African Journal of Business and Economic Research (AJBER)

(Online) ISSN 1750-4562 (Print) ISSN 1750-4554

• Indexed at: EBSCO, J-Gate, CABELL, ABDC, ProQuest

and SABINET. Also, indexed and accredited by IBSS
and SCOPUS
Vol. 14, (Issue 4), December 2019
pp 105 – 132

The Adoption of Mobile Banking Among College

Students in Zimbabwe

Takawira Munyaradzi Ndofirepi

Central University of Technology
Department of Business Support Studies
P. Bag X20539
Bloemfontein, South Africa
Email: takandofirepi@gmail.com

&

Petros Gavai
Kwekwe Polytechnic
P.O Box 399
Kwekwe, Zimbabwe.
Email: pgavai@gmail.com

Abstract

Although mobile banking platforms have in recent years become an established

feature of banking services offered in developing countries, scholars in those
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resource-constrained contexts neglect to examine the determinants of the

acceptance of the above-mentioned products in seldom explored customer
segments. Results on the same topic from countries with auspicious macro-
economic milieus may not reflect accurately the state of affairs in less
encouraging situations. In response to this oversight, we explored some of the
theoretically established predictors of mobile banking adoption to assess their
applicability among students at a selected college in Zimbabwe, across-sectional
survey of 376 college students, all of whom were customers of a particular
bank, was conducted in the Midlands Province (Zimbabwe). The hierarchical
regression test results revealed that only perceived ease of use, perceived
usefulness, attitude towards use and lifestyle fit significantly predicted students’
adoption of mobile banking. Risk perception and other demographic variables
did not significantly affect the adoption of mobile banking. Based on these
findings, providers and marketers of digital banking should emphasise issues
like perceived usefulness, ease of use as well as product compatibility when
pitching value propositions to college students. The significance of this lies in
the study’s quest to integrate different theoretical perspectives on innovation
and technology adoption to understand the mobile banking services
consumption behaviour of young adults in a hostile economic environment.

Keywords: Banking, Risk, Lifestyle Fit, Ease of Use, Usefulness, Adoption, Zimbabwe

Introduction

The rapid technological transformation embodied in the 21st-century

consumer markets has led to the proliferation of evolutionary digital
innovations, which include hand-held mobile devices such as
smartphones and tablets. The increase in the ownership of such digital
devices in African countries, and smartphones, in particular, means that
there is a greater chance of success for concomitant service innovations
such as mobile banking platforms.
Mobile banking refers to “a product or service offered by a bank or
micro-finance institution for conducting financial and non-financial
transactions using a mobile device…” (Shaikh & Karjaluoto 2015:5); it is
popular among consumers because of its flexibility, universal
accessibility, personalisation, and relative lack of access restrictions on
time and place. Hence, a growing number of financial services customers
in both advanced and emerging markets use mobile banking instead of
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the traditional banking hall method to conduct financial transactions

(Hanafizadeh, Behboudi, Koshksaray & Tabar 2014; Tran & Corner
2016; Sharma, Govindaluri, Al-Muharrami & Tarhini 2017; Asongu
2018).
The features of mobile banking present an opportunity for financial
institutions to generate new value propositions and create competitive
advantage (Bryson, Atwal, Chaudhuri & Dave 2015) amid intensified
customer anticipations, stiff competition and constantly-changing forms
of market competition. This potential is greater in a country such as
Zimbabwe, where the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ)’s 2018 fourth-quarter review
estimates the number of active mobile subscriptions at 12,977,315
(POTRAZ 2018) out of an estimated population of 13,727,493
(Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency 2012). Ironically, the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe’s (2019:58) report on payment transactional activities
reveals that from January to June 2019 mobile transactions constituted
only 26,39% while RTGS dollar payments comprised 57,68% of the
payments in the economy, corroborating Makanyeza’s (2017)
proclamation that the rate of adoption of mobile banking product
amongst Zimbabwean banking customers was generally low. The reasons
for this remain vague to bank marketers and is under-explored by
scholars. Hence, it is important to examine the factors that inspire the
uptake of mobile banking by consumers in Zimbabwe.
The Zimbabwean economic situation is complex and creates a
challenging but fascinating realm for a study of this kind. From 2009 to
2019, the country used a multi-currency system which was dominated by
the United States (US) dollar for both domestic and international
transactions (Pilossof 2009). However, the supply of the foreign
currencies dwindled from 2016 because of poor economic performance
resulting in a serious cash shortage in the economy (Southall 2017). As a
stop-gap measure, the country’s central bank introduced a surrogate
currency which had the same value as the US dollar at its unveiling, in
addition to the existing multi-currencies. The monetary authorities
eventually abolished the multi-currency system in 2019, leaving a local
currency only which was unconventionally named the real-time gross
settlement (RTGS) dollar. Following the negative developments in the
economy, the government encouraged the general public to use other
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electronic payment systems to ease demand for hard cash. Paradoxically,

