“Mobile Internet in Portugal: Adoption patterns and user experiences”

Damásio, M., Henriques, S, Botelho, I & Dias, P (2013). “Mobile Internet in Portugal: Adoption patterns and user experiences”. International Journal of Mobile Media & Communication, September 2013; 1 (3) (September 2013; 1 (3) ), 335-355.

Abstract: Any technology adoption is shaped by a myriad of factors that sometimes conflict in their ultimate goals and outcomes. So is the case with mobile internet (m-internet) adoption and diffusion. This paper discusses this process from the stakeholders and users perspectives and confronts their understanding and attitudes towards this technology with three complementary theoretical models: network theory, activity theory and the technology acceptance model (TAM).The study presents results for the use of m-internet in a southern European country and frames those in light of the activities, here understood as effects of the network, undertaken by the users,. We seek to assess whether individuals perform a different set of activities when using m-internet and how different forms of access result in different network effects, adoption processes and distinct forms of interaction. The depicted study involved a qualitative stage, consisting of a set of interviews to stakeholders of the mobile communications industry and a quantitative study that involved the survey of a nationally representative sample of individual users. The findings of theise studiesy provide several contributions to the understanding of m-internet adoption and diffusion and the role network effects play in those.