Consumer Perceptions of the Smartcard in Retailing: An Empirical Study

This article empirically explores consumer perceptions of the smartcard as e-cash for purchasing goods and services at retail outlets in Hong Kong. We design a multiattribute model to test the hypotheses using the survey data collected from individual consumers. The results show that perceived ease of use, convenience, automatic add-value service, compact design, security, reliability, and merchant support have significant effects on perceived usefulness of the smartcard for micro e-payment. The findings contribute to the literature of consumer behavior with regard to the applications of information technology in retailing, and have implications for implementing emerging technology to enhance retail services in different contexts.