Zhu, Lan, and Chang 369

DOI: 10.6702/ijbi.2017.12.4.2

Understanding the Intention to

Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

Dong Hong Zhu*

Li Ying Lan
Ya Ping Chang
School of Management
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, China
*Corresponding Author: zhudonghong1982@126.com

ABSTRACT
With rapid advances in information technology and the development of intelligent
terminals, more and more people today are attracted to the advantages of fast, easy
online or mobile payment. This technology has already transformed the way many
people shop, invest, and pay for offline goods and services. Consumer interest has
motivated a large number of enterprises to compete aggressively for consumers’
mobile wallets. Today, the largest mobile payment provider in the world is Alipay
Wallet, China’s leading third-party mobile payment app. This study used a
questionnaire in the Chinese language to collect data from a sample of 332 Chinese
users of Alipay Wallet in order to develop a theoretical model depicting the effect
of internal and external factors on a person’s intention to continue use of a mobile
payment provider. The research model was tested using the partial least squares
technique. The results reveal that the intention to continue use is affected by source
credibility, perceived usefulness, and perceived integration from use experiences,
and that trust is an important mediator in the relationships between these
antecedents and the consequence of intention to continue use. Moreover, the results
show that the subjective norm of other people has a significant impact on intention
to continue use, but that competitors’ marketing efforts do not have an impact. The
implications of the findings are discussed.
Keywords: Mobile payment, intention to continue use, use experiences, subjective
norm, competitors’ marketing efforts, elaboration likelihood model

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

370 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

1. INTRODUCTION
Mobile payments companies offer convenient and diversified payment
services to consumers. With the development of mobile Internet, information
technology, and intelligent terminals, more and more consumers are attracted to
mobile payment. According to Nielsen (2014), the number of global mobile
payment transactions has more than tripled in the last two years. This dramatic
increase in consumer interest has motivated a large number of enterprises to
compete aggressively for consumers’ mobile wallets (Nielsen, 2014). For example,
PayPal, which dominates the mobile payment market in the United States, faces a
strong challenge from Google Wallet and Apple Pay (Chang, 2015). Alipay
Wallet, the leading mobile payment app in China, is challenged by WeChat Pay
and Chinaums (iResearch, 2016).
The cost of obtaining a new customer is five times the cost of retaining an old
customer (Schefter & Reichheld, 2000). With the intensification of market
competition, how to retain old customers has become an important problem for
mobile payment enterprises. Unlike general mobile services, mobile payments
involve personal financial information, such as personal bank accounts, assets,
shopping lists, and capital flows. For this reason, consumers must be cautious in
deciding whether to continue using mobile payment services. It is important,
therefore, to study the factors that affect their intention to continue use.
Consumer behavior is influenced by internal and external factors
(Pornsakulvanich & Dumrongsiri, 2013), and this is true also with regard to
consumer use of mobile payment services. After a period of using these services,
consumers gain extensive internal information that may help them evaluate their
intention to continue using mobile payments. In today’s environment of fierce
market competition, the marketing efforts of competing firms may be an external
factor in their decision. Since many mobile payment apps support person-to-person
payments, the attitude of other people may be another external factor. In brief, it
can be said that consumers’ intention to continue use of mobile payment services
is affected by use experiences (an internal factor) and by market competition and
the opinions of others (external factors).
Although consumer adoption is a large category of mobile payment research
(Dahlberg, Guo & Ondrus, 2015; Dahlberg et al., 2008), there are not enough
research studies that examine intention to continue use (Shaikh & Karjaluoto,
2015). Past literature has demonstrated that factors affecting adoption and post-
adoption are different (Karahanna, Straub & Chervany, 1999; Chang & Zhu,
2011). Previous studies also focused mainly on the perspectives of information

International Journal of Business and Information

Zhu, Lan, and Chang 371

quality, system quality, service quality, and innovation attributes to examine

intention to continue use of mobile payment (Zhou, 2013; Zhou, 2014; Kapoor,
Dwivedi & Williams 2015). There is lack of a comprehensive study on the effect
of internal and external factors on intention to continue use.
Alipay is China’s leading third-party online payment platform. It was
founded in Hangzhou, China, in February 2004 by the Alibaba Group. In 2008, it
launched its mobile business, Alipay Wallet, which is today the largest mobile
payment provider in the world (China Telecom, 2014). From the perspectives of
use experiences, competitors, and other people, the current study develops a
theoretical model to depict the effect of internal and external factors on intention
to continue use of Alipay Wallet in China. The findings can help mobile payment
enterprises to develop more effective consumer retention tactics.

