This research performed the first comprehensive literature evaluation to develop a model encompassing almost all the elements influencing the behavioural intentions to use cashless transactions without duplication. The procedure for identifying the antecedents of this research model through a comprehensive literature evaluation is as follows:
Initially, 110 research publications were evaluated from "Science Direct", "Emerald", "Sage", "Springer", "Taylor & Francis", "IEEE", and "Google Scholar" to determine a research model that encloses practically all the aspects influencing users' behavioural intent to participate in cashless transactions. Consequently, 63 factors were identified within the 110 valid studies. Further, in order to avoid redundancy and overlap, this study classified them based on their similarity. Then, from each group, this study selected the most significant dimension associated with cashless transaction adoption from earlier studies. Table 1 summarizes the specified dimensions and their respective group. Consequently, this research established 14 dimensions ("Performance Expectancy," " Effort Expectancy," "Perceived Trust," "Personal Innovativeness," "Social Influence," "Self-efficacy," "Perceived Risk," "Perceived Costs," "Anxiety," “Perceived Economic Offense Reduction,” “Perceived Economic Benefit,” “Perceived Economy’s Security,” "Behavioural Intention," and "Actual Use") to obtain a comprehensive Cashless Transaction Adoption Model. Table 2 represents the sources of the modified CTAM model's dimensions, whereas Fig. 1 depicts the research framework.
Table 1
Constructs identifications for CTAM
No
|
Selected dimensions
|
Groups of similar dimensions
|
1
|
Performance Expectancy
|
Perceived Usefulness, Perceived benefit, Performance Expectancy, Perceived relative advantage, Perceived compatibility, User satisfaction Mobility, Reachability, Convenience and Perceived utility value
|
2
|
Effort Expectancy
|
Perceived Ease of Use, Accessibility, Effort Expectancy, Information quality, Service visibility, Amount of information, Lack of Information and Complexity
|
3
|
Social Influence
|
Social Influence, Subjective Norm, Expressiveness and Image
|
4
|
Perceived Trust
|
Perceived Trust, Perceived structural assurance, Perceived Bank / Firm, Trustworthiness, System reliability, Perceived competence, Perceived benevolence, Perceived integrity, Perceived Reputation and Trust propensity)
|
5
|
Personal Innovativeness
|
Personal Innovativeness and Trialability
|
6
|
Self-Efficacy
|
Self-Efficacy, Perceived Behavior Control and Expertise
|
7
|
Perceived Risk
|
Perceived Risk, Social Risk, Performance risk, Financial Risk, Time risk, Privacy risk, Perceived Web Security, Perceived security, Perceived credibility, Perceived Opportunism, Perceived Environmental Risk, General privacy and System-related privacy
|
8
|
Perceived Costs
|
Perceived Costs and price value
|
9
|
Anxiety
|
Anxiety
|
Table 2
Literature of Latent factors associated with CTAM that affect behavioral intentions toward the adoption of cashless transactions
Construct
|
Source of model
|
Significant
|
Not significant
|
Performance Expectancy
|
UTAUT, 2003
|
46, 6, 3, 30, 21, 12, 9, 10; 56
|
51
|
Effort Expectancy
|
UTAUT, 2003
|
6; 3; 51, 30, 21, 12
|
46, 9, 10
|
Social Influence
|
Extended TAM, 1999
|
46, 6; 30, 21, 12, 39, 10, 36, 56
|
3, 51, 9, 44, 62
|
Perceived Trust
|
Extended TAM, 2002
|
6, 3, 25, 44, 39, 36, 56
|
46, 33, 18, 32, 62
|
Personal Innovativeness
|
Extended IDT, 1997
|
46, 5; 39, 26
|
28
|
Self - Efficacy
|
DTPB, 1995
|
6, 48, 36, 62
|
33, 44
|
Perceived Cost
|
Modified UTAUT
|
6, 18, 25, 62
|
48, 32, 30, 12
|
Perceived Risk
|
Extended TAM, 2003
|
46, 32, 25, 12, 5
|
6, 48, 26, 56
|
Anxiety
|
Extended UTAUT
|
39, 10, 8
|
|
Perceived Economic Offense Reduction
|
The scale was developed, but it was not integrated into existing theories [41].
|
Perceived Economic Benefit
|
Perceived Economy’s Security
|
3.1. Identifying new constructs for integration into CTAM
In a cashless economy, audits are feasible at any moment since all monetary transactions are digitally recorded as evidence. As a direct result of this, a greater number of cashless transactions inside the economy would favourably influence the economy in various ways (Appendix B provides a comprehensive perspective on the matter).
