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AJEMS
11,1 Predicting FinTech innovation
adoption in South Africa: the case
of cryptocurrency
30 Last Mazambani and Emmanuel Mutambara
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Received 6 April 2019
Revised 25 July 2019
Accepted 8 September 2019
Abstract
Purpose – Financial technology innovation within the developed world is driving financial markets, yet its
adoption is lagging among consumers in emerging markets. At the same time, most African economies
continue to be at the tail end of global financial innovations adoption. Given lagging consumer adoption of
cryptocurrency in South Africa, the purpose of this paper is to apply the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to
predict behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency.
Design/methodology/approach – A survey instrument based on the TPB was used to collect quantitative
data for predicting adoption from adult distance students at the Mancosa, Cape Town campus. For data
analysis, the two-step structural equation modelling approach was used.
Findings – The findings indicate that attitude and perceived behavioural control positively impact the
intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Subjective norm showed a negative non-significant influence. Overall, the
results of the study show that the model has a good model fit and can be used to explain the theory.
Research limitations/implications – The results of this study may not be generalisable to the wider
population as it is only based on a cross-sectional study of a sample of adult students at a single institute in
South Africa.
Originality/value – The contribution of this paper is threefold: it is one of a few studies on the behavioural
intention to adopt cryptocurrency in South Africa using the TPB model, it contributes towards the use of
predictive behavioural economics models in understanding consumer behaviour critical to accelerating the
adoption of financial innovations, and the results of the study also inform behaviour change strategies that can be
applied by practitioners or policymakers to improve adoption. Studies of this nature may lead to the development
of financial innovation in emerging markets through a nuanced understanding of consumer behaviour.
Keywords Theory of planned behaviour, South Africa, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin,
Financial technology innovation
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Financial technology innovation applying blockchain technology and cryptocurrency tokens
have taken the global financial markets by storm through creating a borderless financial
system (Sonderegger, 2015). Blockchain refers to a decentralised technological platform for
managing transactions and data without intermediation (Yli-Huumo et al., 2016).
Cryptocurrency refers to tokens or digital currency based on cryptographic technology
used to perform a range of financial transactions such as payments or store of value on the
blockchain technology (Iwamura et al., 2014; Ha and Moon, 2018). The number of listed
cryptocurrencies across countries is continuing to grow and their market capitalisation is
estimated by Light (2019) to be heading towards $700bn. Recently, Arias-Oliva et al. (2019)
noted that initial coin offering activities continue to increase and there are currently over 2,000
cryptocurrencies trading across the global market. Blockchain can be viewed as the back-end
comprised of a distributed database that records all the transactions (Swan, 2015). On the
other hand, cryptocurrency is the front-end used to perform monetary functions like sending
value, investing or trading (Brito et al., 2015). While blockchain is the technology that makes
African Journal of Economic and
Management Studies cryptocurrency work (Dwyer, 2015), it should be understood that it is deep-seated with more
Vol. 11 No. 1, 2020
pp. 30-50
applications beyond cryptocurrencies (Miraz and Ali, 2018; Dwyer, 2017). As a digital
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2040-0705
currency, cryptocurrencies can be used to complete transactions between persons and/or
DOI 10.1108/AJEMS-04-2019-0152 institutions (Liu et al., 2018).
 Despite the fact that the adoption of cryptocurrency is advanced in the developed markets, Predicting
policymakers and regulators in some emerging countries are still reluctant to accommodate it FinTech
(Walton, 2014). In Africa, regulators in South Africa a middle-income economy have been in innovation
the forefront to allow the full execution of cryptocurrency (IFWG, 2018). The South African
financial market continues to develop and innovate in line with global trends when most of its adoption
African counterparts blocked the development of cryptocurrency (Kshetri, 2017). South
African banks and other specialized cryptocurrency boutiques have gone ahead to fully 31
embrace blockchain in their infrastructure. They have adopted cryptocurrencies in their
product portfolios and service delivery (Kshetri and Voas, 2018).
The future of cryptocurrency appears to be secure considering the global drive towards the