2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND HYPOTHESES

This section discusses the theoretical background for the current study and
presents the study hypotheses.
2.1. Theoretical Background
Consumers gain extensive use experience with mobile payment services after
a period of use. As internal information sources, these experiences may help
consumers evaluate their intention to continue using mobile payments. The
elaboration likelihood model (ELM) developed by Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann
(1983) has been widely used to explore the persuasion process of a variety of
sources, information, and context variables (Li, 2013; Schumann et al., 2012;
Sparks & Areni, 2002). The current study uses the ELM, therefore, to examine
how use experiences affect intention to continue use of mobile payments.
The ELM is a dual-process model that summarizes the ways in which
information affecting individual attitude flows along two persuasion routes: the
central and the peripheral. Petty et al. (1987) pointed out that, in the process of
attitude formation, the two persuasion routes may exist at the same time. Based on
the ELM, the present study proposes that use experiences affect the attitude
formation of consumers regarding the continuous use of mobile payment in the
central and periphery routes. In addition, Zhou (2013, 2014) found that trust is a
kind of attitude that affects intention to continue use of mobile payment. The
present study proposes, therefore, that the peripheral and central cues from use
experiences affect intention to continue use through trust.
According to the ELM, attitude formation in the peripheral route depends
mainly on the peripheral cues of the information and requires less cognitive effort

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

372 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

(Petty & Cacioppo, 1983). Source credibility is widely used as a peripheral cue to
examine the impact of information on individual attitude (Pornpitakpan, 2004). In
his study, Pornpitakpan (2004) found that, since mobile payments involve users’
personal financial information, their perception of the credibility of mobile
payment providers may influence their trust regarding such payments. Based on
the ELM, the current study, therefore, uses source credibility as the peripheral cue.
According to the ELM, attitude formation in the central route is the result of
deep consideration of the information (Haugtvedt & Petty, 1989). Perceived
usefulness is an important determinant factor of individual attitude and behavior
(Purnawirawan, De Pelsmacker, & Dens, 2012). Use experiences may help
consumers form their usefulness perception of a mobile payment provider, which
is likely to affect their trust of the mobile payment service. In addition, in a multi-
screen world, cross-platform consumer behavior is common (Google, 2012). The
great coordination and consistency among different platforms is important. Use
experiences may help consumers form their perception regarding the integration
of mobile payment with other relevant payment platforms, which may also affect
their trust of mobile payment. The current study, therefore, uses perceived
usefulness and perceived integration as central cues.
From the perspective of use experiences, this study proposes that source
credibility, perceived usefulness, and perceived integration are internal factors that
affect intention to continue use of a mobile payment provider through trust.
Besides use experiences, external effects from competitors and other people
may also affect intention to continue use of a mobile payment provider. The
marketing efforts of companies have an impact on consumers’ purchase behavior
(Knox, 2006). The competition for consumers’ mobile wallets becomes even
hotter (Nielsen, 2014). Effective marketing efforts by competitors may be
attractive to customers, and these efforts may stop their intention to continue use
of a mobile payment provider. The current study proposes, therefore, that
competitors’ marketing efforts influence intention to continue use. Liao, Chen, and
Yen (2007) found that customers’ behavioral intention to continue use of electronic
services is affected by the subjective norm. Mobile payment is a kind of electronic
service. Accordingly, the current study assumes that subjective norm influences
intention to continue use.
Figure 1 presents the research model for this study.

International Journal of Business and Information

Zhu, Lan, and Chang 373

Note:
Independent Variables: Source credibility, perceived usefulness, perceived integration,
Competitors’ marketing efforts, subjective norm
Dependent Variable: Intention to continue use

Figure 1. Research Model for Current Study

2.2. Hypotheses
Trust is important in using mobile services (Wang, Shen, & Sun, 2013).
Previous studies have confirmed that trust is an important antecedent of
individuals’ continued use intention in the context of mobile payment. For
example, Zhou (2014) demonstrated that consumers’ trust of mobile payment had
a crucial effect on their intention to continue using the service. Hence, this study
proposes the hypothesis that, when consumers trust a mobile payment service that
they are already using, they will have intention to continue using the mobile
payment provider:
H1: Trust positively affects intention to continue use of a mobile payment
provider.
Marketing efforts refer to a series of marketing activities aimed at stimulating
the purchase behavior of consumers. In the increasingly competitive mobile
payment market, many companies often conduct promotional activities to attract
new customers. Previous research has shown that marketing efforts have an
important influence on consumer behavior (Knox, 2006; Ansari, Mela, & Neslin,

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

374 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

2008; Baidya & Maity, 2011). A company’s existing consumers may be attracted
by the marketing efforts of its competitors. These consumers may reduce or even
stop using the services of this company when the marketing efforts of other
companies are attractive enough. Therefore, the present study proposes the
hypothesis that competitors’ marketing efforts have negative impacts on intention
to continue use of a mobile payment service:
H2: Competitors’ marketing efforts negatively affect intention to continue use
of a mobile payment provider.
Subjective norm refers to consumers’ perceived pressure from family, friends,
and society to do or not do something (Ajzen, 1991). Previous studies have
demonstrated the significant positive influence of subjective norm on consumers’
behavioral intention in many fields (Madden, Ellen, & Ajzen, 1992; Richard &
Meuli, 2013; Liao, Chen, & Yen, 2007). Mobile payment can help individuals
handle some financial activities with acquaintances when they all use the same
mobile payment service. Hence, consumers’ willingness to continue using a
mobile payment provider may be affected by other people. Therefore, the present
study proposes the hypothesis that subjective norm may have positive impacts on
intention to continue use of a mobile payment provider.
H3: Subjective norm positively affects intention to continue use of a mobile
payment provider.
According to the ELM, source credibility can affect persuasion as a peripheral
cue (Petty & Cacioppo, 1983). Cosenza, Solomon, and Kwon (2015) found that
the credibility of a blog is persuasive in influencing the trust of the blog readers.
Similarly, the present study proposes that, as a peripheral cue, the credibility of a
mobile payment service affects the trust that consumers have in that service. In
addition, since trust is an important antecedent of intention to continue use
(Belanche et al., 2014), the present study hypothesizes that trust plays an important
mediating role in the relationship between source credibility and intention to
continue use of a mobile payment provider:
H4: Source credibility positively affects consumers’ trust in a mobile payment
provider that they are already using.
H4a: Trust is a mediator between source credibility and intention to continue
use of a mobile payment provider.

