Perceived Value of Location Based Mobile Services Minna Pura Centre of Digital Enterprise (CODE), The University of Auckland

Old Choral Hall, 7 Symonds Street, Auckland, New Zealand Tel: +64 9 373 7599 84516, Fax: +64 9 373 8793 e-mail: m.pura@auckland.ac.nz after August 2005: Center for Relationship Marketing and Service Management (CERS) Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration P.O.Box 479, 00101 Helsinki, Finland Tel: +358 9 4313 331, Fax: +358 9 4313 3287 E-mail: minna.pura@hanken.fi

Perceived Value of Location Based Mobile Services Abstract Services that are customised according to the customers location are one of the most promising applications of mobile services. However, commercialisation of location based services requires understanding of what customers value in this type of services in different situations. This paper investigates customer perceived value in a location based service context. It contributes to the current literature on perceived value by extending it to a mobile context and by validating a scale for measuring it. The results of this study give implications for value based planning of marketing for location based services. Keywords: location, mobile, service, value Introduction Location based services have gained attention as companies are facing new opportunities in offering more customised services. The ability to identify the customers location at a certain time is one of the most promising applications of mobile commerce. Positioning techniques help service providers offer entirely new services or add value to current ones (Barnes, 2003; Harter, 2000). Frost and Sullivan predict that the European mobile location based services market will be worth 200 million by the year 2007 (Armitt, 2004). However, commercialisation of location based mobile services has been slow because of regulation and technological problems. The awareness of location based services is still low and people who do not have any experience of such services have a hard time comprehending the real value of location based services. Hence, customer perceived value plays an integral role in promoting customers to use the services. Further, the valuable content has to be combined with technological, contextual and user specific information (Giaglis, Kourouthanassis, & Tsamakos, 2003). Measuring customer perceived value is essential in assessing current services and for the development of further ones to customer segments that may have different motives to use services and thus perceive different value in them. However, to date there are no established measures for customer perceived value in electronic environments. The majority of existing empirical research on customer perceived value is based on traditional services, or on consumption experiences of goods (Babin, Darden, & Griffin, 1994; Caruana, Money, & Berthon, 2000; Cronin, Brady, & Hult, 2000; Kerin, Jaine, Simmons, Cox, & Howard, 1992; McDougall & Levesque, 2000). A few studies have included perceived value in their framework for assessing loyalty to electronic self-services (Heinonen, 2004; Kleijnen, de Ruyter, & Wetzels, 2004; Luarn & Lin, 2003). Further, Heinonen (2004) has emphasised the importance of time and location in technology-based self-services for customers value perceptions. Hence, further empirical studies and conceptualisation of perceived value, especially in the mobile context, are needed. This paper develops and validates a scale for measuring perceived value, especially in a location based mobile service context. The scale is a combination of items used previously in the value literature and new items created based on interviews with users of different kinds of