Internet of Things (Miraz and Ali, 2018). As noted by Mizrahi (2016), institutional innovation and
adoption of cryptocurrency are in overdrive as they predict increased use of digital currencies.
There are glowing accounts that the widespread use of digital currencies can transform and
democratise economies particularly those in developing economies (Kshetri, 2017; Coeckelbergh
and Reijers, 2015). The development of cryptocurrency is increasing public choices while at the
same time developing new economies (Davidson et al., 2016). It is also believed that development
in cryptocurrencies will lead to further growth in the e-commerce market (Polasik et al., 2015).
Transactions handled through cryptocurrencies are also observed to lower transaction costs and
significantly reduce transaction time through disintermediation (Dwyer, 2015). However, as
noted by De Filippi (2014), the full potential of cryptocurrency can be achieved when it is widely
adoption by end-users without whom its impact will remain minimal. An increase in institutions
investing in cryptocurrency is a reflection of positive prospects of demand (Cong et al., 2018).
Nonetheless, such an investment could be futile without predicted consumer intention to
adoption. The simultaneous adoption of cryptocurrency by users and merchants is crucial for the
sustainability of these investments (Polasik et al., 2015). Online merchants, for example, have
started to accept cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange yet its use by consumers is still
limited (Berger, 2016). Thus, a thorough understanding of the drivers of the adoption of
cryptocurrency is paramount as the survival of cryptocurrency technology is heavily dependent
on the adoption by the wider market (Thomas, 2019). In South Africa, even though financial
regulators have given the green light for financial technology innovation, the consumer adoption
of cryptocurrency remains a mystery ( Johnston and Walton, 2018). Worst still, even though
cryptocurrency seems to be a suitable solution for conducting transactions, adoption and
diffusion of technology are painfully slow in developing countries (Brick and Visser, 2015). The
weak adoption of cryptocurrency in emerging countries is an issue that requires continued
academic investigation (Darlington, 2014). There is a prominent reticence to the adoption of
cryptocurrency in developing countries. Likewise, in South Africa, Gogo (2019) noted
disappointment at the pace of public adoption to cryptocurrency. Apart from Johnston and
Walton’s (2018) study that focused on online user adoption of Bitcoin, there is a dearth of
cryptocurrency adoption literature in South Africa. Despite the apparent value in
cryptocurrencies and recent interest and advancement in the field of behavioural finance,
global research on cryptocurrency is still dominated by grey literature. Extant research is
predominantly focused on financial technology design and features while neglecting the end-user
adoption element (Risius and Spohrer, 2017). In most cases, the existent literature focuses on
broad societal benefits with little studies focusing at the individual user level (Nguyen, 2016). In
emerging markets like South Africa, empirical studies that unearth underlying factors that
predict behavioural intention to adopt financial innovation are of increasing theoretical and
practical interest (Yousafzai et al., 2010). While that is the case, there has not been any academic
cryptocurrency adoption prediction study among adult distance students in South Africa. To
predict the adoption of cryptocurrency, the planned behaviour theory is used in this study to
assess factors that determine intention to use cryptocurrencies. The TPB is an established
research framework that can advance our understanding of the individual consumer and
AJEMS possibly propel the dissemination of cryptocurrency through evidenced-backed strategies.
11,1 Specifically, the study aims to find the impact of attitude, perceived behavioural control and
subjective norm on behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency.
The paper is organised as follows. In the following section, literature on the planned
behaviour theory will be reviewed. Next, the data collection method will be discussed
followed by the presentation of results, discussion and conclusion.
32
Literature review
Financial technology market context
The financial technology market is a confluence of finance and technology in the creation and
delivery of financial services (Kaur and Dogra, 2019). This new market segment is expected to
grow exponentially in financially sophisticated markets with secure internet connection, high
mobile telephony penetration rates and a highly skilled labour force (Haddad and Hornuf, 2019;
Yermack, 2018). The adoption of financial innovation such as cryptocurrencies is not yet
widespread but once adopted widely; it can redefine the future of the financial industry (Chuen
and Teo, 2015). It is anticipated that improved adoption, particularly in emerging markets has
the potential to serve the unbanked and increase e-commerce trade (D’Alfonso et al., 2016).