International Journal of Business and Information

Zhu, Lan, and Chang 375

According to the ELM, people may also have a deep consideration based on
the available information to form judgments about a target behavior in the central
route (Petty & Cacioppo, 1983). In the context of mobile payment, perceived
usefulness and perceived integration may be important central cues when
consumers cognitively elaborate on the first-hand information that comes from
their use experiences with a mobile payment service they are already using.
Perceived usefulness is the degree to which an individual perceives that using
a specific system will improve his or her job/life performance (Davis, 1989).
According to the ELM, information may affect individual attitude formation in a
central route. In the context of mobile payment, consumers’ deep consideration
about the usefulness of a mobile payment service they are already using may be a
central route to form their trust in mobile payment. Lee and Jun (2007) found that
consumers’ perceived usefulness is one of the crucial predictions of consumer trust
in the mobile commerce environment. Amin, Rezaei, and Abolghasemi (2014) also
found that users’ usefulness perception positively influenced their trust in a mobile
website.
Therefore, the present study hypothesizes that perceived usefulness affects
consumers’ trust in a mobile payment service that they are already using as a
central cue. In addition, since trust is an important antecedent of intention to
continue use (Belanche et al., 2014), the present study hypothesizes that trust plays
an important mediating role in the relationship between perceived usefulness and
intention to continue use of mobile payment:
H5: Perceived usefulness positively affects consumers’ trust in a mobile
payment provider they are already using.
H5a: Trust is a mediator between perceived usefulness and intention to
continue use of a mobile payment provider.
Perceived integration refers to the extent of data integration, information
consistency, and overall coordination among different platforms of one service
(Yang, Chen, & Wei, 2015). With the advent of the multi-screen world (Google,
2012), cross-platform electronic wallet use behavior is common. Low integration
among different payment platforms may bring a bad experience to consumers with
cross-platform electronic wallet use behavior. According to the ELM, attitude
formation in a central route is a deliberate decision on the information (Haugtvedt
& Petty, 1989).
In this study, consumers’ deliberate consideration about the integration of a
mobile payment provider that they are already using may be a central route to form

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

376 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

their trust in the provider. Therefore, the present study hypothesizes that perceived
integration affects consumers’ trust in a mobile payment provider they are already
using as a central cue. In addition, since trust is an important antecedent of
intention to continue use (Belanche et al., 2014), the present study hypothesizes
that trust plays an important mediating role in the relationship between perceived
integration and intention to continue use:
H6: Perceived integration positively affects consumers’ trust in a mobile
payment provider that they are already using.
H6a: Trust is a mediator between perceived integration and intention to
continue use of a mobile payment provider.

3. METHODOLOGY
This section discusses the constructs measured in the current study and
describes the data collection process.
3.1. Measurement
The present study measured seven constructs:
• Intention to continue use
• Trust
• Competitors’ marketing efforts
• Subjective norm
• Source credibility
• Perceived usefulness
• Perceived integration
All scale items were measured using seven-point Likert scales anchored between
‘‘strongly disagree=1’’ and ‘‘strongly agree=7.’’
Intention to continue use refers to the willingness of a consumer to continue
using a mobile payment provider. Measurements for this construct were adapted
from the study by Zhu and Chang (2014). This construct includes three items.
Trust refers to the degree to which the consumer believes that a mobile
payment provider is competent, honest, and benevolent. Measurements for trust
were adapted from scales by Wang, Shen, and Sun (2013). This construct includes
nine items.
Competitors’ marketing efforts refers to the degree to which a consumer
notices the marketing activities of other mobile payment providers. Measurements

International Journal of Business and Information

Zhu, Lan, and Chang 377

for competitors’ marketing efforts were adapted from the study of Pauwels et al.
(2011) and Baidya and Maity (2011). This portion included three items.
Subjective norm refers to consumers’ perception of the attitude of other
people around them regarding use of a mobile payment provider. Measurements
for subjective norms were adapted from the study by Chang and Zhu (2011) and
Pookulangara, Hawley, and Xiao (2011). This construct includes three items.
Source credibility refers to the degree to which consumers believe that a
mobile payment service is safe, reliable, and guaranteed. Measurements for source
credibility were adapted from scales by Gurviez and Korchia (2003) and Zhou
(2014). This construct includes three items.
Perceived usefulness refers to the degree to which consumers believe a mobile
payment provider can improve their life/work performance. Measurements for
perceived usefulness were adapted from the scales of Amin, Rezaei, and
Abolghasemi (2014). This construct includes three items.
Perceived integration refers to the degree to which consumers think a mobile
payment platform is integrated well with other relevant payment platforms.
Measurements for perceived integration were adapted from scales by Yang, Wang,
and Wei (2014). This construct includes three items.
3.2. Data Collection
A questionnaire in Chinese was used to collect data from the users of Alipay
Wallet. Because the original scale items were in English, a back-translation
procedure was used to guarantee the validity of translation. First, one researcher
translated the English items into Chinese. Second, another researcher translated
the Chinese version into English. Third, we compared the two versions of the
English items to confirm the accuracy of the Chinese items. This comparison
resulted in the first draft of the questionnaire.
Then, we consulted two marketing professors about the measurement items
of the questionnaire. Finally, eight graduates majoring in marketing who had
knowledge of mobile payment services were recruited to participate in a pilot test.
Based on their feedback, we finalized the formal questionnaire. We uploaded the
questionnaire to a professional online survey site and offered prizes for those
providing data for our study. We used screening questions to exclude non-users of
Alipay Wallet.
A total of 332 Alipay Wallet users responded to the questionnaire. Of the
total, 12 questionnaires were excluded because the respondents gave essentially
the same answer to most of the questions. The final valid sample size was 320.
Following is a profile of the respondents:

