Disappearing bargain and technical sharing: the sociocultural influence of mobile payment in China

Unlike previous research that concentrated on mobile payment’s attributes in influencing user adoption decisions, this study focuses on the cultural norms and social environments in which mobile payments are conducted. This study aims to clarify the sociocultural influences of mobile payment systems based on in-depth interviews and participant observations in the Machong town market in China. In the analysis of substantive and instrumental perspectives on the influence of technology, this study found that the entrenched cultural practice of bargaining in China has been disrupted by the widespread adoption of mobile payment technology and supplanted by the new cultural practice of technical sharing, which is becoming increasingly entrenched in the continuing adoption of technology. The findings of this study suggest that technological and commercial logics have powerful reductionist effects on the imagination in technology use and design. To overcome these effects, we propose a co-exploration paradigm for use in the future development of mobile payment technology.