Financial innovation adoption refers to the consumer’s psychological state about their intention
to use cryptocurrency as a means of exchange and store of value. Thus, adoption represents a
common indicator of the degree of cryptocurrency acceptance (Arias-Oliva et al., 2019). Studies
are required to support the large scale adoption of this technology especially in emerging
markets that lack significant involvement in cryptocurrency (Al Shehhi et al., 2014). The TPB
has demonstrated its validity as a model for the study of technology acceptance in many
spheres. However, few studies investigate its application to cryptocurrency adoption. Given
that, validating the TPB theory in the context of cryptocurrency consumption could help
academics and practitioners better understand social and behavioural antecedents of consumer
acceptance (Truong, 2009). It is critical for financial technology innovators and service
providers to understand the processes involved in user adoption to design sound strategies
that increase the viability of their services. Studying the antecedents of behavioural intention to
adopt cryptocurrency can greatly help increase the pace of adoption as the value of any
commercial innovation lies in driving its adoption (Wang et al., 2019).
In South Africa, cryptocurrencies have become popular as measured by awareness (Luno,
2018) and the volume of trade (Blenkinsop, 2019). South Africans top the list on the Google
search engine searching for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (Gogo, 2018). In a survey of 1,244
South Africans, it was estimated that 50 per cent of them were aware of and planned to invest
in cryptocurrencies (MyBroadBand, 2018). South Africans were noted to lead many European
countries in terms of familiarity and awareness of cryptocurrencies (Emem, 2018). In another
study of 1,000 respondents, 70 per cent of South Africans were aware of cryptocurrencies while
29 per cent were already invested in virtual currencies (Luno, 2018). As South Africans are
already planning to invest in cryptocurrency, it would appear that awareness is not the
problem in cryptocurrency adoption (Karombo, 2018). While awareness will continuously
remain a work in progress (BusinessTech, 2018), the main challenge ahead is to turn registered
interest, familiarity and awareness into the adoption of cryptocurrencies. To effectuate that,
there is a critical need to understand the behavioural aspects that drive adoption. The poor
adoption of cryptocurrencies is still a global problem 10 years after the existence of
cryptocurrencies (Thomas, 2019; Chuen and Teo, 2015). The industry remains in infancy and
sluggish (Stewart and Jürjens, 2018) albeit with the potential to revolutionise the future
industries (Wang et al., 2019; Lansky, 2018). Hence, the growth of cryptocurrencies may be
hinged on understanding consumer behaviour and the ability to predict what drives them to
adopt the innovation. As the most sophisticated financial hub in Africa, South Africa has the
potential to lead in financial innovation development if scientific evidence-based strategies can
be developed to turn rising public interest into demand (Gogo, 2018). The TPB theory has Predicting
proven to be effective in terms of its utility to predict consumer intention and supporting FinTech
managerial decision making (Côté et al., 2012). Social attitude, personal traits and other innovation
concepts relating to behavioural disposition captured in the TPB theory are of theoretical and
practical importance to predicting and explaining human behaviour (Yousafzai et al., 2010). adoption
Additionally, the TPB is suitable for consumer decisions that are complex and require a lot of
thought before consideration. It also applies to an environment in which there are numerous 33
but distinctive brands to choose from (East, 1993). Consumers engage in a lot of consideration
before undertaking financial decisions in an intensely contested cryptocurrency market with
unique brands (Al Shehhi et al., 2014) thereby making the TPB the most relevant framework
for this study. Predicting intentions is relevant to financial decisions in the sense that decisions
leading to investing or saving are all intentional. Financial decisions are typically the type of
planned behaviour for which an intentional model like the TPB is ideal (Krueger et al., 2000).
Studies predicting intention to adopt cryptocurrency within the South African context are
lagging, considering that cryptocurrencies were introduced on the global financial market
more than a decade ago (Nakamoto, 2008). Few of the only attempts to predict intention
towards the adoption of cryptocurrency in South Africa are Johnston and Walton (2018).
Unfortunately, Johnston and Walton (2018), like most studies (Shahzad et al., 2018), only
explored enablers and barriers to the adoption of bitcoin, one of the many cryptocurrencies on
the market. Their study is limited to bitcoin without broadening it to other cryptocurrencies in
general. Thus, limited studies looked at the adoption of cryptocurrencies in general.