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

378 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

Gender
Male 60.31% (193)
Female 36.69 (127)
Age
18-30 years 68.09%
31-45 27.81
45-60 4.10

In addition, 77.19% of the respondents had more than one year of experience
using Table Alipay, and 48.75% had less than one year of experience in using
Alipay Wallet.

4. RESULTS
This study used a structural equation modeling technique called partial least
squares (PLS) to test the research model. This technique does well in predicting
and interpreting the causal model of latent variables. In this study, we used the
SmartPLS 2.0 M3 software developed by Ringle, Wende, & Will (2005).
Following the two-step analytical procedure (Hair et al., 1998), the present study
examined the measurement model first and then the structural model.
4.1. Measurement Model
The measurement model was assessed mainly by reliability and validity tests.
With regard to reliability, we tested the Cronbach’s α and composite reliability
(CR) values. The results verified the internal consistency of the items. The
Cronbach’s α values of all constructs were above 0.8 (Table 1), which meets the
criterion suggested by Nunnally (1967). The CR values of all constructs were
above 0.9 (Table 1), which meets the criterion of strong reliability (Chin & Gopal,
1995). The Cronbach’s α and CR values demonstrated the reliability of the
measurement model.
Regarding validity, the loading values of all items are higher than 0.7, and the
average variance extracted (AVE) values of all constructs are above 0.5 (Table 1).
The results demonstrated the convergent validity of the measurement model
(Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Furthermore, the correlations between all latent
constructs are significantly less than the corresponding square root of AVE (Table
2), thus meeting the criterion of discriminant validity suggested by Fornell
and Larcker (1981). The convergent and discriminant validities demonstrated the
construct validity of the measurement model.

International Journal of Business and Information

Zhu, Lan, and Chang 379

Table 1
Latent Variable Statistics, by Construct
a- CR AVE
Measurement Loading
Value
1. Source Credibility
Alipay Wallet is safe 0.940 0.943 0.963 0.898
Alipay Wallet is reliable. 0.971
Alipay Wallet is guaranteed. 0.931
2. Perceived Integration
Alipay’s mobile platform has a strong relationship 0.849 0.833 0.900 0.750
with other platforms.
The integration level of Alipay’s mobile and other 0.881
platforms is very high.
Alipay Wallet effectively integrates data from other 0.868
platforms.
3. Perceived Usefulness
Alipay Wallet makes my work and life easier. 0.893 0.885 0.929 0.813
Alipay Wallet makes my work and life more effective. 0.897
Overall, Alipay Wallet is useful. 0.915
4. Trust
Alipay Wallet is competent in providing financial 0.730 0.917 0.931 0.599
service.
Alipay Wallet performs its role of providing financial 0.765
service very well.
Overall, Alipay Wallet is capable and proficient. 0.829
Alipay Wallet is truthful in its dealings with me. 0.818
I would characterize Alipay Wallet as honest. 0.781
Alipay Wallet is trustworthy. 0.772
I believe that Alipay Wallet would act in my best 0.759
interest.
If I required help, Alipay Wallet would do its best to 0.716
help me.
Alipay Wallet is interested in my well-being, not just 0.790
its own.
5. Subjective Norms
Most of the people around me think it is wise to use 0.889 0.861 0.915 0.782
Alipay Wallet.
Most of the people around me think it is valuable to 0.897
use Alipay Wallet.
Most of the people around me think I should use 0.867
Alipay Wallet.

--continued

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

 380 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

Table 1 (Cont’d)
Latent Variable Statistics, by Construct
a- CR AVE
Measurement Loading
Value
6. Competitors’ Marketing Efforts
I often see price discounts from other mobile payment 0.869 0.866 0.918 0.788
companies.
.I often see advertising from other mobile payment 0.918
companies.
I often see promotional activities from other mobile 0.875
payment companies.
7. Intention to Continue Use
I intend to continue using Alipay Wallet in the future. 0.866 0.877 0.925 0.806
I intend to use Alipay Wallet as much as possible. 0.829
I intend to use Alipay Wallet in the future. 0.990

Table 2
Inter-Construct Correlations and AVE
Construct 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. Source credibility 0.948

2. Perceived integration 0.599 0.866

3. Perceived usefulness 0.452 0.465 0.902

4. Trust 0.554 0.615 0.581 0.774

5. Subjective norms 0.413 0.509 0.482 0.639 0.884

6. Competitors’ marketing 0.249 0.334 0.304 0.398 0.370 0.888

efforts
7. Intention to continue use 0.404 0.406 0.526 0.554 0.548 0.289 0.898

Note: The square root of AVE on the diagonal; correlations between constructs on the off-diagonal

4.2. Structural Model

The results of the structural model test show that the standardization path
coefficients are statistically significant (p<0.01), except for the coefficient of
competitors’ marketing efforts to intention to continue use. The R2 of trust is 0.513,
and the R2 of intention to continue use is 0.372 (Figure 2).