mobile services, concept tests with academic experts and comments by company experts. The paper contributes to the current literature on perceived value by extending it to a mobile context. The results of this study provide implications for value based planning of marketing communication of this type of services and suggest further research opportunities in the area of new emerging location based services. The paper is structured as follows. Following this introduction, a background of location based services is provided. We continue with a review of the literature on customer perceived value and description of the conceptual framework based mainly on the typology of Sheth, Newman & Gross (1991). Next, we describe the research design and development of measures. The developed 20 items are diminished into 14 items measuring the different dimensions of perceived value. Then, we present further results of the empirical study including regression analysis results and customers open feedback. Finally, we come up with conclusions, managerial implications, and directions for future research. Background of Location Based Services Location Based Services (LBS) are services in which the location of a person or an object is used to shape or focus the application or service (Duri, Cole, Munson, & Christensen, 2001). Basic tracking of location information has been used since the 1980s with automated vehicle location for trucking and freight services, however full commercialization of location based services has emerged after regulatory change and technological advancement. In the United States the key market driver has been safety deployment and policy concerning emergency service caller location has been mandated. Other applications for location based information use are advertising, roadside assistance, fleet management, people tracking, road pricing and location based products. (Barnes, 2003) Location based services have the potential to make content and applications more pertinent to users and therefore play an important role in the development of mobile services (Saunders, 2003). However, even though location based services were launched in 1999, they have only gained 1 % of the data traffic in Europe (Armitt, 2004) and implementation of location based services has been slowed by both marketing and technical difficulties such as the lack of widely accepted mobile payment systems and accuracy of location information. (Patel, 2004) Moreover, the diffusion of location enabled mobile phones is still low (Diercks, 2003) and only a minority of operators support the use of location information. Accordingly, the services have not been marketed to end users (Dano, 2003) resulting in low awareness of location based services. Nevertheless, recent results indicate that wireless service users perceive location based services to be appealing, (Diercks, 2003) especially if they include content such as: emergency services, downloading maps and navigation assistance to various locations as well locating family and friends. From a customer perspective, location based services should be reliable, integrated into mobile phones and up to date. Further important aspects of location based service use are personalization of services, accuracy of information, low cost and ease of use. (Osman, Maquire, & Tarkiainen, 2003) The mobile Yellow Pages is one of the most basic location based services offered today. Telecommunication companies such as Sonera, diAx, Telia and Vodaphone have all offered services where the user asks: What is near me or Where is the nearest e.g. ATM, bank, shop, restaurant. This type of service is considered to be particularly useful when the user moves to an unfamiliar city. Some providers have even given the opportunity for customers to locate their friends or use dating services that locate the most potential partners. (Barnes, 2003) Maps have also been included in these types of messages in order to help customers navigate to

the service location. Customers have been able to order color maps with multimedia enabled mobile devices. However, in this case, the service provider has chosen to provide a simple SMS based service in order to reach a wider audience, as well as ensuring the quick and reliable delivery of information to a wide variety of mobile handsets and network providers. The first mobile phones that supported viewing and sending picture messages (e.g. maps) were launched in the case companys market in 2002. According to the eBird Scandinavia report, picture communication will be widely used when approximately 20% of the population has a camera phone. In the market in question, that level will most likely be reached until the end of year 2005. Therefore, the market is predicted to be mature enough for multimedia messages in 2006. (Snellman, 2004) To date, mobile operators have been most interested in the use of location information for providing innovative location based services (Barnes, 2003). In this case, the content provider plays the most important role in marketing the services to the end users and delivers the information to end users via a network that supports several mobile operators. Typically, actors in providing location based services to the customers are: 1) the mobile operator who provides the location positioning infrastructure that tells where the customer is, 2) the content provider that delivers the information, 3) the supplier that combines the information with the location information and makes it location relevant, and 4) platforms through which the customers can access the services (Harter, 2000). Hence, the mobile service value chain includes several actors and co-operation is essential for success. Location technology and value creation networks have evolved differently in different markets around the world and the main types of positioning techniques are: Cell location, advanced network based, and satellite based positioning (Barnes, 2003). In Japan, customers are able to use personal navigator services with the help of global positioning system (GPS) (Harter, 2000). Today, many operators in Europe offer location based services with the help of cell identification information in order to locate the customer, because accuracy at 500 metres is sufficient for most of the services currently in use (Barnes, 2003; Harter, 2000). User control of the information is also a very important factor when providers consider which technique to use. In cell identification the information is gathered from the mobile network base station and therefore no modifications are needed to handsets or networks. One important aspect in providing location based services is privacy. The ability to process very precise location data in mobile communication networks threatens customers means to protect their privacy. Therefore, the EU privacy and electronic communication directive (Article 9) requires that location data can be used only with the consent of the subscriber. Moreover, the subscriber of a service should be able to temporarily block the location tracking if the consent is given for an ongoing location tracking service. Only emergency services and law enforcement authorities in defence of public and national security and for criminal investigations have permission to use location based information without the users prior consent. (EU, 2004) In essence, EU policy ensures that customers have control over the location information gathered about them. This may be one reason why cell identification is widely used by service providers as the information is not stored anywhere and the customer gives the permission to locate his / her mobile device by ordering the service once or alternatively subscribing for a longer period of time. Even though there is interest in services that enable the customer to locate others, only those that have given permission to be located at a particular time can be located by the service user. In a similar manner, marketing messages such as SMS and MMS messages also require prior opt-in consent from the customer in the European Union. The only exception to this Article (13(1)) of the privacy and electronic communications directive is if the contact details were obtained in the context of a sale. The organisation that sold the product or service may send messages to their customers informing them about related products or services. (EU, 2004)