the transacting public continues to show a preponderant preference to
transact on a cash basis and to hold on to physical cash, particularly
foreign currency (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe 2019). The situation has
since not been helped by the sudden depreciation of the new currency
and sharp rise of the inflation rate from the single-digit range to
approximately 300 % per annum (Trading Economics 2019). Further, the
Ministry of Finance has since stopped the calculation and publication of
inflation figures by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency, creating a
situation of uncertainty in the economy. Meanwhile, cash shortages
continue and a three-tier pricing system thrives. Prices of goods and
services are quoted in foreign currency, physical local currency, and
electronic local currency with service providers openly showing less
appetite to receive payments electronically (Saunyama 2019). The picture
of the Zimbabwean economy portrayed here may introduce some bias
into the findings of this study; hence, the researchers acknowledge this
potential shortcoming on the value of the study outcomes.
Although some past studies explored the factors which influence the
acceptance of mobile banking in the country, less has been written on the
same subject in relation to young adults (18 to 35 years), particularly
college-level students. This is in spite of the aforementioned age group
members having a higher probability of becoming future salary earners
or business people, and, therefore, frequent end-users of banking
services (van Deventer, de Klerk & Bevan-Dye 2017). Since customer
age may influence the set of variables which determine mobile banking
adoption (Laukkanen 2016), understanding the underlying subtleties of
this customer segment will empower marketers in the banking service to
appropriately tailor their marketing strategies. Further, it will either
authenticate or question the assumptions that have been made elsewhere
about young adults being technology-savvy and, therefore, ready to adopt
mobile banking technology. Thus, the present study seeks to contribute
to narrowing this hiatus by looking at the link between the adoption of
mobile banking technology (dependent variable) and the following
autonomous variables: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use,
attitude towards use, perceived risk and lifestyle fit. The said variables
were selected from those identified by Baptista and Oliviera (2016) as the

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most commonly-cited explanatory variables of mobile banking adoption.

The study addresses the following research question:

Do perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards use,

perceive risk and lifestyle fit or compatibility predict the adoption of
mobile banking technologies by students at a selected college in
Zimbabwe?

The remainder of the paper is set in the following order: it firstly reviews
the literature on mobile banking and factors influencing its adoption.
Secondly, the research design and methodology employed in the study is
explained. Thirdly, the study results are presented and deliberated. The
paper concludes with a summary of managerial and theoretical
inferences, and recommendations for further research.

Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses Development

Previous studies on the acceptance of mobile banking have used varied

and competing technology adoption or acceptance theories as guiding
theoretical lenses (Oliveira & Martins 2011). However, the current study
is based on certain variables from both the Technology Acceptance
Model (Davis 1989) and Diffusion of Innovation theories (Roger 2003),
and thus the said theories are explained.
The TAM posits that an individual’s acceptance of a technology
product depends on the strength of the following primary factors:
perceived usefulness and ease of product use. According to Davis (1989),
perceived usefulness relates to the degree to which the adoption of a
particular technology is seemingly seen as advantageous by an individual.
Hence, the more value an individual sees in a piece of technology, the
readier he or she is to adopt it, and vice versa. In addition, the TAM
proclaims that ease of use is integral to new technology acceptance.
Davis (1989) described perceived ease of use as the extent to which one
is convinced that the use of a particular system would be not
cumbersome i.e. easy to understand or operate.
The Diffusion of Innovation theory suggests that the probability of
acceptance of a new product depends on the following factors: relative
advantage, compatibility, simplicity versus complexity, observability, and
trialability. Relative advantage denotes a product’s additional benefits
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over close substitutes (Rogers 2003). For instance, mobile banking

presumably carries the advantage of being unconstrained by time and
place compared to conventional, over-the-counter banking (Baptista &
Oliveira 2015). Compatibility denotes how appropriate a product is for a
consumer’s lifestyle, values and needs (Agag & El-Masry 2016). When
mobile banking is deemed compatible with one’s lifestyle and values, an
opportunity to project one’s self-image is presented. Hence, the more a
product is deemed to be attuned with one’s lifestyle, the greater the
chance that it will be adopted (Shambare 2012). Perceived complexity
refers to the relative difficulty of using a novelty (Karakaya &
Sriwannawit 2015). There is an inverse relationship between perceived
complexity and adoption of a novelty (Taylor & Todd 1995). Thus,
simple technologies stand a better chance of being adopted than complex
ones. Observability is another key factor. The term explains the extent
to which the effects of a novel product are discernible to others (Rogers
2003; Shambare 2012). The more visible the effects of an innovation are,
the higher the probability of it being adopted. The last factor is the
trialability. This relates to whether consumers are given the opportunity
to try out a product/service before they commit themselves to it (Rogers
2003). According to Shambare (2012), business organisations that afford
consumers the opportunity to sample their products stand a greater
chance of having their product accepted.
An examination of the factors from the two theories reveals some
similarities and overlaps in certain instances. For instance, Baptista and
Oliveira (2016) regarded perceived usefulness (TAM) and relative
advantage (Diffusion of Innovation) as comparable, and, therefore, a
single concept. In such a case, only one of the two variables is adopted.

