Determinants of Actual Use of Mobile Web Browsing Services in Korea: An Empirical Examination

Mobile web browsing services have garnered tremendous momentum worldwide. However, every national market has differences. The Korean market represents one of these unique markets where the Korean IT consumer has been seen to be both a world innovator but also unique in adoption behavior. Understanding the unique factors predicting the widespread use of mobile web browsing services in a specific country or regional market is important for global telecommunication vendors and content providers interested in selling in these unique markets. The intent of this research is to produce a testable model that both identifies unique market differences and yet is theoretically valid enough to permit comparative cross national studies. Specifically, our model examines which factors determine the use of mobile web browsing services in Korea. We show that content quality, system quality, cost, and relational factors are important to predict actual use of Korean mobile web browsing services. Service quality is the only antecedent not affecting positive attitude toward mobile web browsing services. Empirically testing and validating the proposed model in different markets worldwide has the potential to provide unique practical implications to local IT vendors.