Factors Influencing E-Wallet Adoption among Adults During Covid-19 Pandemic in Malaysia: Extending The Tam Model

Abstract

The e-wallet has emerged as a new alternative payment mechanism in recent years. Malaysia can fulfil its vision of being a cashless country and change the new norm as a cashless society by increasing E-wallet adoption. Previous e-wallet research has concentrated on factors such as perceived risk and variables from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) that influence e-wallet usage. However, the impact of government support and perceived risk on individual behaviour was not well studied during the COVID-19 epidemic. As a result, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the issues in the underlying theories relating to technology adoption as well as to investigate the effects of perceived risk, government support, behavioural intention, and perceived usefulness as mediating factors on the intention to use e-wallet among adults in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants in this study aged 25 to 60 years old from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak who planned to engage in e-wallet transactions. The partial least square SEM was used to analyse the data (SmartPLS). The study investigates the causes as well as a number of difficulties that have arisen as a result of the past research findings that have been inconsistent. It also compares the integrated TAM model to other aspects and determines whether TAM is the dominating model in adjusting to new technologies like e-wallets. The outcomes of this study are crucial in establishing which determinants influence e-wallet usage in Malaysia during COVID 19. Furthermore, e-wallet marketers will learn more about consumer behaviour and the challenges of e-wallet adoption among Malaysian youth. The government may also help ewallet companies develop their global e-commerce sales.