Abstract
The rapid evolution of mobile technology has transformed how businesses engage with consumers, making mobile apps a critical component of modern business strategies. Despite their potential benefits, the necessity and value of mobile apps for firms remain uncertain. This study aims to address this uncertainty by evaluating the impact of mobile app initiatives on firm market value. Drawing on the resource-based view with a market-driven perspective, we analyzed data from 761 public firms’ first mobile app releases between 2008 and 2017 using event study methodology. Our results show that, on average, these firms experienced a negative abnormal stock return on the day they released their first mobile app, and the short-term value creation process was highly contingent on the firm’s market position and IT capabilities. Additionally, the positive relationship between the number of active users and long-term abnormal returns suggests that mobile app adoption and engagement are crucial for sustained market value. This research contributes to IT valuation literature by integrating external and internal resource perspectives and underscores the challenges and potential of mobile app initiatives.
Recommended Citation
Yuan, Ziqing; Chen, Hailiang; and Sia, Choon Ling
(2026)
"The Effect of Mobile App Initiatives on Stock Returns: A Market-Driven Perspective,"
Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 27(5), 1267-1295.
DOI: 10.17705/1jais.01019
Available at:
https://aisel.aisnet.org/jais/vol27/iss5/1
DOI
10.17705/1jais.01019
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