A literature review of theoretical models of Internet banking adoption at the individual level

Abstract

How and why individuals use Internet banking (IB) has attracted a great deal of academic attention. This article reviews the IB literature through the lenses of nine adoption theories. The review suggests that IB adoption is a complex and multifaceted process, and a joint consideration of customers’ personal, social, psychological, utilitarian and behavioural aspects is more important than adoption itself and will ultimately result in the intended behaviour. Therefore, managers and system developers should undertake a customer-centric approach focusing on managing belief formation rather than directly influencing behaviour. The review also concludes that IB research is in an inconclusive state, and is far from unanimamous regarding the approaches and conceptualizations used to understand the beliefs that truly influence IB behaviour. There is limited research dealing with the role of interventions that can assist managers in making effective decisions to speed the adoption process.