Young Generation’s Mobile Payment Adoption Behavior: Analysis Based on an Extended UTAUT Model

Abstract

Younger generations comprise an essential segment for the mobile payment market to prosper. However, empirical evidence of the drivers/barriers of the young generation’s adoption of mobile payment has been inconclusive. This study intends to advance the body of knowledge on this subject based on the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), incorporating the young generation’s risk perception and bonus/rewards provided by the mobile-pay firms. To this end, 295 samples with the majority being more tech-savvy, namely generation Y and generation Z, were collected from an online survey in Taiwan. The empirical results in this study demonstrate the uniquely positive effect of social influence on the young generations’ behavioral intention to adopt mobile payment. While behavioral intention and promotional activities are the drivers of the young generation’s actual usage of mobile payment, perceived risks are found to exert a negative impact, reflecting the risk-averse preferences of the young generation in Taiwan. The ignorable moderation effect of gender, on the other hand, suggests the absence of a gender gap in the use of mobile payment among the young generations. The findings in this research have important implications for the development of promotion programs motivating the young generation’s adoption of mobile payment.