IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/mgtdec/v47y2026i2p425-437.html

Mobile Payment Adoption in China: A Comment on Vatsa et al

Author

Listed:
  • Muzaffarjon Ahunov
  • Leo Van Hove

Abstract

Vatsa et al. examine the determinants of mobile payment adoption in China. They do so by applying a probit model to data from a nationally representative survey. In this comment, we identify several conceptual and econometric limitations that affect the robustness of Vatsa et al.'s findings. By improving the methodological approach—most notably by accounting for potential selection bias—we find substantially different results: Health status and party membership are no longer statistically significant, the effects of economic status and social participation prove to be nonlinear, and the impact of most other factors differs in magnitude. When we, in a final step, also try to improve upon Vatsa et al.'s specification, we find, for a sample consisting of mobile phone owners, that the new constructs digital skills and internet experience have a significant positive impact on mobile payment use. Conversely, privacy concerns do not.

Suggested Citation

  • Muzaffarjon Ahunov & Leo Van Hove, 2026. "Mobile Payment Adoption in China: A Comment on Vatsa et al," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 47(2), pages 425-437, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:47:y:2026:i:2:p:425-437
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.70047
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.70047
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/mde.70047?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhunzhun Liu & Shenglin Ben & Ruidong Zhang, 2019. "Factors affecting consumers’ mobile payment behavior: a meta-analysis," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 575-601, September.
    2. repec:ejw:journl:v:22:y:2025:i:1:p:69-90 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Yang, Wei & Vatsa, Puneet & Ma, Wanglin & Zheng, Hongyun, 2023. "Does mobile payment adoption really increase online shopping expenditure in China: A gender-differential analysis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 99-110.
    4. Kamal Abubker Abrahim Sleiman & Lan Juanli & Hongzhen Lei & Ru Liu & Yuanxin Ouyang & Wenge Rong, 2021. "User Trust levels and Adoption of Mobile Payment Systems in China: An Empirical Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    5. Zhenyu Sun & Wei Sun & Hongliang Gao & Ruobing Fa & Shaofan Chen & Dongfu Qian, 2023. "Digital Inclusion, Cultural Capital, and Health Status of Urban and Rural Residents: An Empirical Study Based on 2017 CGSS Database," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-14, February.
    6. Yu Zhang & Hanyang Cao & Wang Zhang & Yating Wang, 2023. "How Digital Skills Influence on Digital Participation in China? The Mediating Roles of Online Interpersonal Communication and Online Immersion," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    7. Qing Wang & Chengjun Liu & Sai Lan, 2023. "Digital literacy and financial market participation of middle-aged and elderly adults in China," Economic and Political Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 441-468, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Atandile Ngubelanga & Rodney Duffett, 2021. "Modeling Mobile Commerce Applications’ Antecedents of Customer Satisfaction among Millennials: An Extended TAM Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-29, May.
    2. Giovanis, Apostolos & Rizomyliotis, Ioannis & Konstantoulaki, Kleopatra & Magrizos, Solon, 2022. "Mining the hidden seam of proximity m-payment adoption: A hybrid PLS-artificial neural network analytical approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 618-631.
    3. Agnieszka Huterska & Anna Iwona Piotrowska & Joanna Szalacha-Jarmużek, 2021. "Fear of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Social Distancing as Factors Determining the Change in Consumer Payment Behavior at Retail and Service Outlets," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    4. Dipankar Das & Vivek Sharadadevi Jadhav, 2021. "Essay on Non-linear Pricing in E-commerce," Working Papers 2021-209, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    5. Chia-chi Sun & Shih-chi Chang, 2021. "An Examination of the Catalyst for Tapping into Mobile Financial Services in the Post-COVID-19 World," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(16), pages 1-19, August.
    6. Xiaohui Sun & Zhijian Cai & Chongyu Wang & Jing Wang, 2024. "The Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on Residents’ Cultural Consumption in China: An Urban-Rural Difference Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Na Xu & Shizhen Bai & Hui Yu & Mengqi Zhang, 2025. "Pricing for online sellers with different payment schemes," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 295-317, February.
    8. Yang Tian & Tak Jie Chan, 2024. "Predictors of Mobile Payment Use Applications from the Extended Technology Acceptance Model: Does Self-Efficacy and Trust Matter?," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(4), pages 21582440241, October.
    9. Thuy Duong Oesterreich & Eduard Anton & Fabia Marie Hettler & Frank Teuteberg, 2025. "What drives individuals’ trusting intention in digital platforms? An exploratory meta-analysis," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 75(4), pages 3615-3667, December.
    10. Isha Chawla & Manouchehr Mokhtari, 2025. "Financial Overconfidence and High-Cost Borrowing: The Moderating Effect of Mobile Payments," FinTech, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-18, February.
    11. Xiaoxiao Gong & Yang Zhang & Menghan Wang & Xuetao Jiang, 2025. "Understanding Individuals’ Adoption of Digital Currency Electronic Payment in China: A Dual-Stage Analysis of PLS-SEM and BPNN," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(3), pages 21582440251, August.
    12. Dong, Jingxuan, 2024. "Digital finance’s impact on household portfolio diversity: Evidence from Chinese households," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    13. Montero-Vega, Mariana & Estrada, Miquel & Thigulla, Divya Teja, 2025. "Understanding the impact of socio-demographic differences on acceptance of last-mile delivery technologies: A comparative analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    14. Shujuan Ding & Ying Ruan & Lei Dou, 2025. "Rural Residents’ Digital Payment: The Use and Its Impact on Credit Availability – Evidence Using Extended UTAUT2," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(1), pages 21582440251, February.
    15. Bharti Ramtiyal & Deepak Verma & Ajaypal Singh Rathore, 2024. "Role of risk perception and situational factors in mobile payment adoption among small vendors in unorganised retail," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 2693-2731, December.
    16. Dmaithan Almajali & Manaf Al-Okaily & Khaleel Al-Daoud & Sulaiman Weshah & Aijaz A. Shaikh, 2022. "Go Cashless! Mobile Payment Apps Acceptance in Developing Countries: The Jordanian Context Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-15, October.
    17. Tianyang Huang & Gang Wang & Chiwu Huang, 2024. "What promotes the mobile payment behavior of the elderly?," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    18. Panetta, Ida Claudia & Leo, Sabrina & Delle Foglie, Andrea, 2023. "The development of digital payments – Past, present, and future – From the literature," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    19. Kamal Abubker Abrahim Sleiman & Wang Jin & Lan Juanli & Hong Zhen Lei & Jingyi Cheng & Yuanxin Ouyang & Wenge Rong, 2022. "The Factors of Continuance Intention to Use Mobile Payments in Sudan," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, August.
    20. Zhang, Qian & Gui, Hailan & Gong, Xin, 2025. "E-Commerce in rural areas, financial literacy, and elderly pension security: A quasi-natural experiment based on demonstration counties for E-commerce in rural areas," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:47:y:2026:i:2:p:425-437. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.