As this kind of communication is seen as customer relationship communication instead of advertising consent is not required. Since the mobile service market is global in nature and the directives cover all communication sent from or received on a public network within the EU, co-operation agreements are required. The next section reviews the theoretical background of perceived value and presents the framework of the study. Theoretical Background and Conceptual Framework Customer value perceptions steer purchase behaviour and refer to the value customers perceive they receive or experience (Bettman, Luce, & Payne, 1998). Rescher (1969) defines customer perceived value as the outcome of an evaluation made by a single customer of the object in a certain context based on his / her underlying values. Hirschman and Holbrook (1982) describe consumers as either problem solvers or seekers of fun and enjoyment and thus refer to utilitarian vs. hedonic consumption. The hedonic view highlights the importance of a fun experience in contrast to the effective achievement of a utilitarian goal. Differentiating between utilitarian and hedonic aspects might be difficult in self-service contexts where people are actively taking part in the service process and enjoying the fun experience while achieving a goal. According to Zeithaml (1988), value perceptions are constituted simply as a trade-off between values and sacrifices. The customer has to invest money and/or time in order to receive the service. Thus the perceived sacrifice also includes non-financial aspects, such as time, search costs and physical or mental effort (see also Dodds & Monroe, 1991). However, this utilitarian view assumes people to be rational beings that carefully consider the ratio between input and output. But in location based services the evaluation is often done spontaneously and the role of context is expected to be important. A broader approach of perceived value is offered by the theory of consumption values (Sheth et al., 1991), an extensive framework on consumption related values, which incorporates value literature from several fields. Sheth, Newman and Gross (1991) framework was used as a foundation for this study, because it includes both the utilitarian and hedonic views of consumption as well as the notion of context dependency. The five value dimensions that have been identified in previous perceived value research are functional, social, emotional, epistemic and conditional value. These dimensions are defined below specific to the mobile service context. Functional value represents value derived from effective task fulfilment. Often, it relates to monetary value or superiority compared with the alternatives (Sheth et al., 1991). In the electronic service context self-services are often perceived to be better than interpersonal service options, because they allow saving time and money (Meuter, Ostrom, Roundtree, & Bitner, 2000). Further, convenience is a major attractor for mobile technology use in addition to task fulfilment (Carroll, Howard, Vetere, Peck, & Murphy, 2002). Social value relates to social approval and enhancement of self-image among other individuals. (Bearden & Netemeyer, 1999) Sweeney and Soutar (2001 p. 211) define social value as the utility derived from the products ability to enhance social self-concept. Thus, social value derives mostly from product or service use shared with others (Sheth et al., 1991). Emotional value is acquired when a product/service arouses feelings or affect (Sheth et al., 1991; Sweeney, 2001). Play or fun gained by using the service for its own sake is also related to emotional value (Holbrook, 1994). Epistemic value relates to experienced curiosity, novelty or gained knowledge (Sheth et al., 1991). Novelty and variety seeking have also been suggested to trigger product search (Hirschman, 1980). Conditional value refers originally to circumstances that impact choice. Such situations may be seasonal, once in a lifetime events or emergency situations. (Sheth et al.,