Overview of planned behaviour theory

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was moulded out of the theory of reason action which
was based on volition behaviour (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). The TPB was developed to
predict behaviours not entirely under volition control (Orbell et al., 1997). The TPB is one of
the models commonly used to predict, understand and change human behaviour (Ajzen, 1988,
2011). The model has been applied in numerous correlational studies to predict intentions
towards the adoption of new technology (Mahardika et al., 2019). The TPB is the most popular
theoretical model used to study human behaviour (Ajzen, 2002; Qi and Ploeger, 2019) and has
been frequently applied in studies related to the adoption of e-commerce, online services and
mobile technologies, among others (Cheon et al., 2012). The theory is useful in over 150
different contexts (Armitage and Conner, 2001). Besides, Davis et al. (1989) noted that the TPB
can be used to explore any human behaviour. According to Ajzen (2012), the TPB assumes
that intention is an immediate antecedent of behaviour. At the same time, the intention is a
function of attitude towards the behaviour, subjective norm and perceived behavioural
control. Numerous correlational studies support the ability of the TPB to predict behavioural
intentions, thereby confirming the predictive ability of the model (Sharma and Foropon, 2019).
The TPB is an optimal starting point to analyse consumer behaviour towards the adoption
of new technology.
The TPB framework is based on the assumption that intentions can predict human
behaviour (Ajzen, 2002; Liobikienė et al., 2016). At the heart of the TPB is the assertion that
intentions positively influence actual behaviour (Götze, 2011). The TPB further assumes that
behavioural intention is predicated by three belief-based constructs of attitude, perceived
behavioural control and subjective norm (Arnautovska et al., 2019). The influence of these
antecedents on behavioural intention changes depending on target behaviour and
circumstances. Combined, positive attitude towards target behaviour, favourable subjective
norm and perceived behavioural control will strongly influence behavioural intention
(Ajzen, 2012). In some quarters, the TPB has been critiqued for failure to account for unplanned
behaviour (Bachrach and Morgan, 2011). The processes in the mind that constitute intentions
do not always directly feed into observable actions (Barber, 2011). However, for high involving
AJEMS goal-oriented decisions conceived after thorough and deliberate consideration such as the
11,1 adoption of cryptocurrency, intentions remain the best predictor of actual behaviour (Ajzen,
2011). On the whole, there is abundant evidence that intention and behaviour are associated
(Huang et al., 2019).
Attitude towards behavioural intention refers to the degree to which a person perceives the
advantages or disadvantages attached to him or her performing the behaviour (Ajzen, 1991).
34 Attitude towards behaviour entails the extent to which a person positively or negatively feels
about the behaviour of interest. The attitude is informed by a consideration of possible
outcomes from performing the behaviour (DeMarree et al., 2017). These perceived outcomes of
behaviour form the underlying behavioural beliefs that determine attitude towards behaviour
(Conner and Sparks, 2005). The major drawback of attitude as a predictor of behaviour
intention is that they do not predict deliberate human behaviour. Attitudes have been observed
to change with time and circumstances (Aassve et al., 2013) while the TPB is static (Sniehotta
et al., 2014). On the other hand, proponents of the TPB argue that it can capture new or updated
measures to predict contemporary attitudes (Klobas, 2011). Götze (2011) argued that the TPB is
dynamic and can be extended to cover multiple behaviours which can improve its utility to
new technology research. Even still, the classic TPB framework from McEachan et al.’s (2011)
meta-analysis supports that the model has predictive power to explain behavioural intention.
In fact, callous calls to retire the TPB framework (Sniehotta et al., 2014; Ogden, 2015) have been
met with vehement rebuke for the continued use of the theory as a foundational understanding
of behaviour when new products or environments emerge (Schwarzer, 2015; Conner, 2015;
Ajzen, 2015; Montanaro et al., 2018).
Subjective norm is the second determinant of intention based on perceived social approval
or disapproval from others. It refers to the belief about whether one’s social group or significant
others think a person can perform the behaviour. Subjective norm relates to a person’s
perception of the social environment surrounding the behaviour (Ajzen, 2005). Subjective norm
is related to the perceived pressure from one’s reference group to perform target behaviour.
These norms include descriptive and prescriptive norms of what is commonly done and
