Exploring the Similarities Between Users and Non-Users of Consumer Mobile Internet Services: Towards a Porosity Model of Technology Acceptance

While mobile technologies have become pervasive, some consumers remain reluctant to accept, adopt and use them. Literature traditionally opposes the notions of ‘user' and ‘non-user' but recent developments show the boundary between these two concepts is very thin. The aim of this article is to review theoretical frameworks that are available for understanding such consumer attitudes and behaviours and to confront theoretical analysis with in-depth subjective investigation of a non-user, occasional user and heavy user, facing a set of different mobile media offers. The empirical analysis is conducted using Q-method. Results demonstrate similarities among users and non-users when considering their attitude towards different technologies, which opens opportunities for market consumer technologies to increase their penetration rate.