1991) Holbrook (1994) postulates that conditional value depends on the context in which the value judgement occurs and exists only within a specific situation. Thus, conditional value is related to the concept of context often referred to in the managerial literature on location based services. Context is based on the time, location and social environment, the equipment available, the technological environment, and user specified criteria (e.g. mood, work or free time) (Kontti, 2004). Hence, conditional value in this case is related to satisfying the customers need in a specific situation, considering the spatial, technological and user specified criteria resulting in customised information according to the current location of the customer. It is to be expected that conditional value will be important in location based services since they are used primarily in a specific context. Further, functional value may have a strong influence on value perceptions of task fulfilment oriented, information based services, e.g. search services. In services that aim to fulfil more hedonic needs of location based mobile service use, e.g. dating, emotional and social value may prove to be more important. The role of epistemic value may be important in services that are new to the customer, just as location based mobile services appear to be for the majority of customers. Research Design This study explores the location based services offered by Fonecta Ltd, a directory service provider. Their services include printed directories, directory advice via telephone and self service directories online and via mobile devices. The results of this study are based on a survey conducted with users of Fonectas location-based service that allows people to find the nearest service location by ordering the information with the help of text message. Search words include a wide range of both commercial and public services (e.g. restaurant, pharmacy, locksmith, bank, post office, hospital, liquor store, disco, cash teller, etc.). The customer sends a search word (e.g. BANK) as a SMS to the company service number. The customer then receives a customized text message according to his / her location that includes the name and the address of three nearest banks. The price for each search is 0,70. The service uses cell ID information and thereby does not store any information about the customers location. The consent for tracking location information is given automatically when the customer orders the information. The provider has the ability to include offers or sweepstakes from the nearest services to the message. However, this feature has not been used because of lack of interest from the customers currently using the service. The data was collected with an online questionnaire targeted to end users of the case companys location based mobile service. 1914 invitations were sent by e-mail to registered users of the companys web search services. This was unfortunately the only way to reach current users of the location based services, since there was no record of mobile service users. However, the prerequisite for participating in the survey was that the respondent had experience of using the companys location based mobile services. There were 411 answers and the response rate was 22 % which is considered acceptable since all those mailed were not eligible to answer the survey. To ensure that the customers actually had used one or more search words, the answers were screened and those who had not were excluded from further analysis. Further, answers containing not random missing values were deleted. The sample analysed in this paper consists of 366 responses. The questionnaire included value related questions, commitment and loyalty related questions, background questions and two open ended questions to which customers were able to give feedback about the services. In this paper, the value related results are analysed in depth.

The sample can be described as follows: a majority of the respondents were young, but people in all age groups were represented (20 percent were younger than 20 years old, 28 percent were between 20 and 29, 21 percent were between 30 and 39, 17 percent were between 40 and 49 and 14 percent were older than 50 years). The mean age was 33 years. The sample was almost equally divided between men (55 %) and women (45%). 73 percent of the respondents personally pay for the use of mobile services (as opposed to their employer, parents or partner). Development of Measures The perceived value construct was measured with a combination of items used previously in the value literature (Chen & Dubinsky, 2003; Dodds & Monroe, 1991; Soutar & Sweeney, 2003; Sweeney, 2001; Sweeney, Soutar, & Johnson, 1999) and new items based on a qualitative study (Pura, Viitanen, & Liljander, 2003). All the items have been modified to depict value in a mobile service context, which differs significantly form Internet and brick and mortar contexts. Since no previous validated items existed for all the emerged value dimensions, some items have been generated from interviews with end users of mobile services and the wording of the items has been influenced by items used to measure similar concepts (Anderson & Srinivasan, 2003; Donthu & Garcia, 1999; Mathwick, Malhotra, & Rigdon, 2001). The items and their sources are presented in Appendix 1. The conditional value items were created based on the authors own earlier research depicting the context in which the value judgement occurs. Items were initiated from interviews with customers and were validated with two separate concept tests with five academic experts as well as five industry experts comments. The reliability of the items was tested with another set of data. A seven point Likert scale I strongly disagree...I strongly agree was used. Overall perceived value was measured with one item: I perceive this mobile service to be (not at all valuableextremely valuable). Results Principal component analysis was conducted on the 20 items to investigate if the theorized value dimensions could be extracted from the data. The Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was good (0,841) and Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was significant indicating that the items were correlated and suitable for factor analysis (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998). Varimax rotation was performed on the data and resulted in a clearly identifiable six component solution depicting six value dimensions. The resulting factors differ slightly from the anticipated factors defined in earlier literature. As result, functional value has in previous literature been depicted as value derived from task fulfilment also including monetary value and sacrifices. Here, two distinctively separate components were extracted from the data: convenience and monetary value. Therefore, the concept of functional value is replaced with convenience and monetary value. The six identified factors were: 1) Social value 2) Convenience, 3) Monetary value 4) Emotional value 5) Epistemic value, and 6) Conditional value. As shown in Table 1, all factor loadings were above 0,7 and the factors emerged with no cross-construct loadings above 0,5 indicating good discriminant validity. Reliability was estimated by assessing the internal consistency of the scale items using Cronbachs alpha. The alpha values were all above 0,7 and therefore the measures were considered reliable. The factor loadings and alpha values are reported in Table 1. Correlations between construct means are shown in Table 2. Item means are presented in Appendix 1, showing that conditional value, convenience and epistemic value had the highest means. The mean of overall perceived value was 4,70, indicating that, on the whole, the services were considered valuable. [Insert Table 1]

