Discovering how personal innovativeness drives digital banking usage in rural areas

Abstract

This study addresses the growing challenge of digital financial exclusion by investigating key factors that influence the decision to use digital banking in rural areas of Vietnam. Specifically, it examines the determinants of the intention to use digital banking, the mediating role of this intention in translating perceptions into behavior, and the moderating effect of personal innovativeness on this relationship. This research fills a gap in the literature by applying and extending established technology acceptance theories to the rural Vietnamese context, a population often overlooked in mainstream studies. Drawing on 379 valid survey responses, the data were analyzed using SmartPLS 4.0 through a two-stage process comprising measurement and structural model evaluation. The findings show that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, supporting policy, subjective norms, and social influence significantly shape the intention to use digital banking, which in turn has a strong direct effect on the decision to use digital banking. Moreover, personal innovativeness enhances the conversion of intention into behavior, underscoring its crucial role in promoting the decision to use digital banking in rural communities. The study offers both theoretical contributions by extending consumer behavior models to a rural digital context and practical implications for banks and policymakers aiming to promote financial inclusion through targeted digital strategies.