Abstract
Abstract : Mobile banking apps are one of the recent improvements in the mobile banking innovation domain that retail banks are promoting to their customers. Research into mobile banking app user behaviour is important to promoting a rapid acceptance of this banking innovation. Despite this, only limited studies have addressed this issue, particularly from the standpoint of emerging nations such as South Africa. Using the Unified Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT 2) model as its theoretical background, this research analysed the drivers of and barriers to mobile banking app acceptance and use among millennials in Gauteng, South Africa. A survey strategy using a self-administered questionnaire was applied to obtain 352 usable responses from customers of the five major South African retail banks (Capitec, Absa, FNB, Nedbank, and Standard Bank). A partial least squares structural equation modelling technique using SmartPLS version 3 was used to assess the measurement model properties and to test the hypotheses proposed for the study. The findings suggest that performance expectancy a, facilitating conditions are significant drivers of millennials’ behavioural intention to use mobile banking apps. Furthermore, perceived risk was found to be a critical barrier to millennials’ behavioural intention to accept mobile banking apps; but, surprisingly, the impact of perceived risk on the actual use of mobile banking apps was found to be insignificant, thus suggesting that perceived risk is not a deterrent to mobile banking app use among millennials who currently use the innovation. Moreover, the actual use of mobile banking apps was found be strongly and positively associated with behavioural intention and facilitating conditions. The findings of this study contribute to the limited literature that currently exists on mobile banking apps acceptance in emerging countries such as South Africa. In addition, this study validates the UTAUT2 in a different country (South Africa), in a different age group (millennials), and in a different technology domain (mobile banking apps), and thus contributes towards cross-cultural validation of the UTAUT2 beyond its original setting.
M.Com. (Marketing Management)