[Insert Table 2] The factor scores were saved as variables and used in a multiple regression analysis to investigate the relative effect of each value dimension on overall perceived value. The results indicate that the regression function was highly significant with F-value of 21,5 (p < .001) but explained only 26,4 % of the variance in overall perceived value (R square 0,264). This indicates that also other factors, not measured in the current study, affect customers overall perceived value. Four of the six value dimensions, i.e. convenience, monetary value, emotional, as well as conditional value, had a significant effect on overall perceived value. The results are shown in the Table 3. Standardised beta coefficients indicate that 1) conditional value has the strongest effect (=0.345, t-value=7.629, p<0.01), followed by 2) convenience (=0,319, tvalue=7.047, p<0.01), 3) emotional value (=0,176, t-value=3.893, p<0.01), and 4) monetary value, which only show a minor effect (=0,093, t-value=2.059, p<0.05). In contrast, social and epistemic value had no significant effect on overall perceived value. [Insert Table 3] To illustrate the strong influence of conditional value and convenience on overall perceived value and the low influence of monetary value the following text units from the open ended questionnaire are presented: Really impressive service, we were travelling and suddenly the trip was drawn out and we stayed overnight in a foreign city. We found a hotel and a nice restaurant with the help of this service. Cool and easy! Great :) Helps you when you are in trouble. Fun and easy [to use] It quickens the search extensively and makes it easy In my opinion excellent, because it is easy to use and not at all too expensive. Otherwise very useful service, but in general, all the mobile services are too expensive and therefore I use them extremely seldom and at real need. The open ended answers of the questionnaire indicated that people perceive the service to be valuable especially while visiting an unfamiliar place and that the service functions reliably. The open ended answers also revealed that price perceptions were twofold. Some respondents perceived the service to be affordable and others perceived it, and mobile services in general, to be too expensive compared to other alternatives. Thus, the price may be acceptable or considered even high by the users of the service, but it is not as important a factor in assessing the overall value of the values gained by the information ordered as the factor of convenience in a certain context. In addition to value related aspects of service use, other issues are apparent as the following text units illustrate: Very useful, if you just remember to save the number to your mobile. A functional service that you immediately need more [of] after you have experience of using it. Communicate the services more effectively, please Thus, services need to be easy to use, easy to remember and marketed in an easy to understand manner to end users. It would appear that consumers have difficulty in comprehending what value they might derive from location based services if they have not experienced the services.

Therefore, they should be marketed to demonstrating concrete value of location based services in certain situations. Discussion The results of this study indicate that conditional value and convenience are the most important value dimensions in location based services. Conditional value had only slightly stronger influence on overall perceived value compared to convenience. It is logical that in situations, when such services are needed, the most important thing is to access the information that can be customized according to the current location of the customer. Hence, the service will be convenient and easy to use and customers will value the opportunity to access the information instantly via the mobile device. Therefore, it is recommended that marketing communication emphasises first and foremost the ability of location based services to customize the information according to a specific location of the customer, and thereby, help the customer gain information that is needed in a certain situation (time, place, available equipment and network, mood). Special attention should be given to communicating how the service can be used in situations when other channels are unavailable. The Internet is a popular channel for searching for information, but it may not serve the customer best in all situations. People use location based services because they are easy and convenient to use and give instant access to information needed. Ease of use is often seen as a critical factor in using services via a small mobile phone screen. However, according to respondents comments, mobile services tend to ease the users lives significantly and people perceive mobile services to be an easy way to obtain instant information. Surprisingly, emotional value actually had a strong influence on overall perceived value even in a utilitarian SMS based service. People clearly enjoy using this specific location based mobile service. One reason for the perception may be the novelty of the service. Another possible reason is that the service makes them feel good after a successful, effective and fun search experience. Therefore, the hedonic, emotional aspects of location based service use and enjoyable service use experience should be also emphasised in the marketing communication. Location based services may often be used in emergency situations, where the information cannot be easily accessed any other way and is, therefore, especially appreciated. For example, finding a pharmacy that is open late at night in a foreign city can enhance the service use experience at that precise time, place and emotional state. Another interesting result is that while the role of monetary value in value perceptions is relevant, it does not influence overall value perceptions as significantly as conditional value, convenience and emotional value. Monetary value refers to good value for money and an acceptable price level. In general mobile service users are price sensitive, but clearly price is not one of the most relevant factors when customers assess the value of a mobile service. This is important information for service providers who are constantly confronted with public opinion that mobile services are generally highly priced. It is a matter of price perception compared to other alternatives and those customers who perceive the mobile services to be affordable and good value for money are also willing to pay for the service in the right context. The utilitarian aspects of consumption, i.e. achieving a goal cost effectively, support the communication of good value for money in utilitarian, information based services. Even if the price image of mobile services might be high compared to other channels, the mobile service generally is considered good value for money in certain situations. But, since customers price perceptions of what is reasonable vary, it might be prudent to provide the customers with the opportunity to check the price and how the service is invoiced.

