Introduction to the Special Issue Mobile Commerce: The Past, Present, and Future of Mobile Commerce Research
Panos E. Kourouthanassis and George M. Giaglis, Guest Editors
International Journal of Electronic Commerce,
Volume 16 Number 4, Summer 2012, p. 5.
Abstract: Research on mobile commerce has attracted the interest of e-commerce scholars ever since mobile and portable devices became a widespread and effective means of commercial transactions and business practices. In the present editorial of this special issue of IJEC, we first revisit the past of m-commerce practice and research through an analysis of m-commerce-related publications and prevailing business models from 2000 to 2011. The analysis points to the increasingly topical and maturing status of the field, as well as to a gradual move from engineering-driven to socioeconomic-focused research. We then move to examine the field’s present, by examining the submissions to this special issue and the five accepted papers that appear herein. This discussion provides a glimpse into the questions on m-commerce researchers’ minds today; however, it also allows us to investigate what lies ahead in the future of m-commerce research as we move toward the more social-minded, hyperconnected world of tomorrow’s social commerce (s-commerce).
Key Words and Phrases: Mobile commerce research, mobile Internet, mobile apps, social commerce.