Adoption of internet of things (IoT) in the agriculture industry deploying the BRT framework

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) in the agriculture industry by the farmers' in India using the theoretical lens of the behavioral reasoning theory (BRT).Design/methodology/approachA survey on farmers was conducted to examine the adoption of IoT in agriculture industry (IoT-A) using BRT. The data analysis of the primary survey was done by applying the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique.FindingsThe ‘reasons for’ adoption of IoT-A were as follows: Relative advantage, social influence, perceived convenience, and perceived usefulness. The ‘reasons against’ adoption were as follows: Image barrier, technological anxiety, perceived price and perceived risk. The BRT theory provides the platform to discuss the psychological processing of acceptance of IoT in agriculture industry by the farmers.Practical implicationsThis research has unique implications as it studies the rural consumers’ behavior of innovation adoption namely IoT in agriculture. It provides the specific reasons ‘for’ and ‘against’ IoT adoption in agriculture, which will give directions to the marketers of IoT technology to develop suitable marketing strategies to improve the adoption in rural areas.Originality/valueThis research takes the first step in the direction toward deliberation of the adoption of IoT-A by farmers in an emerging Indian economy using the BRT theory, which discusses the ‘reasons for’ and ‘reasons against’ adoption in a proposed model.