The factors that did not have significant influence on overall value were epistemic and social value. The possible reason why epistemic value has no significant effect is that even though people often state that their motive to use a service was to try something new or learn new ways of doing things (Pura et al., 2003), the role of epistemic value in creating value to the customer is of minor importance. The novelty effect does not last long and people might not reuse the service after trying it once nor perceive it valuable. However, another reason may be that epistemic value is just a trigger to use the service for the first time and should, therefore, not be expected to influence overall value perceptions at all. Thus, the relationship between epistemic value and other constructs should be examined in further research. Further, social value might not be that important in location based services, because people often use them on the move, especially travelling in new unfamiliar places where there might not be any social contact experience. In conclusion, in task fulfilment oriented services the effect of social and epistemic aspects of service use seem to be of minor importance. Therefore, customers should not be encouraged to just try a new feature, rather the value of the information created by the service through convenience and positive emotions in a certain situation should be emphasized. However, the research result on the relative importance of social value in location based services should be interpreted cautiously, since we believe that social value has an important effect on commitment to the service provider. According to earlier research, commitment is one of the key drivers of behavioural loyalty in addition to perceived value. (Hennig-Thurau, Gwinner, & Gremler, 2002; Odekerken-Schrder, 1999; Pagani, 2004). Therefore, the role of social value in creating positive attitudes and commitment to the service provider should not be ignored and further research is needed to explore the influence of social value in mobile context. Further, social value might have a significant importance in different type of mobile location based services that emphasise social interaction within a group especially in a customer to customer context, e.g. mobile gaming or geocaching. Managerial Implications The awareness of location based services is still low and people appear to be unaware of the values of location based services. Therefore, the main aim of marketing communication should be to promote awareness of location based services and promote customers to trial. However, the communication should be easily comprehensible in terms of the practical values of service use in concrete situations instead of just informative messages promoting price and technical features. Therefore, it would be helpful to communicate the value of the service based on illustrative emotional examples depicting some specific critical situations when location based services are especially valuable. For example, noticing at the counter in a shop that you do not have any money with you or the counter does not accept credit cards and you need to find a cash teller near to your location. Or, when a family on holiday has to suddenly stay overnight in an unfamiliar town late at night and find the nearest hotels quickly and conveniently. By using the mobile service they can find the information and drive directly to that location. Similar examples might be to locate the nearest hospital, beach, liquour store or grocery store while travelling. The time saved searching for the locations can, in some situations, be very critical and valuable to the customer. It is worth emphasising the ease and speed of getting the needed information. The strategy of reaching customers with SMS based services that they have experience of using seems to work well. Therefore, it seems justified to educate customers to use location based services gradually, launching new features (e.g. pictures and voice) first after the customers

