Publication Type
Journal Article
Book Title/Conference/Journal
Mobile Media & Communication
Year
5-2015
Abstract
Mobile value-added services (MVAS) represent a growing collaboration between the private sector and the development community. In this paper, we examine one such MVAS, the Nokia Usaha Wanita service running on the Nokia Life+ platform in Indonesia, and we assess its impact as an innovative means for the economic empowerment of businesswomen. Data were gathered through 282 telephone interviews with a nationwide random sample of women who subscribed to Usaha Wanita. Our research found evidence that subscribers derived economic benefit from using the service. Subscribers reported that their business profits were greater, because of what they had learned from reading Usaha Wanita content. Women who were subscribers also had higher “good month’s” profits as well. Increased profits were positively correlated with frequent reading of the tips and information provided by Usaha Wanita and subscriber perception that the service was useful for business. Women who exhibited entrepreneurial optimism also had greater business profits. Findings suggest that entrepreneurial optimism amplified the effect of mobile phone use on profits.
Keywords
Economic empowerment, Indonesia, microenterprises, mobile phones, mobile value-added services, women
Disciplines
Asian Studies | Business and Corporate Communications | Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations
Subject(s)
Applied or Integration/Application Scholarship
ISSN/ISBN
2050-1579
Publisher
SAGE Publications
DOI
10.1177/2050157914564236
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/2050157914564236
Version
acceptedVersion
Language
eng
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Format
application/PDF
Citation
CAI, Tian; CHEW, Han Ei; and LEVY, Mark.
Mobile value-added services and the economic empowerment of women: The case of Usaha Wanita in Indonesia. (2015). Mobile Media & Communication. 3, (2), 267.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/oi_research/8
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Business and Corporate Communications Commons, Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons