Is sustainability a motive to buy? An exploratory study in the context of mobile applications channel among young Indian consumers

Abstract

PurposeConsumers shopping motives may differ across products/services categories, retail formats and channels. In the context of m-Apps-based commerce, this study aims to explore different shopping motives of consumers in three different categories of app, namely, food delivery, ride sourcing and digital payments. Using motivation literature, the study extends the theory of consumer motives by including sustainability as a key motive to buy in the context of m-App channel. Further, the authors undertake a comparative analysis of the identified motives across the three mobile applications (m-Apps).Design methodology/approachThe research methodology involved two stages (qualitative research followed by quantitative research). In qualitative research, personal interview was conducted to extract items for survey questionnaire development. Subsequently, quantitative analysis was carried out. The data were subjected to exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The study sample comprised 201 young Indian managers.FindingsUsing principal component analysis and CFA, the study validates the existence of different motivations in the three categories of m-Apps considered. Transaction-oriented and sustainability-oriented motivation is found to be a major motive to use m-Apps for food delivery, ride sourcing and mobile payments. Additionally, in digital wallet applications for mobile payments, consumers exhibit innovation-oriented motivation. Value-oriented motivation was identified as a motive in food delivery apps.Research limitations/implicationsThe scale developed and the comparative study done extended the theoretical conversation on young consumer motives in the context of m-Apps channel and extended it by including sustainability motive, which needs further in-depth study.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to explore sustainability motives in the context of m-Apps channel.