Technology Adoption in Rural and Urban Gujarat: A UTAUT Study with Risk and Anxiety as Moderators.

Abstract

Digital payment systems have rapidly evolved over the past decade, particularly in developing country like India offering new levels of convenience, speed and efficiency. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016 introduced Unified Payment Interface (UPI) which has been a gamechanger in shifting the financial habits of millions of Indian consumers. UPI is widely used in India offering ease of use, security, and reduces dependency on cash or card-based payments. Innovative features like the All-in-One QR code system and have constantly shaped the evolution of UPI technology, especially in urban areas. However, in rural regions, anxiety and perceived risk continue to limit its widespread adoption. The present study tries to understand the psychological factors contributing to this divide. The study tried to examine the factors influencing the adoption and usage behavior of unified Payment Interface (UPI) among respondents in rural and urban areas. Using the UTAUT model, including behavioral intention (BI), use behavior (UB), performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating conditions (FC), and perceived risk (PR) and anxiety (ANX) as moderating factors. The findings of the study confirm the effectiveness of the UTAUT constructs on the adoption of technology in both urban and rural respondents of Anand district in Gujarat. The research also revealed some unique finding that neither PR nor ANX significantly moderated the relationship, indicates a strong link between BI and UB among the rural and urban UPI users of Anand district of Gujarat.