First, there would be a more significant rise in transparency in all financial activities [55, 13]. Augmented transparency would reduce economic offences such as the number of hawala transactions, money laundering, tax evasion, black money, and instances of corruption and bribery [20, 60, 19, 43, 34, 55].
Second, it impacts economic growth through the economy’s security [41]. For instance, issuing counterfeit money would be impossible in a cashless economy, and currency transferred to terrorists via illicit transactions would be restricted [55, 60, 35, 20, 43]. Additionally, all crimes such as robbery, theft, extortion, drug trafficking, and human trafficking would be diminished [57, 50, 7].
Third, the elimination of cash from an economy would put a damper on spending in the various financial sectors [29], reducing the operating expenses of criminal justice systems by reducing illegal activity [55] and omitting currency's printing, supply, and upkeep costs [13]. On the other hand, it would achieve higher consumption levels, expand businesses, attract more global investments, and provide better job prospects for those living in the country [13, 27, 61]. These advantages will eventually accelerate economic benefit and increase human development [41].
All of the advantages of adopting a cashless economy are what we refer to as the "outcome of cashless transactions" carried out by every single person. Therefore, since these advantages would promote the stimulation of economic growth and the progression of human development, the degree to which people embrace cashless transactions is also influenced by their perceptions of the benefits that nations would experience from transitioning to a cashless economy [41]. Accordingly, taking into consideration this line of reasoning, we put up the following three hypotheses:
H1a. Perceived economic offence reduction positively influences behavioural intention towards adopting cashless transactions.
H1b. Perceived economy's security positively influences the behavioural intention towards adopting cashless transactions.
H1c. Perceived economic benefit positively influences behavioural intention towards adopting cashless transactions.
3.2. Performance expectancy
The notion of "performance expectation" pertains to the degree to which a person feels that using technology will make it possible for them to increase their overall work performance [53]. It reveals that individuals are more inclined to adopt and embrace new technology if they feel it will be more valuable and beneficial to their day-to-day lives [42]. Similarly, cashless transactions have been attributed to a more convenient channel enabling users to flexibly access various services in time and location [37]. In addition, a number of researchers in the academic world have investigated the relationship between users' performance expectations and their behavioural intentions with regard to cashless transactions [46, 6, 3]. As a result, we propose this hypothesis:
H2: Performance expectations positively influence the behavioural intention to adopt cashless transactions.
3.3. Effort expectancy
An effort expectation is defined as the degree of ease involved with adopting cashless transactions, as stated by Venkatesh et al. [53]. The extent to which the user is knowledgeable, skilled, and ready to put in effort may all play a factor in deciding whether or not the user is willing to utilise cashless transaction services [17]. Additionally, people who feel that cashless transactions are simple to use are more likely to be receptive to using these techniques to conduct financial transactions because they believe it will be easier for them to utilise them [30]. Furthermore, an earlier study established a statistically significant link between the amount of anticipated effort and the participants' intentions to use the product [6, 51, 30]. As a result, we propose this hypothesis:
H3: The expectation of effort has a beneficial effect on the behavioral intention to embrace cashless transactions.
3.4. Perceived trust
An individual's evaluation of the institutional setting from which they get services is referred to as their "perceived trust," and the phrase "perceived trust" is a synonym for "perceived confidence." Further, based on previous interactions or a favourable reputation, this might involve putting faith in service providers, such as financial institutions and telecommunications companies [44]. However, due to unique and forward-thinking services, potential customers lack past and trust-based knowledge [49]. As a result, it is anticipated that the first confidence in a person would be inspired by certain viewpoints and perhaps illogical elements such as cognitive signals. In addition, previous research has shown a significant and favourable association between initial trust and behavioural intentions toward embracing cashless transactions [25, 44, 36, 56]. Consequently, we hypothesize:
H4. The perception of trust positively influences the intention to engage in cashless transactions.
3.5. Social influence
The notion of "social influence" relates to an individual's view that other people should switch to conducting their financial transactions electronically rather than using cash [53]. Consequently, early adopters would often inquire about cashless transaction systems in their social circle, and they are susceptible to being affected by the feedback provided by crucial people [17, 21]. As a result, the behaviour of potential customers is likely to be profoundly influenced by social influence to a significant degree [39]. In addition, several studies have shown a positive association between social influence and the intention to engage in cashless transactions [46, 39, 10, 36]. Consequently, we hypothesize:
H5: The effect of social influence on the behavioural intention to embrace cashless transactions is favourable.
