhance consumer adoption of mobile service in the short and long runs.

In the service economy, as markets change from offering physical products to offering service products, organizations across many industries must embrace this transformation to remain competitive. Mobile technology plays an important role in this transformation because of characteristics such as mobility. According to customer variability in service encounters, we identify several individual differences that affect the quality of the service encounter and try to determine how these factors moderate the effect of mobility in the design of the mobile service. Therefore, we argue that a fit exists between mobile service design and individual difference that increases service performance. The results of this inquiry can guide service providers in developing more attractive mobile services through mobile technology.

The development of mobile services in the exhibition industry has become a popular issue in a mature internet environment. To successfully implement mobile services in the exhibition industry, exhibitors must be adequately involved in the unprecedented innovation activities. However, for exhibitors to buy into the service, it is essential for them to perceive the value of the service and actually achieve that level of value. With this in mind, this research aims to explore the value of mobile service investment and related value barriers from the perspective of exhibitors. We use the limit-to-value framework to examine the valuation process for mobile services in the context of the exhibition industry and focus on exhibitors in particular. This study can help us to understand the critical value-discounting factors and the valuation process for exhibitors as they consider adopting and using innovative mobile services in the exhibition industry.

Σε αυτή τη διατριβή προτείνεται ένα πρωτότυπο πλαίσιο το οποίο απελευθερώνει τους κινητούς χρήστες από προκαθορισμένα, μακράς διάρκειας συμβόλαια. Ο κύριος στόχος μας ήταν η δημιουργία ενός ενοποιημένου πλαισίου το οποίο θα μπορεί να ενταχθεί στα υπάρχοντα δίκτυα και τεχνολογίες παρέχοντας μια ολοκληρωμένη λύση για την αυτοματοποιημένη απόκτηση υπηρεσιών διαδικτύου. Η παρούσα διατριβή εστιάζει σε δύο σημαντικά θέματα διαδικτύωσης που είναι η αυτοματοποιημένη διαπραγμάτευση και η συνεργασία μεταξύ των παρόχων. Δίνοντας έμφαση στον αυτοματισμό έχει σχεδιαστεί και υλοποιηθεί ένα εξελιγμένο πλαίσιο για την απόκτηση υπηρεσίας που επιτρέπει στους τελικούς χρήστες, ακόμα και σε αυτούς που έχουν ελάχιστες γνώσεις για την λειτουργία του διαδικτύου, να αναζητήσουν προσβάσιμες υπηρεσίες, δίκτυα και παρόχους που βρίσκονται στην γεωγραφική τους θέση και να διεξάγουν αυτοματοποιημένες διαπραγματεύσεις με τους παρόχους. Η διαδικασία διαπραγμάτευσης μπορεί να διεξαχθεί είτε άμεσα με κάθε πάροχο που ανιχνεύεται στην γεωγραφική θέση του χρήστη είτε μέσω ενός μεσολαβητή υπηρεσιών. Ένα εξίσου σημαντικό ζήτημα σχετικά με την παροχή υπηρεσίας στους τελικούς χρήστες είναι η συνεργασία μεταξύ των παρόχων. Με τον όρο πάροχος αναφερόμαστε και στους παρόχους δικτυακής πρόσβασης (Internet Access Providers - IAPs) και στους παρόχους υπηρεσιών διαδικτύου (Internet Service Providers - ISPs). Το προτεινόμενο πλαίσιο διαπραγμάτευσης παρέχει την απαραίτητη υποδομή για την συνεργασία μεταξύ των IAPs και των ISPs ώστε να παρέχουν αυτήν την διαφάνεια στον τελικό χρήστη. Μια πρωτότυπη προσέγγιση για τον προσδιορισμό και την εκτέλεση του πρωτοκόλλου διαπραγμάτευσης σε συνδυασμό με την στρατηγική και τις προτιμήσεις του χρήστη παρουσιάζεται. Ο σχεδιασμός και η λειτουργία του συστήματος διαπραγμάτευσης βασίζεται στον συνδυασμό του πρόσθιου με τον οπίσθια κινούμενο συμπερασματικό λογισμό (forward and backward reasoning). Επιπλέον περιγράφεται μια πρότυπη υλοποίηση του πλαισίου δυναμικής απόκτησης υπηρεσίας πρόσβασης που χρησιμοποιήθηκε για την διενέργεια μετρήσεων, σε πραγματικές συνθήκες, σχετικά με τον χρόνο που απαιτείται για την ολοκλήρωση των διαπραγματεύσεων και την απόκτηση της υπηρεσίας πρόσβασης. Τα αποτελέσματα που παρουσιάζονται και αναλύονται αποδεικνύουν την δυνατότητα εφαρμογής του προτεινόμενου πλαισίου απόκτησης υπηρεσίας και τα πλεονεκτήματα του σε σχέση με υπάρχουσες λύσεις. / In this thesis, a novel framework, which liberates mobile users from predefined, long-term contracts, is presented. This framework enables mobile users to dynamically acquire any kind of Internet Service, irrespectively of their location and the mobile device used. Our main objective was to create a unified framework which will be easily adopted by existing networks and technologies, imposing little or no restrictions, and provide a complete solution, agnostic to networks, technologies or administrative domains. The thesis focuses on two key networking issues, namely the service negotiation and the inter-provider cooperation, towards a fully automated service acquisition process. Emphasizing on automation, we have designed and implemented a sophisticated service acquisition framework which enables mobile users to search for accessible services, networks, providers, etc. located at their current geographical position and conduct automated negotiations with the providers. The negotiation process can be conducted either directly with any provider scanned in the user’s geographical position, or indirectly with a Service Request Broker (SRB). Through this framework, providers are able to receive incoming requests from new clients, without having any predefined contract with them. Another equally important issue towards service delivery to end-users is the cooperation between providers. With the term provider we refer to both Internet Access Providers (IAPs) and Internet Services Providers (ISPs). The proposed Negotiation Framework provides the necessary infrastructure that enables the cooperation of IAPs and ISPs in order to provide this transparency to the end-user. A novel approach for the specification and execution of the negotiation protocol in combination with the negotiation Strategy and users preferences is presented, based on declarative programming and forward and backward reasoning techniques. The flexible communication and negotiation framework that was defined enables automated negotiations between all parties and can be used as basis towards automated service acquisition for mobile users in Future Internet. A prototype implementation of the service acquisition framework that is based on the e-negotiations framework is also presented. Using this prototype we run some evaluation tests measuring the time needed for different service acquisition scenarios. The results prove the applicability of the framework as compared with similar approaches.

