Benefit–Risk Perceptions of FinTech Adoption for Sustainability from Bank Consumers’ Perspective: The Moderating Role of Fear of COVID-19

Ruzita Abdul-Rahim, Siti Aisah Bohari, Aini Aman and Zainudin Awang
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Ruzita Abdul-Rahim: Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (The National University of Malaysia), Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
Siti Aisah Bohari: Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (The National University of Malaysia), Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
Aini Aman: Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (The National University of Malaysia), Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
Zainudin Awang: Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu 21300, Terengganu, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 14, 1-24

Abstract: Industry 4.0 technologies, designed to optimize efficiencies, are indisputable change agents for sustainability. In the context of financial technology (FinTech), the burgeoning question concerns how to create FinTech natives from the COVID-19-pandemic-induced adoption and realize FinTech’s impact on sustainability? Thus, this study had the following purposes: (1) to examine whether perceived benefits and risks affect FinTech services adoption; (2) to test the role of fear of COVID-19 in FinTech adoption; and (3) to investigate whether FinTech adoption contributes to sustainability. The hypotheses derived from the net valence framework, sustainable information society theory, and protection motivation theory were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). Our online survey of bank consumers in Malaysia between December 2021 and February 2022 yielded 1279 usable questionnaires, randomly selected to generate 400 respondents. The results revealed that: (1) the perceived benefits significantly influence FinTech adoption, whereas perceived risk does not; (2) fear of COVID-19 moderates the perceived benefits–FinTech adoption relationship and fully mediates the perceived risk–FinTech adoption relationship; and (3) FinTech adoption significantly affects sustainability. This study demonstrates that FinTech adoption models must exploit consumer sentiment (e.g., fear) to optimize FinTech’s benefits and risks, thereby creating FinTech natives to realize its impacts on economic, environmental, and social sustainability.

Keywords: consumer sentiment; FinTech adoption; FinTech natives; sustainability; fear of COVID-19; protection motivation theory; net valence framework; sustainable information society theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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