3.6. Personal innovativeness
According to Agarwal and Prasad [1], "personal innovativeness in information technology (IT)" relates to the degree to which a person is prepared to experiment with each new IT. Furthermore, cashless payment methods are presently available, and they represent a revolutionary way of making financial transactions that are technologically separate from traditional banking operations. In addition, recent research has shown that a product's or service's innovativeness significantly and directly influences customers' propensity to engage in cashless transactions. Accordingly, these findings support the hypothesis that innovativeness is a natural factor in adopting cashless transactions [46, 39]. As a result, we will propose a hypothesis:
H6: Innovativeness has a positive influence on the behavioural intent to accept cashless transactions.
3.7. Self-efficacy
Past research has shown a substantial relationship between computing technology expertise and computer usage outcomes [48, 6]. In a similar vein, current research in the field of IS stresses the relevance of an individual's degree of computer self-efficacy in shaping how they respond to IT [36]. As a consequence of this, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the levels of knowledge, competency, and capacity that the respondents had about cashless transactions. Therefore, the term "perceived self-efficacy" relates not to an individual's actual talent but rather to their perception that they can engage in cashless transactions. In addition to this, the findings of earlier studies showed that self-efficacy had a positive impact on individuals' behavioural intentions to adopt cashless transactions [6, 48, 36, 62]. Consequently, we hypothesize:
H7: Perceptions of self-efficacy have a beneficial effect on behavioural intentions to embrace cashless transactions.
3.8. Perceived risk
The phrase "perceived risk" refers to the user's subjective anticipation of incurring a loss to get the required result while utilising cashless transaction services [40]. According to Koenig-Lewis et al. [32], customers develop their perspectives on future technology-based products, including risk assessments. Furthermore, several studies have shown that a customer's perception of risk hurts their behavioural intention. It suggests that the willingness of prospective customers to adopt cashless transactions declines as their sense of risk grows [46, 5]. Consequently, we hypothesize:
H8. The perception of risk has a negative impact on individuals' behavioural intentions towards the adoption of cashless transactions.
3.9. Perceived costs
The expense of obtaining and using new technology is often cited as one of the factors impeding their widespread adoption. For instance, Wu and Wang [58] observed that the cost significantly influenced the behavioural preference for doing business through mobile phone usage. On the other hand, users may be enticed to embrace digital transactions by decreasing costs [48]. In addition, earlier studies indicated that the perceived cost had a detrimental impact on the behavioural intention to adopt cashless transactions [6, 18, 37]. In other words, the greater the expense of adopting new technology, the lower the possibility of its acceptance. As a consequence of this, we shall put up the following hypothesis:
H9. The perception of costs has a negative effect on the intention to embrace cashless transactions.
3.10. Anxiety
Anxiety may be defined as a user's fear when interacting with various forms of information technology. For example, "technological anxiety" refers to the worry that one would lose data or make mistakes of essential importance when using technology [45]. In addition, the results of previous research on the diffusion of knowledge and technology demonstrated that anxiety plays a significant part in determining both behavioral intention and the diffusion of new technologies [39, 8, 10]. Consequently, the findings of this study anticipated that the levels of anxiety experienced by customers had a detrimental effect on the likelihood that they would embrace a cashless transaction system. In other words, as people's anxieties mount, they naturally lose confidence and acquire unfavourable attitudes against utilising electronic payment methods. Given this, our working hypothesis is as follows:
H10: Anxiety has a detrimental effect on the behavioural intention to adopt cashless transactions.
3.11. Behavioural intention
Ajzen [2] and Fishbein and Ajzen [14] were the pioneers in incorporating behaviour into the TRA model. TRA's contributions significantly assisted in the creation of the TAM. The TRA asserts that beliefs affect attitudes, and attitudes, in turn, impact the character of the intents that control behavioural use [2]. Further, the TAM results indicate that behavioural intention is the component of behaviour that can be predicted with the most significant degree of precision. In other words, intention is the cognitive process humans go through while getting themselves ready to do a certain behaviour, which is a primary antecedent of that behaviour. Moreover, earlier studies have shown that behavioural intention is an excellent predictor of future behaviour in cashless transaction adoption [11, 53, 44, 39]. As a direct result of this, the hypothesis that we shall present is as follows:
H11: Behavioural intention has a beneficial effect on utilizing cashless transactions.