Mobile Recommender Systems: Trust and Context-Awareness

The adoption of mobile commerce in service industries is lacking behind expectations. One reason is the missing trust of consumers in mobile devices as a shopping platform. We investigated the impact of three types of recommender systems on consumers' trusting beliefs and purchase intention by varying the level of social presence in recommender systems. Additionally, we accounted for the importance of context-sensitive services in m-commerce by examining, whether different usage contexts yield preferences for a certain level of social presence in a recommender system. Our findings suggest that different types of recommender systems vary in their impact on trusting beliefs. Furthermore, the usage of recommender systems is more likely to translate into purchase intentions in high-risk situations. In high-risk situations, low levels of social presence in recommender systems are important whereas in low-risk situations, high levels of social presence are preferred. Limitations and future implications for theory and practice are discussed.