approved by one’s social group. The construct assumes that intention to perform target
behaviour will be strong if important people in an individual’s life approve of the target
behaviour. Consequently, social disapproval of a particular behaviour will lead to weak
intention to perform it (Krueger et al., 2000). Thus, social support or lack of it influences
adoption intention. However, there are some exceptions with regard to some individuals who
have a high internal locus of control or a high propensity to act (Ajzen, 1987; Bagozzi et al.,
1992). There is strong evidence that people may perform certain behaviour such as accepting
new technology to remain included in a social group (Sugar et al., 2004). In this study, subjective
norm means the degree of perceived pressure on the respondents from their reference groups to
adopt cryptocurrencies. This construct is essentially related to other people in one’s social
networks hence a good understanding of such a construct is important for an industry in
infancy pursuing mass adoption. The construct is used because it has the potential to bring
about insights into social networks that can encourage more users to adopt cryptocurrencies
(Choi and Chung, 2013). The social norm construct is important in socially connected
communities such as those found in South Africa and African in general (Mbaya, 2010).
Perceived behavioural control is the third determinant of intention added by Ajzen (1991) to
the TPB to explain circumstances where individuals lack total control of their behaviour. The
inclusion of perceived behavioural control improved the predictive power of the TPB to explain
behavioural intention (Yzer, 2012). Perceived behavioural control refers to an individual’s
perception of the extent to which performance of the behaviour is easy or difficult. The
perceived behavioural control takes into consideration facilitators and barriers to performing
the behaviour. Facilitators increase confidence while barriers reduce the confidence to perform
target behaviour. Perceived behavioural control increases when individuals perceive they have
more resources and confidence to perform. Perceived behavioural control is a complex Predicting
multidimensional construct (Trafimow et al., 2002) comprised of interrelated sub-constructs of FinTech
self-efficacy and controllability (Kraft et al., 2005). However, it can still be studied as a unitary innovation
construct but should be inclusive of measures relevant to its sub-constructs (Zolait, 2014). An
individual’s perceived behavioural control is influenced by their experience, cognitive abilities adoption
and anticipated easiness or difficultness of carrying out intended behaviour. Perceived
behavioural control towards target behaviour improves when an individual has the cognitive 35
resources to acquire information about the behavioural activity. Easy or difficulty of
performing the behaviour in question, therefore, captures an individual’s perception of presence
or absence of required resources and opportunities to participate in the target behaviour. Past
hands-on experience and anticipated future obstacles also influence participation in a particular
behaviour. Perceived behavioural control reduces the consumer fear of undertaking target
behaviour, thereby reducing barriers to the adoption of new technology. PBC is an effective
determinant of predicting intention when an individual does not have total control over their
behaviour (Doll and Ajzen, 1992). Overall, the greater the individual’s perceived behavioural
control, the stronger the intention to perform the target behaviour (Olgyaiová et al., 2005).
It would be interesting to explore its influence on the adoption of financial technology in an
emerging market where consumers are generally perceived to have limited control due to a lack
of computer experience (Gupta et al., 2008; Janssen and Swinnen, 2019) and financial
technology exposure or know-how (Schuetz and Venkatesh, in press; Sobhanifard and
Sadatfarizani, 2019). The proposed model based on TPB has attitude, perceived behavioural
control and subjective norm as the predictors of intention to adopt cryptocurrency. These
three constructs have been found to influence the intention to adopt technology-based services
(Weigel et al., 2014). The schematic presentation of the model and hypotheses is outlined
in Figure 1:
H1. Attitude has a positive relationship with intention to adopt cryptocurrency.
H2. Perceived behavioural control has a positive relationship with intention to adopt
cryptocurrency.
H3. Subjective norm has a positive relationship with intention to adopt cryptocurrency.
The TPB theory was selected for its potential to shed light on the poor state of the adoption of
cryptocurrency in South Africa. The adoption of cryptocurrency may help build inclusive
financial systems that may serve markets more effectively (Zhang and Yang, 2019). Most people