Perceived usefulness and mobile banking adoption

Results from research carried out across the globe have shown that ease
of product use is a key predictor of mobile technology acceptance. For
instance, Makanyeza’s (2017) investigation of the determining factors of
consumers’ intention to adopt mobile banking services in Zimbabwe
revealed that perceived usefulness had a positive and statistically
significant effect. In the same vein, Yang’s (2009) study of the causes of
resistance to mobile banking technology among university students in
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Taiwan cemented the same view. The study findings showed that a lack
of perceived relevance and usefulness to one’s personal banking needs
was one of the key hindrances to the adoption of the aforementioned
innovation. In fact, Oliviera and Baptista (2016) proclaimed the
perceived usefulness variable to be one of the best predictors of mobile
banking acceptance. However, results from Mohommadi’s (2015) study
concerning the usage of mobile banking in Iran suggested that perceived
usefulness has both a direct influence and mediated influences on the
consumers’ intentions to adopt mobile banking. Hence, it is hypothesised
that:

H1: Perceived usefulness predicts mobile banking technology adoption

among college students in Zimbabwe

Perceived ease of product use and mobile banking

The relationship between perceived ease of product use and mobile

banking acceptance has been investigated by numerous scholars (Koksal
2016; Lu, Tzeng, Cheng & Hsu 2015; Mohammadi 2015). The results of
such studies have generally demonstrated a positive link between the two
factors. According to Talukder, Quazi and Sathye (2014), ease of use is
one of the key determinants of intention to adopt new technology (a
precondition to adoption). This is corroborated by findings from Al
Soufi and Ali’s (2015) study of the adoption of mobile banking in
Bahrain, which revealed a similar outcome. Likewise, Koksal’s (2016)
study of the intent of Lebanese consumers to adopt mobile banking
highlighted the importance of perceived usefulness and ease of mobile
banking as key determinants. Lastly, Sikdar, Kumar and Makkad (2015)
also vouched for the reliability and validity of ease of use as a predictor
of the adoption of online-based banking products. Against this
background, the following hypothesis is formulated:

H2: Perceived ease of product use predicts mobile banking adoption

among college students in Zimbabwe

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Risk of product use and mobile banking technology adoption

It has been suggested that perceived risk, which is compounded by

product complexity, has an inverse relationship with the adoption of
mobile banking products (Makanyeza 2017). Risk is an interpretation of
the consumer rather than a product feature which creates uncertainty in
the consumer’s mind about the effect of using a novel product or service.
Chitungo and Munongo (2013) argued that banking customers are wary
of the possibility of information loss during mobile banking transactions.
This perspective was corroborated by findings from Malaquias and
Hwang’s (2016) study based on a sample of undergraduate students at a
Brazilian university which suggested that a high degree of trust in a
mobile banking technology, and, therefore, low-risk perception,
enhanced its chances of acceptance by the respondents. Thus, it can be
concluded that risk perception is a key deterrent to customers’ adoption
of mobile phone-based banking services. Given this context, it is
hypothesised that:

H3: Risk of product use predicts the acceptance of mobile banking

technology among college students in Zimbabwe

Attitude towards use and mobile banking adoption

Attitude relates to “the salient belief which a person has about the
consequences of a given behaviour and his or her appraisal of those
consequences” (Aderonke 2010:7). Attitude arguably shapes consumers’
perceptions of the nature of a product offering. Previous studies show
that attitude, an integral component of the Theory of Planned Behaviour
and its predecessor the Theory of Reasoned Action, is a key predictor of
intention to adopt mobile banking (Al-Shbiel & Ahmad 2016; Afshan &
Sharif 2016; Baptisa & Oliviera 2015; Shaikh & Karjaluoto 2015). A
meta-analysis of mobile banking uptake by Baptista and Oliveira (2016)
demonstrated that attitude was a major precursor to the intention to use
mobile banking. In light of the aforementioned, it is hypothesised that:

H4: Attitude positively predicts mobile banking technology adoption

among college students in Zimbabwe

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Lifestyle fit and mobile banking adoption