This application is created to provide valid and relevant travel information to travelers on their journey. The application is proposed as a demonstration for seamless communications in the VINNOVA-sponsored project PIITSA (Personal Information Intelligent Transport systems through Seamless communications and Autonomous decisions). The PIITSA-project is a cooperation between Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH), Saab AB, SP Swedish National Testing and Research Institute and Swedish Road Administration region Stockholm. The project is going on under three years, and the goal is to define communication and decision functions which will make it easier for ITS-applications (Intelligent Transport Systems and Services) that have the need of supplying personalised information. This project presents a solution to the question “How do I get from point A to point B in any case”. All that the user needs is a PDA with the application installed and being able to connect to the service via a mobile network. If the user has specified a route in the application, then the user will receive up-to-date information on how to get to his destination. This information is presented on the user’s PDA. If something happens on the current route, then the user will get an automatic message sent to him presenting the problem and give him a new travel route. Thanks to this the user won’t be stuck in the traffic problem and will probably reach its destination in time. / Examensarbetet tog fram en demonstrationstjänst för det VINNOVA-sponsrade projekt PIITSA (Personlig Information i Intelligenta Transportsystem genom Sömlös kommunikation och Autonoma beslut). Den används på en handdator och hjälper resenrärer "att komma från A till B i alla fall" genom att ge möjlighet att söka eller lägga in reserutter och övervaka aktuell trafikinformation i samband med dessa rutter, främst avseende kollektivtrafik i Stockholmsområdet. Mervärdet består i att resenären blir varnat automatiskt om någonting händer längs de valda rutterna och ges möjlighet att få en ny rutt. Applikationen kan användas i skarp läge. / Primary contact: Markus Fiedler, +46 708 537339