International Journal of Business and Information

Zhu, Lan, and Chang 381

Note: **=p<0.01, n=not significant

Figure 2. The PLS Analysis of Research Model

Figure 2 shows that trust (β=0.335, p<0.01) is a strong predictor of intention

to continue use. As we hypothesized that trust would positively affect intention to
continue use, hypothesis H1 is supported. Competitors’ marketing efforts have no
significant effect on intention to continue use (β=0.037, p>0.05), but subjective
norm is a strong predictor of intention to continue use (β=0.320, p<0.01). As we
hypothesized that competitors’ marketing efforts and subjective norm would
positively affect intention to continue use, hypothesis H3 is supported, but
hypothesis H2 is not. Source credibility (β=0.200, p<0.01), perceived usefulness
(β=0.333, p<0.01), and perceived integration (β=0.340, p<0.01) are predictors of
trust. As we hypothesized that source credibility, perceived usefulness, and
perceived integration would positively affect trust, hypothesis H4, H5, and
H6 are supported.

4.3. Mediation Analysis

A mediation analysis was used to test the mediating role of trust in the
relationships between the antecedents of source credibility, perceived usefulness,
and perceived integration and the consequence of intention to continue use. The
results presented in Table 3 for the four models indicate:
1. The effects of source credibility, perceived usefulness, and perceived
integration on intention to continue use are statistically significant.

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

 382 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

2. Source credibility, perceived usefulness, and perceived integration

significantly affect trust.
3. The effect of trust on intention to continue use is statistically
significant.
4. When the paths from source credibility, perceived usefulness, and
perceived integration to trust and from trust to intention to continue
use are controlled, a previously significant relationship from
perceived integration to intention to continue use is no longer
significant. Although the previously significant relationship between
perceived usefulness and intention to continue use and between
source credibility and intention to continue use are still significant,
the coefficients reduce significantly.
These results indicate that trust is a full mediator in the relationship between
perceived integration and intention to continue use (H5a); and it is a partial
mediator in the relationship between source credibility and intention to continue
use (H4a) and between perceived usefulness and intention to continue use (H6a).
Hypotheses H4a, H5a, and H6a are supported.
Table 3
Mediation Analysis
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4

Intention to Trust Intention to Intention to

continue use continue use continue use
β T β T β T β T
Source 0.139** 5.569 0.199** 3.963 0.076** 2.818
credibility

Perceived 0.146** 5.975 0.340** 6.508 0.030n 1.229

integration

Perceived 0.406** 17.263 0.341** 6.719 0.295** 11.070

usefulness

Trust 0.556*** 24.969 0.325** 12.755

R2 0.336 0.522 0.309 0.382

Note: ***=p<0.01; n=not significant

International Journal of Business and Information

Zhu, Lan, and Chang 383

5. DISCUSSION
Trust has a significant positive impact on intention to continue use of a mobile
payment provider. This result is consistent with the finding of Zhou (2014), who
empirically proved that consumers’ trust in mobile payment significantly affected
their intention to continue use. When consumers develop trust in a mobile payment
company, they worry less about financial risks and enjoy the benefits from that
mobile payment company; therefore, they remain in continuous use.
Subjective norm has a significant positive impact on intention to continue use
of a mobile payment provider. Convenience is a major reason that consumers use
mobile payment. Since mobile payment can increase convenience in helping
individuals deal with some financial activities involving acquaintances, using a
mobile payment company that is supported by these acquaintances is important.
Hence, intention to continue use a mobile payment service is affected by the
subjective norm.
The present study found that competitors’ marketing efforts have no
significant influence on intention to continue use of a mobile payment service. This
finding is inconsistent with our previous hypothesis. One possible reason is that
competitors’ marketing efforts affect consumers’ behavior in the short term, but
do not change their continuous use of a trusted mobile payment company. For
example, consumers in China use different types of mobile apps at the same time,
such as Alipay Wallet and WeChat. When WeChat uses a price discount to attract
consumers, the consumers can enjoy the discount by simply using WeChat. They
do not have to stop using Alipay Wallet. This reality may be one reason that
competitors’ marketing efforts were found to be insignificant.
Source credibility has a significant positive impact on the trust of consumers
toward a mobile payment service that they are already using. Trust is a full
mediator between source credibility and intention to continue use. When
consumers believe that a mobile payment provider is safe, reliable, and guaranteed
with less cognitive effort, they intuitively believe that the mobile payment
company is trustworthy and therefore have the intention to continue use.
Perceived usefulness has a significant positive impact on the trust of
consumers toward a mobile payment service they are already using. Trust is a
partial mediator between perceived usefulness and intention to continue use. When
consumers find that the use of mobile payment can improve their life or work
performance based on prior use experiences, they develop trust in that mobile
payment company, and then have the intention to continue use.

