High Interest, Low Adoption. A Mixed-Method Investigation Into the Factors Influencing Organizational Adoption of Blockchain Technology

Abstract

Statistics show high levels of interest in blockchain technology, however, considerable adoption has not occurred. This research examines why interest is high, yet levels of adoption are low, by identifying the factors influencing blockchain’s adoption and systematizing them into a theoretical framework. A mixed methodology is used to address the adoption factors. First, a qualitative approach is used to discover the factors from primary data collected from 25 interviews with 23 different organizations. Second, a survey is employed to empirically test the factors with 146 employees from 71 organizations. A total of 18 factors are discovered and seven are tested. The findings support and validate several factors influencing blockchain adoption and contribute a novel factor; perceived technological volatility. A new empirically validated scale is developed to measure organizational perceptions of a technology’s volatility. Furthermore, this research is one of the first to employ a mixed methodology to address blockchain technology adoption.