Exploring consumer mobile payment adoption in the bottom‐of‐the‐pyramid context: A qualitative study

• Published date: 01 September 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jsc.2289
• Author: Mizan Rahman,Philip J. Kitchen,Yinggang Liu,Rajibul Hasan
• Date: 01 September 2019

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Exploring consumer mobile payment adoption in the

bottom-of-the-pyramid context: A qualitative study

Rajibul Hasan

1

| Yinggang Liu

1

| Philip J. Kitchen

2

| Mizan Rahman

3

1

Rennes School of Business, Rennes, France

2

Salford University, Salford, United Kingdom

3

University of Lincoln, Lincoln, United

Kingdom

Correspondence

Rajibul Hasan, Rennes School of Business, 2,

Rue Robert d'Arbrissel—CS 76522, 35065

Rennes Cedex, France.

Email: rajibul.hasan@rennes-sb.com

Abstract

This article investigates the factors influencing mobile payment in China's bottom-of-

the-pyramid (BOP) market via in-depth interviews with mobile payment users in sev-

eral geographic regions in China. This article investigates factors influencing mobile

payment adoption in the BOP context. The results show that product bundling, after-

sale services, interference from other institutions, perceived corporate integrity, and

monopoly and information opaqueness can influence mobile payment adoption in

the BOP context. The findings will help practitioners understand and improve mobile

payment adoption in the BOP context.

1|INTRODUCTION

The financial crisis of 2008 has led to lower trust levels among finan-

cial institutions' customers. This has created an opportunity for less-

regulated, technology-enabled nonbanks to thrive by offering financial

services more cheaply and efficiently compared to traditional banks

(Saal, Starnes, & Rehermann, 2017).

The recent digital transformation has made it possible for these

financial technology (FinTech) companies to offer comfortable tech-

based financial solutions, such as mobile payment, and to meet consumer

demands with low cost, convenient ways to transfer money and to buy

and sell products. As a result, the lost trust is being rebuilt since the

financial crisis, and specifically, mobile payment has contributed to this.

Mobile payment not only has rebuilt consumers' trust but also has

contributed to the lives of two-thirds of the world population, who

earn less than $5 a day (Rangan, Chu, & Petkoski, 2011). According to

Prahalad (2005), between 4 and 5 billion people live below the pov-

erty line globally with annual per capita incomes of less than $1,500,

and they have been underserved by governments, NGOS, and corpo-

rations. Prahalad's (2005) research has drawn attention to these

bottom-of-the-pyramid (BOP) segments, located mainly in Africa, Asia,

Latin America, and Eastern Europe, subsequently attracting notice

from businesses and other establishments who have realized the BOP

market is huge and untapped with about $5 trillion in purchasing

power parity (Prahalad, 2005).

The BOP market differs from the top-of-the-pyramid (TOP) mar-

ket because it is often handicapped by lack of electricity, poor infra-

structure, political instability, economic restraints (e.g., low GDP and

high inflation), low literacy rates, low penetration of formal financial

services, low income and financial literacy levels, and underdeveloped

technology ecosystems (Hasan, Lowe, & Rahman, 2017; Prahalad,

2005; Rogers, 2003; Saal et al., 2017). These restraints must be con-

sidered when conducting business in this market. However, despite

these factors, the BOP market is attracting increasing attention from

many multinational companies (MNCs).

As the markets of undeveloped countries slowly mature and new

products and goods flow into these relatively poor markets, how to

attract BOP consumersto buy both traditional and innovativeproducts

and how to adapt to their demands have become two importantissues

for MNCs. Research literature has delved into consumer innovation

adoption in developedcountries, and even in developing countries, but

few studies havefocused on BOP consumers. One exception is Nakata

and Weidner (2012)who contextualized a BOP (CBOP) model thatpro-

posed relevant factors that influence innovation adoption in the BOP

context. Thus, investigating drivers of innovation adoption among BOP

consumersis a needed focus in marketingresearch.

Remarkable progress in telecommunications and mobile technol-

ogy has led to the development of mobile payment services, that is,

the electronic transfer of funds by mobile devices (smartphone, tablet,

or personal digital assistant) from one party to another either directly

or via an intermediary (Mallat & Tuunainen, 2008). This convenient

consumer payment mode seems to be becoming a preferred option

JEL classification codes: M20, M21, M29, M30, M31.

DOI: 10.1002/jsc.2289

Strategic Change. 2019;28:345–353. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jsc © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 345