Exploring Mobile Service Business Opportunities from a Customer-Centric Perspective

Abstract

Mobile services have evolved into an important business area and many companies in various industries are offering mobile services. However, formal classifications or user-centric categorizations of mobile services are still scarce. This chapter develops a conceptual classification for mobile services that illustrates the characteristics of mobile services and gives indications on how to describe mobile business opportunities and categorize services from a customer-centric perspective. The classification scheme, grounded in previous research, is based on the type of consumption, context, social setting, and customer relationship with the service provider. The explorative classification is illustrated with two case studies of existing mobile services in the European market. The theoretical contribution to service management research involves how to describe mobile services from a customer perspective. Managerially, the classification helps marketers, service developers and stakeholders to evaluate, differentiate, group and market mobile service offerings more effectively.