Determinants of Intention to Use e-Wallet post-Covid-19 Pandemic in Malaysia: Integration of UTAUT and MAT models

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has indirectly accelerated the lifestyle transition to a cashless society and the application of digital payment transactions. However, compared to existing digital payment channels, the acceptance of e-wallets among consumers in Malaysia is still minimal. Therefore, this study aims to identify factors affecting the consumers’ intention to use e-wallets during the post-COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. The study integrates the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Mental Accounting Theory (MAT) models by considering additional factors of perceived benefit, perceived security, and trust. It uses the purposive sampling technique and collected 303 responses through a survey. Based on the PLS-SEM analysis, the findings indicate that perceived benefits, perceived security, trust, and social influence positively impact the intention to use e-wallets. Meanwhile, the effects of performance expectation and effort expectation are not significant. This study provides knowledge to the industry to understand consumer behaviour during post-pandemic to develop business strategies and digital payment applications such as by enhancing e-wallet design, content, system and features.