The lifestyle fit variable is synonymous with the compatibility variable

mentioned in Roger’s (2003) Diffusion of Innovation Theory. It relates
to how a product suits a consumer’s needs, values, beliefs, ways, past
experiences and self-image (Alalwan, Dwivedi & Rana 2017). The
Diffusion of Innovation Theory suggests that consumers tend to adopt
new technologies that are compatible with their lifestyles and project
their self-image. This is also applicable to the adoption of mobile
technologies, as evidenced by results from numerous studies which have
proved that compatibility positively predicted adoption of mobile
banking (Koksal 2016; Lu, Tzeng et al. 2015; Mohammadi 2015; Sharma,
Govindaluri, Al-Muharrami & Tarhini 2017). In a study intended to
understand mobile banking adoption intention among selected university
students in Pakistan, Sharif and Ashfan (2016) integrated the task
technology fit (TTF) model, unified theory of acceptance and usage of
technology (UTAUT), and initial trust model (ITM) as guiding theoretical
frameworks. Their study revealed that a customer’s perception of the
appropriateness of banking technology to their personal lifestyle
depended on the technology characteristic. In turn, the extent to which
the technology was perceived to fit the respondents’ lifestyle influenced
their level of trust in banking technology. The present study seeks to
verify the same relationship albeit using a conceptual framework
integrating some variables from the TAM and Diffusion of Innovation
theory. Hence, it is hypothesised that:

H5: Perceived lifestyle fit predicts mobile banking adoption among

college students in Zimbabwe

Demographic factors and mobile banking technology adoption

Scholars have acknowledged the possibility of a significant relationship

existing between mobile banking adoption and certain demographic
factors (Baptista & Oliveira 2015; Koksal 2016; Malaquias & Hwang
2016). Wagner, Hassanein and Head (2010) posited that there is a
negative relationship between age and the adoption of information
technology-related products. This supports Laguna and Babcock’s (1997)

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contention that older people are less receptive to new technologies

compared to younger folk. Furthermore, Veríssimo (2016) noted that
online banking users generally earn higher incomes. In addition,
Laukkanen’s (2016) study revealed that only gender and age significantly
predicted the acceptance of online and mobile banking. Similarly, Hamza
and Shah’s (2014) study of the influence of gender on the adoption of
mobile payment system among students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria
revealed significant gender disparities on the mean scores of
determinants of mobile banking technology adoption such as the
perceived ease of use and social norms. Moreover, other scholars have
associated the acceptance of technology-based products with more
educated individuals. However, Laforet and Li’s (2005) investigation of
the market status of online banking in China found that users of this
banking services innovation were not always young and highly
sophisticated, although they tended to be predominantly male. Against
this background, it is hypothesised that:

H6: Demographic factors (gender, marital status, age group, income

source, income category, number of high-tech gadgets owned and
frequency of use) predict mobile banking adoption among college
students in Zimbabwe

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Research design and methodology

The investigation was based on a positivist paradigm and a quantitative

design. It comprised a cross-sectional survey targeted at capturing the
respondents’ views on perceived risk, ease of use, usefulness, attitude,
lifestyle fit and the adoption of mobile banking.

Target population

The target population for this study consisted of college students in

Zimbabwe who had banking accounts. Convenience sampling was used
to select respondents from among those students who frequented a
particular commercial bank branch located adjacent to a tertiary
education institution in the Midlands province (Zimbabwe). The
eligibility criteria were as follows: 1. holding a bank account, 2. awareness
of an existing mobile banking platform, and 3. being aged between 18
and 35 years.
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The mall intercept method was used to extract the sample. Since the
method is not probability-based, the researchers conducted the data
collection process at different times; this was to try to ensure that the
variability within the population of interest was represented. A sample
size of 500 elements was selected. Of the 500 questionnaires distributed,
376 were filled-in fully and appropriately, representing a 75.2% response
rate.

Data collection

A self-completion questionnaire comprising closed-ended questions only

was used for data collection. Section A of the questionnaire contained
closed-ended items relating to the demographic characteristics of
respondents. However, Section B contained Likert-scale statements with
response categories ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
agree). These statements sought to measure the following constructs:
perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards use,
perceived risk, lifestyle fit and adoption of banking technology.
The measures of perceived usefulness, attitude towards use, and
adoption of banking technology were self-developed by the authors from
literature. In addition, those of the perceived ease of use measure were
adopted from Makanyeza’s (2017) study. Lastly, perceived risk and
lifestyle fit were measured using items from Shambare (2012). All the
constructs proved to have satisfactory reliability and validity levels (see
Tables 2, 3 and 4).

Profile of respondents

Table 1 presents the demographic particulars of respondents. As

displayed, there was an unequal number of female and male respondents,
with the gender categories contributing 44.7% and 55.3% respectively.
However, it was dominated by respondents aged between 21 and 30
years, who were not married, received income from private sources,
earned less than US$100 per month, owned more than one hi-tech
gadget, and transacted relatively few times a month.