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

384 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

Perceived integration has a significant positive impact on the trust of

consumers toward a mobile payment company that they are already using. Trust is
a full mediator between perceived integration and intention to continue use. With
the intensification of market competition, there are too many types of mobile
payment techniques. Consumers may be confused and may worry about the safety
of these techniques. High data integration, information consistency, and overall
coordination of the mobile payment platform with other relevant payment
platforms provide proof of the mobile platform’s ability. In addition, high
integration can give customers a good experience with cross-platform electronic
wallet use behavior. Hence, when consumers find that the integration of a mobile
payment platform is based on a deep consideration of prior use experiences, they
develop trust in that platform, and then have intention to continue use.

6. CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND LIMITATIONS

A large number of enterprises are involved in the competition for consumers’
mobile wallets (Nielsen, 2014). From the perspective of use experiences,
competitors, and other people, this study develops a theoretical model to
understand the effect of internal and external factors on intention to continue use
of a mobile payment service. The findings of this study have important
implications for both theoretical and practical research.
The theoretical research implications can be summarized as follows:
1. In the field of consumers’ use of mobile payments, most previous studies
focused on pre-adoption. The research on post-adoption is still
insufficient (Shaikh & Karjaluoto, 2015). The current study explored the
antecedents of intention to continue use from the perspective of use
experiences, subjective norm, and competitors’ marketing efforts, which
provides additional knowledge about the antecedents of intention to
continue use of a mobile payment service.
2. Based on the ELM, the current study developed the peripheral and central
cues of persuasive information by treating use experiences as internal
information sources in the context of mobile payment. The results show
that source credibility, perceived usefulness, and perceived integration
affect intention to continue use of a mobile payment provider through
trust. Prior studies have focused mainly on the perspectives of
information quality, system quality, service quality, and innovation
attributes to examine intention to continue use. The present study

International Journal of Business and Information

Zhu, Lan, and Chang 385

provides additional insights into the ELM in the context of intention to

continue use a mobile payment provider.
3. Although previous studies have confirmed that trust is an important
predictor of intention to continue use a mobile payment service, no study
has further justified the mediating role of trust. The present study found
that trust is a mediator between the independent variables of source
credibility, perceived usefulness, and perceived integration and the
dependent variable of intention to continue use of a mobile payment
company. The findings reveal the psychological process of the formation
of consumers’ intention to continue use of the mobile payment provider.
With regard to practical implications, the key points can be summarized as
follows:
1. The current study found that trust is an important mediator between
source credibility, perceived usefulness, and perceived integration and the
intention to continue use of a mobile payment provider. Therefore, mobile
payment providers should focus on winning the trust of consumers with
regard to credibility, usefulness, and integration. By building a strict
system to guarantee the safety of users’ personal financial information
and by maintaining high standards of customer service, mobile payment
providers may be perceived as credible by consumers.
2. In order to improve the integration, mobile payment providers should
work hard to make information easily accessible and available and to
avoid potential conflicts across diverse platforms.
3. Mobile payment providers should focus on offering more convenient
payment services for consumers, such as expanding use
scenarios, simplifying operational processes, and reducing response
time. The current study found that subjective norm significantly affects
intention to continue use of a mobile payment provider. The results
suggest that mobile payment providers can take measures to encourage
high-quality consumers to influence other users through word of mouth.
Although this study has meaningful implications, it also has three significant
limitations that should be addressed in future research:
1. Trust is a multi-dimensional variable. In order to understand its mediating
role concisely, this study treated it as a whole. The role of the second-

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

386 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

order factors of trust can be tested in future research to make clearer the
psychological process of consumers.
2. This study uses source credibility as the peripheral cue. Other cues such
as brand image and source likeability can be considered in future
research.
3. Since it was founded, the main business of Alipay is to provide third-
party online payment services. The origin of many emerging mobile
payment services is different from that of Alipay Wallet. For example,
WeChat is a kind of communications tool. It created WeChat Payment,
which is the main competitor of Alipay Wallet in China. Apple, which
leads the world in electronics innovation, created Apple Pay. This study
focused on the users of Alipay Wallet in China. Future studies could focus
on other kinds of mobile payment services outside China.

REFERENCES
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior, Organizational Behavior and Human
Decision Processes 50(2), 179-211. DOI: 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
Amin, M.; Rezaei, S.; and Abolghasemi, M. (2014). User satisfaction with mobile
websites: The impact of perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU) and
trust, Nankai Business Review International 5(3), 258-274.
DOI: 10.1108/NBRI-01-2014-0005
Ansari, A.; Mela, C.F.; & Neslin, S. A. (2008). Customer channel migration, Journal of
Marketing Research 45(1), 60-76. DOI: 10.1509/jmkr.45.1.60
Baidya, M., and Maity, B. (2011). Relationship between marketing efforts and sales of
consumer brands: An empirical study in India, International Journal of Management
28(1), 387-393.
Belanche, D.; Casaló, L.V.; Flavián, C.; and Schepers, J. (2014). Trust transfer in the
continued usage of public e-services, Information & Management 51(6), 627-640.
DOI: 10.1016/j.im.2014.05.016
Chang, A. (2015). Google Wallet and Apple Pay race for second place. Retrieved from:
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/24/google-wallet-and-apple-pay-race-for-second-
place.html.
Chang, Y.P., and Zhu, D.H. (2011). Understanding social networking sites adoption in
China: A comparison of pre-adoption and post-adoption, Computers in Human
Behavior 27(5), 1840-1848. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2011.04.006