Attitude

H1

Perceived Behavioural H2 Intention

Control

H3

Subjectiv Norm Figure 1.

Theory of planned
behaviour model
Source: Ajzen (1991)
AJEMS may neither have the capacity nor the motivation to act on their own as financial and
11,1 technology education is still a challenge in developing markets ( Jafri, 2019). Consumers may
require motivation, encouragement and training on the use of cryptocurrency. In that regard,
the TPB is useful as a tool for understanding antecedents to behaviour and subsequently
developing effective interventions aimed at behavioural change (Hardeman et al., 2002).
However, the TPB is not without criticism. A major drawback of the theory is the apparent
36 disconnection between measured intention and later actual action. The TPB has been accused
to capture imagined behaviour rather than actual behaviour. In that case, understanding
consumer behaviour becomes a moving target (Gabor and Brooks, 2017). In an experimental
study, attitude, social norms and perceived behavioural control were observed to shift after
forming intention (Sussman and Gifford, 2019). It is also claimed that the relationship between
attitude, social norm and perceived behavioural control on hand and behavioural is
bi-directional rather than uni-directional (Sussman and Gifford, 2019). As a general criticism,
behavioural economics models have been shot down for being one-sided. They only explore the
behaviour of consumers and not service providers (World Bank, 2015).
Notwithstanding its criticism, the TPB remains an insightful and sound theory within the
discipline of behavioural economics. The TPB as a behavioural model is important to
understand consumers and can lead to the development of incisive business strategies. The
TPB is also credited for improving the predictability of intention. The TPB is a versatile
theory that has been successfully utilised in far-ranging subjects in finance, economics,
management and medical studies (Yousafzai et al., 2010). The inclusion of the perceived
behavioural control construct significantly improved the prediction power of the model
(Shanmugham and Ramya, 2012). Hence, an attempt is made in this study to predict the
behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency in South Africa by applying the TPB theory.
Financial technological innovation like any other recent innovation needs to be explored to
establish the determinants of adoption using proven models like the TPB (Weigel et al., 2014;
Ajzen, 2011). This phenomenon applies to the adoption and acceptance of cryptocurrency or
digital currencies. This becomes more important as most African economies continue to be at
the tail end of global financial innovations. Though it is difficult to have outright total control
of a borderless digital currency (Sushko and Kaznin, 2019), in some African countries digital
currency innovations are legally restricted (Thomson Reuters, 2017). However, the South
African financial market as one of the most advanced in Africa took a laisser-faire approach to
cryptocurrency transactions by allowing the market to trade at own risk as there is no
substantive regulatory framework yet (SARB, 2014; Chudinovskikh and Sevryugin, 2019).
The resilience and adaptive of the South African financial market makes it more liberal from a
regulatory perspective as it continues to look for a policy position to fully embrace
cryptocurrency (IFWG, 2018). Even though the legal environment in South Africa positively
influences the development of financial technology innovations (Yermack, 2018) and
consumers are highly aware of the existence of cryptocurrency (Luno, 2018), it remains
unknown whether or not ordinary citizens will widely adopt them.

Research methodology
Study instrument
The study questionnaire included two sections. Section A collected the demographic
characteristics of the respondents, while Section B evaluated the respondents’ perception
on items related to attitude, perceived behavioural control, subjective norm and
behavioural intention. A five-point Likert scale was used to assess the items where
1 ¼ strongly disagree and 5 ¼ strongly agree. The items used to measure the TPB
constructs were mainly adapted from Lee (2009). Table I shows the various sources of the
individual items used to measure the constructs for the TPB theory. The items were
adopted from Lee (2009), Gu et al. (2009), Venkatesh and Davis (2000), Cheon et al. (2012),
 Source
Predicting
FinTech
Behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency innovation
I expect to buy and sell using cryptocurrency in the future Lee (2009)
I will recommend others to use cryptocurrency Gu et al. (2009) adoption
I plan to use cryptocurrency if they are made available Venkatesh and Davis (2000),
Schaupp and Festa (2018)
I intend to use cryptocurrency Arias-Oliva et al. (2019) 37
Attitude (Lee, 2009)
Using cryptocurrency as a currency would be a good idea Lee (2009)
Using cryptocurrency as a currency would be a pleasant experience Lee (2009)
I would like to conduct my financial transactions using cryptocurrency
I like the idea of using cryptocurrency Lee (2009)
Perceived behavioural control
I will be able to use cryptocurrency Armitage et al. (1999)
I have sufficient knowledge to use cryptocurrency Cheon et al. (2012)
I have sufficient extent of self-confidence to make a decision to adopt Cheon et al. (2012)
cryptocurrency
Using cryptocurrency is entirely within my control Lee (2009)
I have the resources, knowledge and ability to use cryptocurrency Lee (2009)
Subjective norm
People important to me think that it would be fine to use cryptocurrency Lee (2009), Venkatesh et al. (2003)
People whose opinions are valuable to me would prefer that I use Lee (2009)
cryptocurrency Table I.
People who are important to me would be in favour of using Lee (2009) Constructs and
cryptocurrency measures

Armitage et al. (1999), Venkatesh et al. (2003) and Arias-Oliva et al. (2019) but were re-
worded to align them to cryptocurrency. Attitude was assessed using four items,
subjective norm three items, perceived behavioural control five items and behavioural
using four items. The instrument used in the study has been validated by checking
validity and reliability in several prior studies (Lee, 2009; Ajzen, 2011). Nonetheless,
discriminant, construct and convergent validity of the instrument was still confirmed and
validated. Cronbach’s α and composite reliability were also checked. Data analysis was
performed using SPSS version 25 and SPSS AMOS version 25. Descriptive statistics,
exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to prepare data for
structural equation modelling to test the proposed TPB model. Indices of goodness-of-fit
were used to evaluate the structural model.

