Antecedents of attitude towards the adoption of Internet banking in Senegal

Abstract

Banks in developing and emerging economies worldwide face challenges and opportunities to extend microfinance to the 2.5 billion unbanked adults extant. The purpose of this research was to focus on the case of Senegal and validate critically important barriers in the formation of positive attitudes towards Internet banking in a Senegalese context. The method was to use a modified, abbreviated Technology Acceptance Model in order to evaluate consumers’ perceptions: antecedents of attitude towards Internet banking. A sample of 281 targeted consumers, those with bank accounts and relatively high educational levels, has been collected. Structural equation modeling was employed to test six hypotheses. Perceived facilitating conditions were found to be an antecedent to perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. Perceived ease of use was not found to be directly significantly related to attitude towards use of Internet banking. However, perceived ease of use was found to be predictive of perceived usefulness and perceived usefulness was found to be predictive of attitude. Finally, perceived risk was confirmed as being predictive of attitude towards use of Internet banking. The value of this research is a theoretical and practical understanding of information technology adoption research within the context of Internet banking within a developing economy at an early adopter stage. An abbreviated technology acceptance model can serve as a basis to model important factors that influence attitude towards the use of Internet banking services. The results of this research will help microfinance providers to develop and implement successful distribution strategies.JEL Codes: G21, M15, M16