What do we know about consumer m-shopping behaviour?

Purpose – This paper provides a review of mobile shopping (m-shopping) acceptance literature to bring international marketing and consumer research attention to m-shopping acceptance factors and limitations in current understandings to propose recommendations for further academic and retailing attention. Design/methodology – Keyword searches identified consumer-focused literature across mobile commerce, mobile shopping, mobile browsing, and mobile purchasing, published in English language journals. A classification framework is created and a time frame established to provide more focused direction for research. Findings – Despite the growing popularity of consumers adopting m-shopping activities and the increasing academic attention, consumer m-shopping utilisation remains low and research into its causes remains in its infancy. This paper has subsequently identified a variety of recommendations for further research, including further insights into perceived risk, user vs non-user behaviours, the multi-stage shopping process, incorporation of time considerations and theoretical development. Originality/value – There has yet been a review of m-shopping literature collaborating literary findings and limitations in the consumer m-shopping environment. Three major themes arise in this paper. First, there are a variety of factors affecting consumer willingness to accept m-shopping which are often incorporated in existing theory in a sporadic manner. Second, factors can create positive and/or negative consumer perceptions, requiring further insight. Finally, research limitations predominantly surround theoretical and methodological constraints, prompting for wider geographical and more longitudinal approaches to research.