Sample and data collection

The study was carried out in Cape Town, South Africa from 1 October to 31 November 2018
at a distance learning institution called Mancosa. The college offers degree programmes in
commerce, education, information technology and public administration. The sample was
drawn from adult part-time students enroled at the college’s Cape Town campus. Students
were generally selected because of their propensity and likelihood to adopt new innovation
(Tucker, 2011). Students are likely to be innovative, knowledgeable and opinion leaders in
the adoption of new technology (Thakur et al., 2016). Higher education students have also
been found to be early adopters and heavy users of internet-based services (Quan-Haase and
Young, 2010). However, the demographics of part-time adult distance students are different
from fulltime students who are likely to be predominantly young and dependent. The use of
student samples in TPB studies has been criticised (Hooghe et al., 2010). However, in this
AJEMS study respondent demographics are representative of all ages atypical of financial services
11,1 consumers as represented in Table II. In particular, adult distance students were chosen for
the study because they were likely to be older and be in fulltime employment that gives
them financial independence. They are also capable of making independent decisions
around their financial affairs such as adopting cryptocurrency (Etherington, 2018).
Collecting responses from economically active part-time students is expected to increase the
38 proportion of middle- and upper-income respondents who are likely to be consumers of
cryptocurrency (Gulamhuseinwala et al., 2015). These are potentially valuable users of
cryptocurrency with knowledge of the internet who merit market and academic attention
(Arias-Oliva et al., 2019). Additionally, students are highly aware of the existence of the
cryptocurrency market (Doblas, 2019). The campus has a student enrolment of around 3,000
students and a sample of 900 students was randomly selected to participate in the study.
A print self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the selected students during
workshops. Completed questionnaires were returned before the workshop started. Applying
this strategy, the returned questionnaire amounted to 283. Of those 14 questionnaires were
rejected while 269 were usable. This represented a response rate of 30 per cent. The collected
data were captured in SPSS version 25 for analysis.

Measure Items Frequency Percentage

Gender Female 132 49.1

Male 137 50.9
Age Under 21 25 9.3
21–30 69 25.7
31–40 116 43.1
41–50 47 17.5
51–60 10 3.7
Over 60 2 0.7
Race Black 87 32.3
White 8 3.0
Indian or Asian 9 3.3
Coloured 165 61.3
Completed education Lower than matric 4 1.5
Matric 112 41.6
National certificate 52 19.3
National diploma 57 21.2
Bachelor’s degree 30 11.2
Postgraduate diploma 11 4.1
Masters’ degree 3 1.1
Occupation Unemployed 43 16.0
Self-employed 39 14.5
Private sector 75 27.9
Government 112 41.6
Monthly income Not applicable 102 37.9
Up to R15,000 66 24.5
15,001–25,000 54 20.1
25,001–35,000 21 7.8
35,001–45,000 14 5.2
45,001–55,000 5 1.9
Table II. 55,001–65,000 1 0.4
Respondents’ 65,001–75,000 1 0.4
demographic profiles Over 75,001 5 1.9
Results Predicting
The two-step approach by Anderson and Gerbing (1988) was applied in this study, FinTech
confirmatory factor analysis was used to develop the measurement model and test validity. innovation
Second, the structural model was constructed for hypothesis testing. The maximum likelihood
estimation method in AMOS version 25 was used to evaluate both the measurement and adoption
structural models. The two models were assessed using prominent absolute and comparative
fit indices. Specifically, χ2 and the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) were the absolute indices used. 39
Comparative indices used include comparative fit index (CFI), incremental fit index (IFI),
relative fit index (RFI), normed fit index (NFI), non- normed fit index (NNFI) and root mean
square error of approximation (RMSEA). The model is said to fit the data when these model fit
indices are greater than 0.90 and RMSEA less than 0.08 (Hooper et al., 2008). However, it is not
unusual to find models that have been accepted with goodness-of-fit indices less than 0.90 but
greater than 0.80 (Yuan and Hayashi, 2010). The results of the measurement model and
structural model are presented separately.