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TABLE 1: Demographic information of respondents

Variable Frequency Percentage (%)
Gender Male 168 44.7
Female 208 55.3
Total 376 100
Age in years 18-21 68 18.1
Aged 21-30 290 77.1
Aged 31-35 18 4.8
Total 376 100
Marital status Not married 330 87.8
Married 44 11.7
Total 374 99.5
Unspecified/missing 2 0.5
Total 376 100
Source of income Private source 328 87.2
Job(wage/salary) 14 3.7
Other sources 34 9
Total 376 100
Income group Less than $100 176 46.8
US$101-US$150 92 24.5
US$151-US$200 52 13.8
US$201-US$300 22 5.9
More than US$300 34 9
Total 376 100
Number of hi-tech gadgets None 4 1.1
1 gadget 154 41
More than 1 gadget 216 57.4
Unspecified/missing 2 0.5
Total 376 100
Frequency of use of cell-
phone banking Never 44 11.7
Once a month 94 25
Few times a month 124 33
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Weekly 16 4.3
Few times a week 50 13.3
Daily 48 12.8
Total 376 100

Reliability and validity measures

Construct reliability and validity was assessed for the following

constructs: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards
use, perceived risk, lifestyle fit and adoption of banking technology.
Cronbach alpha values and composite reliability indices were used for
this purpose. Cronbach alpha values assess the internal reliability of the
items measuring a particular construct. Values of at least 0.7 reflect good
internal consistency. Further, the composite reliability index measures
both internal consistency and construct validity. For exploratory studies,
a composite reliability of at least 0.6 is satisfactory signifies satisfactory
reliability and construct validity (Garson 2016). The test results for the
present study are displayed in Table 2.

TABLE 2: Construct reliability and validity test results

Variable Number of Cronbach’s Composite Average
items alpha value Reliability Variance
Extracted
(AVE)
Perceived 3 0.836 0.902 0.754
usefulness
Perceived ease of 3 0.748 0.857 0.667
use
Attitude towards 4 0.888 0.924 0.752
use
Perceived risk 8 0.913 0.929 0.623
Lifestyle fit 6 0.907 0.932 0.733
Adoption of 3 0.791 0.877 0.705
mobile banking

The values in Table 2 shows that the reliability and construct validity
levels of the assessed constructs extended from acceptable to excellent.

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Discriminant validity of the constructs was assessed using the average

variance extracted (AVE) and the Fornell-Larcker criterion techniques.
AVE values which are greater than 0.5 reflect both convergent and
discriminant validity. In the case of Fornell-Larcker criterion, “for any
latent variable, the square root of AVE should be higher than its
correlation with any other latent constructs” (Garson 2016:67). In Table
3, the square roots appear in bold in the diagonal cells while the
correlations appear beneath these. As can be seen, discriminant validity
was confirmed since the square roots of AVE were greater than the
correlations between the constructs.

TABLE 3: Fornell-Larcker criterion for assessing discriminant

validity

Adoption of Attitude Lifest Perceived Perceiv Perceived

mobile banking towards use yle fit ease of use ed risk usefulness
Adoption of 0.840
mobile banking
Attitude towards 0.582 0.867
use
Lifestyle fit 0.690 0.613 0.85
6
Perceived ease -0.439 -0.374 - 0.816
of use 0.36
2
Perceived risk -0.314 -0.261 - 0.357 0.789
0.42
0
Perceived 0.496 0.482 0.43 -0.275 -0.268 0.868
usefulness 3

Convergent validity, which expresses whether the questionnaire items

purported to measure a specific construct are sufficiently correlated, was
confirmed using the exploratory factor analysis. Convergent validity is
supported when high factor scores of the measuring items cluster on a
single factor, as shown by the emboldened scores in Table 4. The rule of
thumb is that factors should load highly on a single factor which they are
intended to measure. In cases of cross-loading, that is when a variable
load highly on two factors, the loadings should differ by at least 0.2
(Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2010).
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TABLE 4: Factor loadings