This thesis addresses the phenomena of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO): often MVNO do not come from the telecom sector but they rent the network to mobile operators to become fully mobile operators on their own. So they compete directly not only with the other mobile operators but also with their hosting mobile operator.<p><p>Hosting MVNOs, supporting them from both operational and commercial perspectives are new challenges for the mobile operators: they have to set up a specific internal organization because they used to be a vertically integrated industrial structure. All of this represents tremendous changes for them.<p><p>This thesis describes first the strategic models for hosting MVNOs. The regulatory aspects, that are an essential driver for the liberalization of network economies, are then analyzed. The key point is: are the MVNO able to increase the efficiency and competitiveness of mobile markets.<p><p>Another important aspect is the modelling of a mobile network: the MVNOs will use some components while other components are unuseful for them. Without such model, it is impossible to derive the right costs and price to be charged to the MVNO in order to have a win win industrial model for both the MVNO and its hosting operator.<p><p>A case study of a corporate MVNO focusing on needs of multinationals is analyzed. Such case study describes all the steps for an economic actor to become MVNO from scratch. Such MVNO are not yet present although there is a market demand.<p>The last chapter makes a comparative study of the MVNO markets in the European Union.<p><p>Cette étude aborde le phénomène des opérateurs de réseaux mobiles virtuels ;il s’agit d’acteurs économiques - parfois sans lien aucun avec les télécommunications - qui louent le réseau d’opérateurs mobiles ;ils deviennent à leur tour opérateurs à part entière au point de devenir concurrent non seulement des autres opérateurs mobiles mais aussi de l’opérateur mobile qui leur a loué une partie de son réseau.<p><p>L’hébergement technique de l’opérateur virtuel, son support opérationnel et commercial, l’organisation que doit mettre en place l’opérateur mobile pour héberger son opérateur virtuel afin de partager avec lui son réseau sont des nouveaux défis auxquels les opérateurs mobiles, habitués à être des structures industrielles totalement intégrées verticalement, font face pour la première fois.<p><p>Cette étude traite des modèles d’implémentation des opérateurs de réseaux mobiles virtuels :elle aborde d’abord les aspects stratégiques qui fixent le cadre pour les opérateurs mobiles qui veulent ou sont forcés à héberger des opérateurs virtuels. Les aspects réglementaires, une composante essentielle des économies de réseaux en voie de libéralisation, sont ensuite étudiés, en particulier, comment les opérateurs virtuels peuvent contribuer à améliorer la compétitivité et la libéralisation de ces marchés.<p><p>L’étude modélise ensuite le réseau d’un opérateur mobile de façon à mettre en évidence les éléments à partager qui seront utilisés par l’opérateur virtuel. Cette modélisation est essentielle pour déterminer le coût de l’hébergement et du partage du réseau de façon à créer les conditions de rentabilité de ce modèle d’opérateur virtuel.<p><p>On aborde enfin un cas d’étude d’un candidat à devenir opérateur de réseau mobile virtuel qui souhaite répondre à la demande transnationale des grandes entreprises. Ce type d’opérateur virtuel est encore inexistant de nos jours.<p>Enfin, nous terminons par une étude comparée de la situation des opérateurs mobiles virtuels à travers l’Union Européenne.<p><p> / Doctorat en sciences appliquées / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

While the focal point in marketing discussion is moving away from goods and getting closer towards service, highlighting the importance of consumer experience and the significant role of customers as value co-creators, the notion of consumer brand engagement and consumer engagement in general, are receiving attention both among scholars and brand decision makers. However, despite the growing attention, the empirical research on the antecedents and consequences of CBE is limited and provides inadequate proof of the substantial role that CBE plays in building customer brand loyalty. This paper investigates the drivers and outcomes of consumer brand engagement among the consumers of mobile service brands in Taiwan. It explores the influence of satisfaction, trust, commitment, involvement, participation and self-expressive brand on the increase or decrease in loyalty and the mediating role of CBE dimensions, including cognitive processing, affection and activation. By validating existing conceptual framework and proposing a new conceptual model, this paper provides empirical evidence of the CBE impact on brand loyalty. Also, this papers aims to provide a useful managerial insight for marketing professionals seeking to enhance firm’s business performance via establishing strong relationships with their customers.