International Journal of Business and Information

Zhu, Lan, and Chang 387

Chin, W.W., and Gopal, A. (1995). Adoption intention in GSS: Relative importance of
beliefs, ACM SIGMIS Database 26(2-3), 42-64. DOI: 10.1145/217278.217285
China Telecom. (2014). Alipay overtakes PayPal in the mobile payments market, China
Telecom 21(2), 9-9.
Cosenza, T.R.; Solomon, M.R.; and Kwon, W.S. (2015). Credibility in the blogosphere: A
study of measurement and influence of wine blogs as an information source, Journal
of Consumer Behaviour 14(2), 71-91. DOI: 10.1002/cb.1496
Dahlberg, T.; Guo, J.; and Ondrus, J. (2015). A critical review of mobile payment research,
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 14(5), 265-284.
DOI: 10.1016/j.elerap.2015.07.006
Dahlberg, T., Mallat, N., Ondrus, J., and Zmijewska, A. (2008). Past, present and future of
mobile payments research: A literature review, Electronic Commerce Research and
Applications 7(2), 165-181. DOI: 10.1016/j.elerap.2007.02.001
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of
information technology, MIS Quarterly 13(3), 319-40. DOI: 10.2307/249008
Fornell, C., and Larcker, D.F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with
unobservable variables and measurement errors, Journal of Marketing Research,
18(1), 39-50. DOI: 10.2307/3151312
Google. (2012). The New Multi-Screen World: Understanding Cross-Platform Consumer
Behavior. Retrieved from https://think.withgoogle.com/databoard/media/pdfs/the-
new-multi-screen-world-study_research-studies.pdf
Gurviez, P., and Korchia, M. (2003). Proposal for a multidimensional brand trust scale. In
M. Saren & A. Wilson (eds.), Marketing, Responsible and Relevant? Proceedings of
the 32nd EMAC Conference, Glasgow. University of Strathclyde, Scotland.
Hair, J.F.; Anderson, R.E.; Tatham, R.L.; and Black, W.C. (1998). Multivariate Data
Analysis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Haugtvedt, C.P., and Petty, R.E. (1989). Need for cognition and attitude persistence,
Advances in Consumer Research 16, 33-36.
iResearch. (2016). Q3 2015 China Third-Party Mobile Payment Players Face Fierce
Competition. Retrieved from:
http://www.iresearchchina.com/content/details7_19560.html.
Kapoor, K.K.; Dwivedi, Y.K.; and Williams, M.D. (2015). Examining the role of three sets
of innovation attributes for determining adoption of the interbank mobile payment
service, Information Systems Frontiers 17(5), 1039-1056.
DOI: 10.1007/s10796-014-9484-7

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

 388 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

Karahanna, E.; Straub, D.W.; and Chervany, N.L. (1999). Information technology adoption
across time: A cross-sectional comparison of pre-adoption and post-adoption beliefs,
MIS Quarterly 23(2), 183-213. DOI: 10.2307/249751
Knox, G.A.H. (2006). Modelling and Managing Customers in a Multichannel Setting.
(dissertation). Retrieved from:
http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3225484.
Lee, T., and Jun, J. (2007). Contextual perceived value? Investigating the role of contextual
marketing for customer relationship management in a mobile commerce context,
Business Process Management Journal 13(6), 798-814.
DOI: 10.1108/14637150710834569
Li, C.Y. (2013). Persuasive messages on information system acceptance: A theoretical
extension of elaboration likelihood model and social influence theory. Computers in
Human Behavior, 29(1), 264-275. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2012.09.003
Liao, C.; Chen, J.L.; and Yen, D.C. (2007). Theory of planning behavior (TPB) and
customer satisfaction in the continued use of e-service: An integrated model,
Computers in Human Behavior 23(6), 2804-2822. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2006.05.006
Madden, T.J.; Ellen, P S.; and Ajzen, I. (1992). A comparison of the theory of planned
behavior and the theory of reasoned action. Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin 18(1), 3-9. DOI: 10.1177/0146167292181001
Nielsen. (2014). Global Payment Gateways of the Future report. Retrieved from:
http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/reportsdownloads/2014%20R
eports/gobal-payment-gateways-of-the-future.pdf
Nunnally, J.C. (1967). Psychometric Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Pauwels, K.; Leeflang, P.S.; Teerling, M.L.; and Huizingh, K.E. (2011). Does online
information drive offline revenues? Only for specific products and consumer
segments! Journal of Retailing 87(1), 1-17. DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2010.10.001
Petty, R.E., and Cacioppo, J.T. (1983). Central and peripheral routes to persuasion:
Application to advertising. In L. Percy, and A.G. Woodside (eds.), Advertising and
Consumer Psychology (pp. 3-23), Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company.
Petty, R.E.; Cacioppo, J.T.; and Schumann, D. (1983). Central and peripheral routes to
advertising effectiveness: The moderating role of involvement, Journal of Consumer
Research 10, 135-146. DOI: 10.1086/208954
Petty, R. E.; Kasmer, J. A.; Haugtvedt, C. P.; & Cacioppo, J. T. (1987). Source and message
factors in persuasion: A reply to stiff’s critique of the elaboration likelihood model,
Communication Monographs 54, 233-249. DOI: 10.1080/03637758709390229

