The effect of trust, IT knowledge, and entrepreneur's innovativeness to embrace or shun the internet of things

Ahmad Abushakra; Davoud Nikbin; Ammar Odeh; Rasha Abdulwahab

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1035015

The effect of trust, IT knowledge, and entrepreneur's innovativeness to embrace or shun the internet of things

Front Psychol. 2022 Nov 24:13:1035015. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1035015. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ahmad Abushakra¹, Davoud Nikbin², Ammar Odeh³, Rasha Abdulwahab⁴

Affiliations

¹ Business Information Technology Department, Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Amman, Jordan.
² School of Business and Law, University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom.
³ Computer Science Department, Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Amman, Jordan.
⁴ Department of Information Technology, University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Sohar, Oman.

Abstract

This study examines critical factors influencing Omani entrepreneurs' adoption of the internet of things (IoT) by expanding the constructs at the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) with entrepreneurs' innovativeness, IT knowledge (ITK), and trust. A cross-sectional survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 158 entrepreneurs in Oman. Data were analyzed through the structural equation modeling technique using SmartPLS. The results indicated that performance expectancy, habit, social influence, trust (TR), ITK, and entrepreneurs' innovativeness (PI) significantly affect Omani entrepreneurs' intention to adopt IoT. Nonetheless, the results show that there is no significant relationship between hedonic motivation, effort expectancy, price value, and facilitating conditions to adopt IoT. This study contributes to previous literature by incorporating entrepreneurs' innovativeness, ITK, and trust into UTAUT2. Furthermore, this study was conducted in a Middle Eastern country with solid support from the government for entrepreneurs; also, there is a gap in such studies in this area. This study helps practitioners in the field better understand how to influence entrepreneurs, push them toward using IoT applications further, and encourage non-users to start using them.

Keywords: deliberate practices; entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship; internet of things; structural equation modeling.