Values of Silent Commerce: A Study Using Value-Focused Thinking Approach

Silent commerce is a special type of u-commerce that uses RFID and sensor technologies to make objects intelligent and interactive. The unique features available in silent commerce will provide benefits and added values to users. This study aims to uncover the values of silent commerce from the customers’ perspectives and understand what customers desire and expect from silent commerce. The scenario-based method was adopted to provide subjects with the necessary background information and knowledge about the emerging silent commerce phenomenon. The Value-Focused Thinking approach, which provides a systematic way to articulate and organize values, was used to identify the values of silent commerce to users. The result of this study is a means-ends objective network that depicts the fundamental objectives of using silent commerce and how the fundamental objectives can be achieved through means objectives. The findings can serve as a conceptual foundation for future research in the u-commerce area and provide useful guidelines to practitioners in developing and implementing silent commerce applications.