SMEs are slow adopters of new technologies and understandably so because they are entangled in a vicious cycle of poverty. It is even more so for SMEs located in developing markets such as the sub-Saharan Africa. SMEs in these areas are faced with several difficult institutional and cultural bottlenecks which often impede their access to and use of new technologies. In Nigeria, the recently introduced cashless policy is one of many strategies intended to enhance SMEs' chances in the global e-commerce market as much as the general Nigerian economy. Studies reveal that Nigerian SMEs are slow to adopt and use this new technological innovation called the e-payment system (EPS) even when it can improve their chances to participate successfully in e-commerce. However, there is little in the literature to understand why and what is needed to be done to encourage and facilitate their participation in adopting and using this technology. This area of study has not been sufficiently explored. Thus, this thesis fills the void and explores the factors influencing EPS adoption and extent of use by SMEs in Nigeria. The study develops an integrated model drawing from the Technology-Organisation- Environment (TOE) framework and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) model. We employed the mixed methods. 239 respondents were served the questionnaire. Also, 4 SMEs and two stakeholders were interviewed as a follow-up to the statistical analysis. We employed the Logistic regression analysis in addition to the personal interviews analysis. The results revealed that technological, environmental and owner/manager's factors majorly influenced the adoption of EPS among SMEs in Nigeria. The study finds that perceived benefit is the single major factor positively influencing the decision to adopt and use EPS in Nigeria. Others are owner/manager's educational level and knowledge in IT. The study also finds that perceived complexity, perceived insecurity and lack of government policy are major barriers to the adoption of EPS. Age, perceived benefits, and perceived trust facilitated frequent EPS usage while age, perceived complexity and competitive pressure positively influenced the number and type of EPS channels used by SMEs in Nigeria.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:685284 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Igudia, Patrick Ohunmah |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=229722 |
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