Adoption of mobile Attitude Lifestyl Perceived ease Perceived Perceiv
banking towards use e fit of use risk ed
usefuln
ess
Ado 0.853 0.485 0.545 -0.402 -0.248 0.376
pt1
Ado 0.881 0.540 0.648 -0.418 -0.311 0.462
pt2
Ado 0.782 0.433 0.536 -0.275 -0.225 0.408
pt3
Att1 0.482 0.804 0.517 -0.319 -0.181 0.390
Att2 0.503 0.899 0.568 -0.224 -0.228 0.465
Att3 0.519 0.910 0.530 -0.346 -0.256 0.421
Att4 0.512 0.850 0.510 -0.405 -0.237 0.394
Ease -0.343 -0.260 -0.275 0.832 0.300 -0.202
1
Ease -0.335 -0.336 -0.286 0.796 0.332 -0.176
2
Ease -0.393 -0.319 -0.322 0.821 0.250 -0.286
3
Life1 0.603 0.530 0.848 -0.339 -0.399 0.323
Life2 0.606 0.520 0.892 -0.378 -0.375 0.373
Life3 0.598 0.526 0.872 -0.318 -0.385 0.401
Life4 0.514 0.402 0.770 -0.241 -0.310 0.341
Life5 0.625 0.628 0.894 -0.269 -0.325 0.412
Risk -0.197 -0.163 -0.272 0.254 0.777 -0.225
1
Risk -0.230 -0.237 -0.336 0.298 0.777 -0.208
2
Risk -0.297 -0.274 -0.389 0.290 0.858 -0.272
3
Risk -0.288 -0.220 -0.376 0.265 0.825 -0.246
4
Risk -0.159 -0.110 -0.330 0.231 0.771 -0.054
5
Risk -0.179 -0.095 -0.264 0.211 0.712 -0.210
6
Risk -0.319 -0.291 -0.380 0.332 0.840 -0.201
7
Risk -0.232 -0.158 -0.256 0.339 0.739 -0.223
8
Use1 0.474 0.422 0.425 -0.248 -0.290 0.889
Use2 0.419 0.439 0.380 -0.213 -0.216 0.867
Use3 0.393 0.394 0.313 -0.258 -0.182 0.849

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Results

To assess whether the proposed hypotheses were supported or not, a

hierarchical regression analysis was used. This technique examines and
equates sequential regression models in stages. Each succeeding stage is a
different regression with added independent variables entered into the
earlier regression model. The successive equations are then compared
using the F-test to decide if the modification in explained variance is
statistically significant. The F-test equates two linear regression models
by their R2 values. The R2 relates to the variance in the outcome variable
which is accounted for by the predictor variables.

Hierarchical linear regression analysis

A two-step hierarchical linear regression analysis which had adoption of

mobile banking as the dependent variable was conducted. For Stage 1,
perceived risk, attitude towards use, perceived ease of use, perceived
lifestyle fit, and perceived usefulness were entered as predictor variables
into the null model. Gender, age, marital status, income source, income
group, number of high-tech gadgets owned, and frequency of use were
added as predictor variables into the model at Stage 2. The results
consisted of model comparisons and a model interpretation.

Comparing models

Each stage in the regression process was contrasted to the earlier stage
using F-tests. The outcome indices of the regression equation in the final
stage were then interpreted. The F-test result for stage 1 was statistically
significant: F (5, 178) = 45.94, p < 0.001, ΔR2 = 0.56. This indicates that
adding lifestyle fit, perceived risk, attitude towards use, ease of use, and
perceived usefulness collectively accounted for 56.34% of the change in
the adoption variable. However, the perceived risk variable had a non-
significant influence on adoption. For stage 2, the result was not
statistically significant: F (16, 162) = 1.09, p = 0.370, ΔR2 = 0.04. This
shows that factoring in gender, age, marital status, income source,
income group, number of high-tech gadgets owned, and frequency of use
in the regression equation did not have a significant impact on the
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variation of the dependent variable. The outcomes for the model

contrasts are enumerated in Table 5.

TABLE 5: Model comparisons for predictor variables

Model R2 dfmod dfres F p ΔR2
Stage 1 0.56 5 178 45.94 < 0.001 0.56
Stage 2 0.61 16 162 1.09 0.370 0.04

The findings in Table 3 cement the view in extant marketing literature

which suggests that psychological variables embodied in various
technological innovations acceptance models have a greater predictive
effect on the acceptance of mobile banking products when compared to
demographic factors. The implications of these finding are elaborated in
the discussion and implications sections.

Model interpretation

The results for each of the regression models are presented in Table 6
TABLE 6: Hierarchical regression analysis results
Variable B SE β t P
Stage 1
(Intercept) 2.45 1.16 0.00 2.12 0.036
<
Lifestyle fit 0.29 0.04 0.47 7.02
0.001
Perceived risk 0.02 0.02 0.04 0.74 0.458
Attitude towards use 0.11 0.05 0.15 2.24 0.026
- - -
Ease of use 0.06 0.002
0.18 0.17 3.10
Perceived usefulness 0.18 0.06 0.18 3.10 0.002

Stage 2
(Intercept) 1.40 1.56 0.00 0.90 0.368
Gender: Male 0.11 0.29 0.02 0.38 0.707
Age: 21-30 0.57 0.37 0.09 1.52 0.130
Age: 31-35 1.15 0.79 0.09 1.46 0.146
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Marital_Status: Not married 0.16 0.49 0.02 0.32 0.749

