Consumer Behavior in the Mobile Commerce and Social Media Sphere: Limits and Challenges for Companies

Dear Colleagues,

Taking into account the technological progress, particularly in information and communication technology, this Special Issue is intended to be multidisciplinary in order to have a cross-disciplinary look at the use of m-commerce and social media at both the organizational and the individual level. On the one hand, it aims to gather and present the latest work concerning the evolution and specific characteristics of the behavior of companies, governments, local authorities, etc. in m-commerce and social media environments, including marketing/information systems/logistic management practices adopted or to be adopted. On the other hand, it aims to show the evolution of consumer behavior as well as the consumption phenomenon (individuals, governments, companies, distributors, etc.) as they are shaped by m-commerce and social media. Our Special Issue will be of a hybrid format and we look forward to the new opportunities that this format will provide through participants from the scientific and industry community. For a better valorization of the scientific research, the present Special Issue is aimed at academics, as well as industry professionals wishing to present their work from either a research or practical perspective. Hence, this Special Issue aims to consolidate conceptual or empirical studies that contribute to our knowledge on the use and adoption of m-commerce and social media in various settings as well as their implications.

The rapid progress made in the field of information and communication technologies and in mobile commerce (m-commerce) in particular has, to varying degrees, had an impact on socio-economic development and on industries. To this end, it should be remembered that the bulk of progress lies in “Internet” technology in the broad sense, in its spreading, and especially in consumer practices (Roman and Tchibozo, 2017). That being said, the digital age is encouraging consumers to change their consumption mode on the one hand, and on the other, encouraging companies to review their strategies, their business models as well as their traditional marketing and managerial tools. With the advent of Big Data, the term ‘digital’ has opened up all possible fields of creativity and imagination (Marrone and Gallic, 2018). According to these authors, it is the man who digitalizes himself, not the company. Therefore, it is up to the company to adapt, and brands need to re-think their practice in the m-commerce and social media fields.

In fact, the digital revolution has arrived unexpectedly in the business world. In the space of a few years, it has established itself there and spread throughout all levels of societies and economies. As such, the Internet is used worldwide, by more than 4.88 billion people , at a penetration rate of 61.8%. As of October 2021, we found that 67.8% were unique users of mobile connections and 57.6% were users of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) . It should also be remembered that the number of Internet users continues to increase, and the use of connected objects and social media increases the number of Internet users even further.

The spectacular breakthrough of connected equipment (smart TVs, smartphones, laptops, smartwatches, etc.), applications (WhatsApp, Viber, Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, Snapchat, etc.), and social networks (TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), as well as the exposure to an armada of instant information sources, has literally changed consumer behavior. This whole arsenal has given consumers certain characteristics: they have become more aware, more warned, multi-faithful, ambivalent, multi-channel, ubiquitous, A.T.A.W.A.D.A.C , cyber-consumers (Decaudin and Digout, 2011), and BIOPRAU (Latour, 2017) .

Consequently, various technological advances, in particular in computing and telecommunications, have revolutionized the ways in which companies deliver value to their customers (Armstrong and Kotler, 2007), and simultaneously have revolutionized demand and supply. The brand oligarchy, for example, no longer exists; the fact that a brand (of a product/service), a sign or a territory have a high level of notoriety does not itself guarantee its survival. For Godin (2011), the increase in product quality has made brand choice unimportant. Moreover, the integration of digital strategies, mirroring the regression of the real world economy in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, is inevitable.

Traditional methods (operating through mass media: TV, radio, traditional public relations, billboard, etc.) to target potential consumers (individuals, organizations, state institutions, investors, etc.) are gradually becoming obsolete. However, managerial marketing approaches are constantly undergoing changes because companies must not only adapt to the environment and satisfy consumers, but also sacralize them.

Moreover, this is a major challenge with which states and companies are confronted in developed and emerging countries, especially in China and Russia, along with African and South American countries. The inclusion of digital asects in the culture of the latter’s companies is still missing. Nevertheless, in spite of the existing disparities, in terms of the degree of technological and economic development, between the continents, these countries have enormous potentialities emanating from new technologies, allowing them to position themselves on a planetary scale and thus see themselves as fostering a new way of approaching marketing and managerial problems.

The digital world is already everywhere we go. It remains an arsenal that can guide a nation/company towards a relational, and not just transactional, vision. Nevertheless, digitalization has acquired power that has raised many controversies (Stolterman and Fors, 2004; Westerman and al., 2011; Bounfour, 2016).

In this Special Issue, we call for papers to reveal the transformations made in markets, economies, behaviors (B2C or B2B), and in marketing/information systems/logistics management techniques related to the digital world.

The key aims of this Special Issue are to examine the ways in which digital technology has penetrated to the four corners of the world and into all fields, to understand the repercussions and the transformations caused in economies, markets, organizations (lucrative or not) and companies, and to identify the various challenges and related issues.

Our ambition is, among other things, to try to provide answers to the following questions: why is it so important for organisations (profit or non-profit) to question themselves and thus integrate digital culture for a better m-commerce environment, intertwined with social media? What are the major challenges facing them? What reconciliation between humans and digital entities at the level of organizations could improve the quality of m-commerce transactions? What are the current and future challenges of digitalization? Finally, what are the salient ingredients of a successful digital transformation, in particular when incorporating social media in a world where social media becomes a threat?

The following topics constitute potential research topics:

Topic 1: Literature review, meta-analyses (descriptive/critical) and perspectives related to the evolution and implementation of digital practices in the m-commerce/social media field of research

Topic 2: Artificial intelligence (chatbots, machine learning, deep learning, IoT, gaming, etc.) and its applications in the fields of marketing/information systems/logistic management;

Topic 3: Virtual/augmented/mixed reality technologies and applications in m-commerce and social media enviroments.

Topic 4: Digital solutions in education, training and teaching with mobile and social media environments;

Topic 5: Measuring the effectiveness of digital strategies in m-commerce and social media fields;

Topic 6: The use of digital technolgies and the improvement of the customer experience;

Topic 7: Digital transformation, organization, staff and collaborators;

Topic 8: Economy, development of the economic growth, value creation and digital technologies;

Topic 9: Government and local authorities facing digital technologies: between realities and perspectives;

Topic 10: Perceptions and reactions of market actors (companies, local authorities, consumers, influencers, etc.) in this period of health crisis linked to the COVID-19 pandemic;

Topic 11: Digital and sustainable development in all its forms (ecotourism, agritourism, terroir products, etc.);

Topic 12: Marketing, information systems, logistic and management: traditional vs. digital tools;

Topic 13: Legal and normative issues related to m-commerce and social media;

Topic 14: Entrepreneurship, startups and digital technology related to m-commerce and social media

Topic 15: Convergence of the physical and digital in m-commerce and social media

Topic 16: Trust, security and privacy issues in m-commerce and social media

Topic 17: Relationship between m-commerce and social media

Topic 18: The combination of m-commerce with social media, the relationship between them and their effect on individual and organizational activities

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Jean-Éric Pelet
Guest Editor

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• mobile commerce
• m-commerce
• social media
• privacy
• artificial intelligence
• IoT
• VR
• live shopping
• logistic
• last kilometre
• second hand buying
• user experience
• consumer behavior