International Journal of Business and Information

Zhu, Lan, and Chang 389

Pookulangara, S.; Hawley, J.; and Xiao, G. (2011). Explaining multi-channel consumer’s
channel-migration intention using theory of reasoned action, International Journal of
Retail & Distribution Management 39(3), 183-202.
DOI: 10.1108/09590551111115024
Pornpitakpan, C. (2004). The persuasiveness of source credibility: A critical review of five
decades’ evidence, Journal of Applied Social Psychology 34(2), 243-281.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2004.tb02547.x
Pornsakulvanich, V., and Dumrongsiri, N. (2013). Internal and external influences on
social networking site usage in Thailand, Computers in Human Behavior 29(6), 2788-
2795. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2013.07.016
Purnawirawan, N.; De Pelsmacker, P.; and Dens, N. (2012). Balance and sequence in
online reviews: How perceived usefulness affects attitudes and intentions, Journal of
Interactive Marketing 26(4), 244-255. DOI: 10.1016/j.intmar.2012.04.002
Richard, J. E., and Meuli, P. G. (2013). Exploring and modelling digital natives' intention
to use permission-based location-aware mobile advertising, Journal of Marketing
Management 29(5-6), 698-719. DOI: 10.1080/0267257X.2013.770051
Ringle, C.M; Wende, S.; and Will, A. (2005). SmartPLS 2. Hamburg: SmartPLS.
Retrieved from: http://www.smartpls.com.
Schefter, P., and Reichheld, F. (2000). E-loyalty: Your secret weapon on the Web, Harvard
Business Review 78(4), 105-113. DOI: 10.1007/PL00012187
Schumann, D W.; Kotowski, M.R.; Ahn, H.-Y.; and Haugtvedt, C. (2012). The elaboration
likelihood model: A 30-year review. In S. Rodgers & E. Thorson (eds.), Advertising
Theory (pp. 51-68), New York: Routledge.
Shaikh, A.A., and Karjaluoto, H. (2015). Making the most of information technology and
systems usage: A literature review, framework and future research agenda, Computers
in Human Behavior 49, 541-566. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.03.059
Sparks, J. R., and Areni, C S. (2002). The effects of sales presentation quality and initial
perceptions on persuasion: A multiple-role perspective, Journal of Business Research
55, 517-528. DOI: 10.1016/S0148-2963(00)00173-9
Wang, N.; Shen, X. L.; and Sun, Y. (2013). Transition of electronic word-of-mouth
services from web to mobile context: A trust transfer perspective, Decision Support
Systems 54(3), 1394-1403. DOI: 10.1016/j.dss.2012.12.015
Yang, S.; Chen, Y.; and Wei, J. (2015). Understanding consumers’ web-mobile shopping
extension behavior: A trust transfer perspective, Journal of Computer Information
Systems 55(2), 78-87. DOI: 10.1080/08874417.2015.11645759

Volume 12, Number 4, December 2017

390 Understanding the Intention to Continue Use of a Mobile Payment Provider:
An Examination of Alipay Wallet in China

Zhou, T. (2013). An empirical examination of continuance intention of mobile payment

services, Decision Support Systems 54(2), 1085-1091.
DOI: 10.1016/j.dss.2012.10.034
Zhou, T. (2014). Understanding the determinants of mobile payment continuance usage,
Industrial Management & Data Systems 114(6), 936-948.
DOI: 10.1108/IMDS-02-2014-0068
Zhu, D.H., and Chang, Y.P. (2014). Understanding motivations for continuance intention
of online communities in China: A comparison of active users of social networking
sites and virtual communities, Information Development 30(2), 172-180.
DOI: 10.1177/0266666913482597

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
of China (2016AC034).

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Dong Hong Zhu is an associate professor at the School of Management, Huazhong
University of Science & Technology, PR China. Her research interests include
customer behavior and network marketing. Her work has been published in a
variety of journals including Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Business
Ethics, Internet Research, Journal of Electronic Ecommerce Research, and
Telematics and Informatics. Contact: School of Management, Huazhong University
of Science & Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, China. Email:
zhudonghong1982@126.com
Li Ying Lan is a graduate student at the School of Management, Huazhong University of
Science & Technology, PR China. Her research interests include customer behavior
and network marketing. Contact: School of Management, Huazhong University of
Science & Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, China. Email:
lanliying@hust.edu.cn
Ya Ping Chang is a professor at the School of Management, Huazhong University of
Science & Technology, PR China. His research interests include customer behavior
and electronic commerce. His work has been published in a variety of journals
including Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Computers in Human Behavior,
Journal of Business Ethics, Information Development, Internet Research, Journal
of Euro-marketing, and Journal of Interactive Advertising. Contact: School of
Management, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road,
Wuhan, China. Email: changyphust@126.com

International Journal of Business and Information