have experience of the true value that location based information can offer. Furthermore, effective and reliable delivery of information has to be guaranteed to the customer to ensure an enlightening service experience. Further, since location based services are often used in situations when no other media is available or even the current location is unknown to the user, special attention should be given to the memorizability of how to use the service when the need arises in a certain situation. Network operators have the ability to include information in platform menus or portals, but the content provider marketing services directly to several network users has to rely on other means to reach the customers i.e. the logic of search words and recall of the service providers number. Equally important is the need to provide up to date information about all the possible search words or key words available for the current service, e.g. via Internet or by providing help function and key word lists via SMS. However, there is no need to exhaust the user with long lists when it would be more appropriate to try to target the messages to a special user group that finds a few precise location based search services of value. In conclusion, customers should be encouraged to save the most important search words to their mobile phone so the customer can remember where and how she / he ordered the service last time and can easily access the same service offered by the same service provider at another time. This paper validated a scale for measuring perceived value in location based service context and showed that value based marketing should emphasise not only convenience and the ease of obtaining instant information customised to the right context, but also the emotional, fun aspects of location based service use. The research results did not indicate any specific customer segments that perceive different value in location based search services. However, as more targeted location bases services are developed, further research should explore possible niche customer segments that may have different motives for using location based mobile services. Moreover, further research is encouraged in all kinds of mobile service contexts in order to be able to compare perceived value of different types of mobile services and generalise the results.

References Table 1: Factor loadings of value related items Social Convenience Monetary Emotional Epistemic Conditional Item value value value value value .88 SOC2 .86 SOC3 .85 SOC1 .85 SPEED2 .80 CONV .76 EASE2 PRICE1 .92 PRICE2 .90 EMOT3 .81 EMOT2 .79 EPIST3 .89 EPIST1 .81 COND4 .78 COND1 .76 Number of items 3 3 2 2 2 2 Cronbach's Alpha .90 .87 .89 .87 .71 .85 Note: Suppress absolute values <0.50. Table 2: Pearson Correlation Matrix of Final Factor Means
(O) Overall perceived value (O) Social value (1) Convenience (2) Monetary value (3) Emotional value (4) Epistemic value (5) Conditional value (6) 1 .19 .44 .20 .35 ns .49 (1) 1 .31 .24 .62 .17 .19 (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

1 .39 .51 .32 .72

1 .32 .15 .33

1 .30 .48

1 .36

Note: All Correlations significant at the 0,01 level except for ns=non significant Table 3: Factor-Score Regression Results Standardized Beta Coefficients .057 .319** .093* .176** -.022 .345** 0.264 Significant effect on overall perceived value
No Yes Yes Yes No Yes

Variable Social value Convenience Monetary value Emotional value Epistemic value Conditional value R ** Significant at p < .001. * Significant at p < .05.

t-value 1.253 7.047 2.059 3.893 -0.491 7.629

Note: Dependent variable: overall perceived value

Appendix 1: Measurement items

Factor Monetary value Variable Item Mean PRICE1 PRICE2 Convenience EASE2 SPEED2 CONV SOC1 SOC2 SOC3 EMOT2 EMOT3 EPIST1 3.22 3.68 4.80 4.67 4.62 2.80 2.55 2.22 3.36 3.38 4.60 4.88 4.83 4.94 Item The price of this mobile service is acceptable This mobile service is good value for money I value the ease of using this mobile service I value the possibility to use this service instantly via my mobile device I value the convenience of using this mobile service Using this mobile service helps me to feel accepted by others Using this mobile service makes a good impression on other people Using this mobile service gives me social approval Using this mobile service gives me pleasure Using this mobile service makes me feel good Source modified from Dodds Monroe (1991), Sweeney and Soutar (2001) modified from Chen and Dubinsky (2003), Sweeney and Soutar (2001) modified from Anderson and Srinivasan (2003) new Anderson and Srinivasan (2003) modified from Sweeney and Soutar (2001), Soutar and Sweeney (2003) Sweeney and Soutar (2001), Soutar and Sweeney (2003) Sweeney and Soutar (2001) Sweeney and Soutar (2001) Sweeney and Soutar (2001), Soutar and Sweeney (2003) modified from Donthu and Garcia (1999)

Social value

Emotional value

Epistemic value

EPIST3 Conditional value COND1 COND4

I used this mobile service to experiment with new ways of doing things I used this mobile service out of curiosity new I value the information that this service offers, with the help new of which I find what I need in a certain situation I value the information customized according to my new location what I receive by using this mobile service