Impacting Factors Of South African's Usage Intention Towards Wechat Wallet Services

We Chat wallet refers to the leading mobile application that,among several other functionalities,facilitates consumers to undertake financial transactions.Recent reports show that the application contains more than one billion active users monthly,which exceed its closest competitor,Ali Pay,by more than 44%.For the last three years,We Chat wallet has started to infiltrate into some developing countries,including South Africa where reports estimate that five million people use the application.Despite this wide acceptance,insufficient number of studies have attempted to explore behavioral factors that motivate consumers in these unprivileged countries to accept and use the application.Given the growing trend of the electronic commerce industry,understanding these factors may be important for developers of mobile payment applications to understand how they can design their products in view of the consumer's actual demands.To address this research gap,we have conducted independent empirical studies in South Africa(the only developing country in Africa with many We Chat wallet users)to understand potential predictors of We Chat wallet acceptance and use.Extended versions of the technology acceptance and use models were applied to establish the theoretical basis of the studies.We,in addition,used structural equation modeling approaches in statistical analysis and interpretation of our findings.Initially,we aimed at establishing a theoretical understanding of consumers' response behaviors towards sophisticated technologies introduced into developing countries(specifically South Africa).Therefore,because such countries are in their early adoption stages of the technologies,we extensively reviewed and analyzed the Technology Acceptance Model(TAM)and its variants to recognize more suitable consumers' motivational factors to accept and use mobile payment technologies,especially We Chat wallet that was observed to capture a wider market in Africa.Unlike previous reviews on the model,our approach considered three categories of TAM: reviews,extensions,and applications.Considering studies on TAM extensions,our findings suggest an ultimate need of scholarly discussions on two critical determinants,namely privacy and reputation.Two empirical studies were conducted in Johannesburg,South Africa,to investigate consumers' motivational determinants towards two potential We Chat wallet services,namely P2P(Person to Person)and SNAPn SAVE.The first investigated determinant was privacy,which was found to have interesting result with other determinants to facilitate consumers' P2 P services.In essence,we found the necessity and value of privacy in shaping consumers' behaviors towards P2 P services.Empirical results through structure equation modeling,with total sample of 212 shows that higher levels of trust will lower the impact of privacy concerns on P2 P usage intention.We suggests that the developers should concentrate on consistently addressing privacy issues of their e-services.For instance,the developer may use safety mechanisms and technologies(Firewalls,Public Key infrastructure,encryption software,digital certificates,digital signatures,and secure protocols)to prevent third parties from unauthorized access,use,alteration,or destruction of online customers' information.In addition,the finding highlights that the management(of the Tencent Company)should clearly state the privacy policy in their We Chat wallet,and should describe the measures it can take to ensure that data are transferred,processed,and stored securely.The management should,as soon as possible find a means of increasing its acceptance levels,state to customers what personal information it collects,and how such information will be used in the application.The second investigated determinant was Developers reputation.With the sampling size of 224,through structure equation modeling,Developer's reputation shows a higher impact in facilitating SNAPn SAVE services.The finding shows that the perceived developer's reputation significantly impacts consumers to accept and use such services.Moreover,we get an insight that South Africans become more sensitive to quality of the financial systems,which can be achieved by reputable developers.Because of cultural similarities and long-term history of using cash-based systems,we speculated in the study that consumers from other countries in Africa may endure similar behavioral traits of being inclined to well-established developers.Therefore,the study recommended developers to,before entering the African market,emphasize on gaining consumers' trust through effective persuasion on how their electronic wallet systems handle(accept,store,manipulate,and transmit)consumers' financial information.The proposed factor “perceived developer's reputation” implies that developers can successfully capture the African market if they externalize potential qualities that reflect reputability: international recognition,professional profile of employees and managers,established worldwide networks of consumers,popularity of products and services,and annual revenue,among other qualities.Our studies provide a revealing experience that the legacy of TAM and its variants cannot be abandoned.Developing countries are in their infant stages of adopting electronic commerce technologies,and hence using TAM to measure consumers' acceptance levels of such technologies makes a reasonable sense.The studies have indicated that the diffusion rate of advanced technologies in developing countries is low,and that extended versions of TAM may be used to address the issue.Based on the variants of the model,we noted that consumers cautiously accept We Chat wallet depending upon the privacy and the developers' reputation.Therefore,an advice was given for developers and managers to concentrate more on secure mobile payment solutions that attract users.The current research has surfaced interesting and fundamental questions worth discussing because of the mushrooming applications of mobile electronic wallets.The research has introduced theoretical frameworks that developers can seize to enhance quality of their products and services.This business strategy can guarantee sustainable markets,and,consequently,strengthen the financial status of the developers.Findings from the research suggest that consumers become sticky to technologies if they are guaranteed proper and quality products and services.Managers may use our findings to establish effective and accurate frameworks with higher predictive powers of recognizing and evaluating consumers' demands.