Income_source: Other source 0.73 0.88 0.08 0.83 0.406
Income_source: Private use 0.81 0.76 0.10 1.06 0.290
Income_group: More than
0.43 0.54 0.05 0.81 0.420
US$300/month
Income_group: US$101- - - -
0.34 0.303
US$150/month 0.36 0.06 1.03
Income_group: US$151- - - -
0.43 0.534
US$200/month 0.27 0.03 0.62
Income_group: US$201-
0.13 0.59 0.01 0.22 0.823
US$300/month
High-tech gadgets owned: More than
0.38 0.29 0.07 1.33 0.186
1 gadget
Frequency of use: Few times a month 0.03 0.45 0.01 0.07 0.946
Frequency of use: Few times a week 0.20 0.54 0.03 0.37 0.710
- - -
Frequency of use: Never 0.55 0.094
0.92 0.11 1.68
- - -
Frequency of use: Once a month 0.47 0.503
0.32 0.05 0.67
- - -
Frequency of use: Weekly 0.75 0.064
1.39 0.11 1.86
<
Perceived lifestyle fit 0.27 0.04 0.44 6.25
0.001
Perceived risk 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.50 0.615
Attitude towards use 0.11 0.05 0.14 2.06 0.041
- - -
Perceived ease of use 0.06 0.021
0.14 0.14 2.33
Perceived usefulness 0.18 0.06 0.18 2.98 0.003

For all variables considered, perceived lifestyle fit exerted the greatest
predictive influence on adoption for this study sample. This was followed
by perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and attitude towards use
respectively.

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Discussion

Stiff competition among financial institutions and high customer demand

for dedicated products in Zimbabwe mean that it is essential to
understand the factors which influence the choices of different existing
customer categories. Against this background, the outcome of the
present exploratory study provides important insights by teasing out
some of the variables which influence mobile banking adoption among
college-level students (young adults). The factors examined were
perceived lifestyle fit, perceived risk, attitude towards use, perceived ease
of use, and perceived usefulness.
The first hypothesis stated that perceived usefulness would predict
mobile banking technology adoption. The findings support the
hypothesis, suggesting that perceived usefulness had a positive effect on
the adoption of mobile banking by college students. This means that the
respondents were open to adopting mobile banking only if they felt it
served a purpose, and vice versa. The present study confirms similar
findings obtained from other studies conducted in different contexts and
with different customer segments (Baptisa & Oliveira 2015; Shaikh
& Karjaluoto 2015; Shambare 2012). It also validates the claim from the
Diffusion of Innovation Theory that consumers are inclined to embrace
an innovation if it aids them in accomplishing their anticipated goals.
It was also hypothesised that perceived ease of product use would
predict mobile banking adoption. Again, the results of the hierarchical
regression analysis supported the hypothesis. The findings of the current
study are consistent with those of Chitungo and Munongo (2013), who
examined the same relationship in a rural Zimbabwean context.
Furthermore, they mirror the results derived from studies concerning the
same relation which were conducted outside the Sub-Sahara Africa
context (Koksal 2016; Lu et al. 2015; Mohammadi 2015). However, the
findings are contradicted by those of Makanyeza’s (2017) study, which
was also conducted in Zimbabwe, albeit with a different target
population; indeed, the study disconfirmed this hypothesis. The
significance of the findings of this study is that they strengthen the
assumption of the TAM that a product whose nature is easy to
understand and learn quicker gains acceptance among intended recipients
compared to one which is complicated. Given the aforementioned, it
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could also have been interesting to test Shambare’s (2012) proclamations

that the perceived usefulness of a product depends on its ease of use, and
a product that is perceived to be too complicated is not useful to a
consumer.
The third question in this research was whether the perceived risk of
product use predicted mobile banking acceptance among a sample of
Zimbabwean students. The findings from the regression analysis revealed
that the predictive influence of the dependent on the independent
variable was not statistically significant. Therefore, no meaningful
inferences can be made from this result. However, this finding was
unexpected given that Spearman’s correlation test had indicated a
significant, inverse and moderate strength between the variables. The
results of this study contradict the findings of Baptista and Oliveira’s
(2016) meta-analysis of mobile banking acceptance, which proved
perceived risk to be one of the strongest predictors of mobile banking
acceptance.
The fourth hypothesis suggested that the attitude of college students
towards a product would predict their adoption of mobile banking. The
hypothesis was confirmed and this finding is in line with those from
other studies across the globe which examined the same relationship
(Shbiel & Ahmad 2016; Afshan &Sharif 2016; Baptisa & Oliviera 2015;
Shaikh & Karjaluoto 2015). The finding also validates suggestions that
attitude is a reliable and consistent predictor of planned behaviour (Ajzen
1991). Therefore, it can be suggested that an individual’s positive
predisposition towards a product enhances the chances of him or her
adopting it. However, the opposite is also true.
The fifth hypothesis posited that perceived lifestyle fit would predict
students’ adoption of mobile marketing. The results of the test
confirmed the hypothesis, suggesting that the sampled respondents
would adopt mobile banking if they perceived it to be compatible with
their lifestyle needs but would shun it if they deemed it to be discordant.
In accordance with the present results, previous studies have
demonstrated that customers will adopt mobile banking only if it projects
their perceived self-image (Koksal 2016; Lu et al. 2015; Mohammadi
2015; Sharma et al. 2017). It was somewhat surprising that of all the
independent variables in the study, perceived lifestyle fit exerted the
greatest predictive effect. It is difficult to explain this result, although it
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may be related to the nature of the target population, which consisted of

