Do mobile financial services ensure the subjective well-being of micro-entrepreneurs? An investigation applying UTAUT2 model

ABSTRACT

The world is now in human palms due to the rapid proliferation of technology e.g. mobile money transferring. Consequently, the information technology has been sensed as a tool for development which is influencing human well-being. This research embarks upon to examine the influence of UTAUT2 model on the subjective well-being of the bKash agents (micro-entrepreneurs) who belong to the underdeveloped societal group. Data were gathered from the bKash agents in Bangladesh with a response rate of 37.5% and was analyzed by SEM-PLS3.0 statistical software. The results reveal that price value strongly predicts behavioral intention for accepting and using mobile financial services along with other factors. Most importantly, the result suggests that the usage behavior of mobile financial services influences the subjective well-being of the respondents. Adjoining the concept of subjective well-being with a unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology is the paper’s uniqueness to the ‘development’ knowledge domain.

KEYWORDS:

• Mobile financial services
• UTAUT2
• subjective well-being
• bKash
• developing countries

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks to participants who responded to the questionnaire.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Syed Abidur Rahman is currently working at College of Economics and Political Science, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. His research interests are on entrepreneurship in the context of micro, small, and medium-size ventures. He has published a number of his works in outlets like Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Management Decision, Social Indicators Research, Telematics & Informatics, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, International Journal of Mobile Communications, Global Business and Organizational Excellence, Business: Theory and Practices among others.

Mirza Mohammad Didarul Alam is currently pursuing his PhD at OYA Graduate School of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia. He is also working as an Assistant Professor at School of Business & Economics, United International University, Bangladesh. His research interests revolve around retail management, consumer behavior, service quality, and micro-entrepreneurship. He has a number of publications on reputed international journals including Technological Forecasting & Social Change. He has also presented his research works in several international conferences.

Dr Seyedeh Khadijeh Taghizadeh is currently working at Faculty of Business, Sohar University, Oman. Her research interests include marketing management, innovation management, social innovation, and entrepreneurship. Her research has appeared in Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Telematics and Informatics, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Management Decision, Social Indicators Research, Global Business and Organizational Excellence, International Journal of Mobile Communications, Business: Theory and Practices among others.

ORCID

Seyedeh Khadijeh Taghizadeh http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4890-248X