Competing technologies and consumer behavior: The adoption of new ICT platforms in Mexico

The incessant pace of innovations in the information and communications technology sector (ICT) has transformed the scope of several industries. On the one hand, consumers are increasingly able to decide whether or not new technologies are worth adopting. On the other hand, ICT manufacturers, seeking to expand their market shares, encourage the continuing purchase of newer versions of their products regardless of their elapsed technology life cycle. These phenomena have prompted the advent of competing ICT platforms, which include mobile telephony, broadband Internet, terrestrial digital TV and cloud computing. Yet, the diffusion of newer platforms still requires suitable conditions to prosper as, for example, an appropriate technological environment. In the case of developing countries, such as Mexico, socio-economic factors also play an important role. In this paper we analyze users' intentions to adopt available ICT platforms. Although a considerable proportion of Mexicans already make use of newer technologies, some are still attached to older ICT platforms, such as analog radio and television. There are several public policy implications for this situation, among which the necessity to encourage the rapid diffusion of more efficient ICT technologies as well as the urgent deployment of an appropriate supportive infrastructure stand out.