young adults. This group is widely reported to be technology-savvy and
more inclined to experiment with product innovations compared to older
customer segments (Lian & Yen 2014). Hence, it can be suggested that
perceived lifestyle fit has a strong predictive effect on adoption.
Although numerous studies have vouched for the significant effect of
some demographic factors on the adoption of mobile banking, the
findings from the current study have proved the contrary. As such, the
hypothesis that demographic factors (gender, marital status, age group,
income source, income category, number of high-tech gadgets owned
and frequency of use) predict mobile banking adoption was
disconfirmed. This finding was surprising given that the extant literature
strongly suggested that factors such as age and level of education have
previously proven to be reliable predictors of the adoption of mobile
banking. Overall, the results of this study strengthen the case for the
need to search for new innovations and technology adoption models and
to test the assumptions of established models in different geographical
contexts. Factors which apply in one case may not necessarily be
pertinent in other, as evidenced by the apparent non-significance of
perceived risk – a factor which was presented in the literature as one of
the key predictors of the adoption of mobile banking.

Implications for practice

The findings of this study have some implications for bank marketing
practitioners who intend to or are already offering mobile banking
products to young adults (college students in particular) in Zimbabwe.
Firstly, they provide a foundation which marketers of innovative banking
services can use to compare rates of product acceptability across
different customer segments. In addition, when launching their products,
marketers of mobile banking technologies should emphasise aspects such
as perceived usefulness and ease of use in their value propositions. If
they do not do so, then the product offering will not resonate with this
market segment’s needs. This will lead to failure and financial loss in
terms of the money invested in launching the product. It is also vital that
bank products marketers be wary of whether the mobile banking
products which they are launching are compatible with the lifestyles and
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values of their target market. If harmonious, this will facilitate quicker

diffusion and acceptance in the market. In addition, there is a need for
cognizance of the influential role of attitude in shaping the intention to
adopt and eventual adoption of mobile banking by customers. Hence,
providers of mobile banking products should pitch their marketing
messages in a manner that creates a positive perception of the product in
the target market. Lastly, although no significant predictive relationship
was observed between risk perception and adoption of mobile banking,
the correlation test results revealed a significant and inverse moderate
effect size relationship between risk perception and mobile banking
adoption. Hence, banking services providers should tailor their
promotional messages in a manner that lowers product risk perception in
the target market. This, as revealed in the literature review, may enhance
product acceptance.

Study limitations

Finally, a number of limitations need to be considered. First, the target

population for this study was confined to a small component of the
young adults’ market constituting college students. Second and closely
related to this, the student sample was drawn from one institution of
higher learning using non-probability means. This was partially due to the
exploratory nature of the study. However, the bottom line is that the
findings of the study are not generalizable to young adults in Zimbabwe
since the sample used was not nationally representative. Future studies
should be more comprehensive, drawing students from across the
country’s numerous institutions of higher learning. A further study could
also widen the target population and include non-student respondents.
Lastly, the number of antecedent factors to mobile banking to be
assessed can also be increased to include those from theories not
included in this study.

Conclusion

The present study integrated components of the TAM and Diffusion of

Innovation theory to explain the determinants of the adoption of mobile
banking among selected college students in Zimbabwe. The strength of
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the study lies in its application of the preceding conceptual framework on

a previously unexplored target population in a severe resource-
constrained environment. The findings showed that only perceived ease
of use, perceived usefulness, attitude towards use and lifestyle fit
significantly predicted students’ adoption of mobile banking. Risk
perception and other demographic variables did not significantly affect
the adoption of mobile banking. Since our study was exploratory, future
researches can draw on it and apply the proposed conceptual framework
to a larger and more representative sample of respondents. Further,
moderating and mediating variables can be incorporated into the
suggested predictive relationships in order to strengthen the applicability
of the framework. The findings have practical implications for marketers
of mobile banking services who can use the information to increase the
appeal of their services to capture the college students market segment.

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