Mobile Value-Added Services - A Multidimensional Framework Relating Flanking Apps to a Core Service

Mobile services (e.g. smartphone apps) have become an important instrument in company communication and are often introduced as a flanking service to a core service offering – namely a mobile value-added service. Empirical research, however, focuses to a large degree on the value perception of the mobile service itself, only while neglecting the relation of app and core service. Our paper tries to close this gap by examining this interaction with a special focus on users’ value perceptions. The development of an extended multidimensional framework of six value dimensions advances the literature. The results of different empirical studies, including a panel study, increases the understanding of how mobile value-added services influence a core service and clarifies the role of the newly introduced insurance value for smartphone apps.