Measurement model
The χ2 of the measurement model in Figure 2 was estimated at 194.662 with 98 degrees of
freedom at po0.001 indicates a significant model lacking goodness of fit. χ2 is, however, bound
to be influenced by sample size, hence it is recommended to use other indices (Barrett, 2007). As
an alternative, χ2 to degree-of-freedom ratio can be used to assess model fit. A ratio less than 2
indicates model fitness. The measurement model has a χ2 to degree-of-freedom ratio of 1.986.
The GFI at 0.920 was above the acceptable threshold. All the relative indices assessed were
above the 0.90 cut-off (CFI ¼ 0.968; IFI ¼ 0.968; RFI + 0.924; NFI ¼ 0.938; NNFI ¼ 0.961 and
RMSEA ¼ 0.061).
Construct reliability (CR) and validity of the model were tested with the results shown in
Table III. CR of the four constructs exceeded 0.8 confirming reliability. The average variance
extracted (AVE) was greater than 0.5 ranging from 0.58 to 0.78 as recommended by Fornell

e36 e30 e31 e32 e33

e35
e34
e19 e20 e21 e22 e23
e15 e17 e18 B1.1 B1.2 B1.3 B1.4
e16
B7.1 B7.2 B7.3
B5.1 B5.2 B5.3 B5.4 B5.5
B4.1 B4.2 B4.3 B4.4 0.68 0.62 0.87
0.66 0.89 0.86

0.73 0.85 0.84 0.79

0.87 0.88 0.89 0.83 0.83
0.89

Intention

Attitude PBC
SN

0.47

0.59
0.59

0.51 Cmin =194.662; df = 98

p-value = 0.000
RMSEA = 0.061
0.65 NFI = 0.938
NNFI = 0.961
0.76 CFI = 0.968
IFI = 0.968
RFI = 0.924 Figure 2.
GFI = 0.920 Measurement model
Cmin/df =1.986
AJEMS and Larker (1981). Thus, convergent validity was satisfied. The condition for discriminant
11,1 validity was met as the inter-correlations between all constructs is less than the square root
of the AVE in italic along the diagonal of Table I.

Structural model
Once the measurement model was confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis and
40 conditions for reliability and validity were satisfied, the next step is to test the structural
model. The model fit indices discussed above were used to evaluate the goodness of fit of the
structural model. χ2 at 99.522 with 86 degrees of freedom with a p ¼ 0.151 was found to be
fit to the data. The χ2 to degree-of-freedom ratio was 1.157 below the cut-off of 2. The GFI
was equal to 0.958 while the relative indices showed an almost perfect model fit (CFI ¼ 0.996;
IFI ¼ 0.996; RFI ¼ 0.956; NFI ¼ 0.968; NNFI ¼ 0.994 and RMSEA ¼ 0.024). The structural
model depicting the relationship between the latent variables is shown in Figure 3 with the
standardized path coefficients results of the analysis.
The model fit indices indicate that the data supported the specified model with a satisfactory
explanatory power (adjusted R2 ¼ 0.59 or 59 per cent) in predicting behavioural intention to
adopt cryptocurrency. Except for the path from subjective norm to intention to adopt
cryptocurrency, the other standardized path coefficients of the TPB structural model are
significant. The results of the tested hypotheses in Table IV indicate that H1 and H2 are
positive and significant, while H3 is negative and non-significant. H1 predicted that attitude has

CR AVE MSV MaxRH Intention Attitude PBC SN

Intention 0.846 0.585 0.576 0.880 0.765

Table III. Attitude 0.936 0.785 0.576 0.936 0.759 0.886
Construct reliability PBC 0.883 0.604 0.348 0.896 0.510 0.590 0.777
and validity SN 0.889 0.728 0.419 0.895 0.466 0.647 0.587 0.853

Attitude

0.74

0.59

Perceived Behavioural
0.65

0.14 Intention
control
R2=0.59

0.58

–0.10

Subjective Norm
Figure 3.
Structural model
a positive influence on intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Data support that the respondents’ Predicting
attitude with a standardized path coefficient of β ¼ 0.74 ( p o 0.05) indicates a positive and FinTech
significant influence on their behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency. H2 predicted that innovation
perceived behavioural control has a positive influence on the intention to adopt cryptocurrency.
Data support that the respondents’ perceived behavioural control with a standardized path adoption
coefficient of β ¼ 0.14 ( p o 0.05) indicates a positive and significant influence on their
behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency. H3 was, however, not supported as the data 41
show that there is a negative and insignificant relationship between subjective norm and
intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Overall, the findings show the usefulness of the TPB model
in predicting behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency.

Discussion
In this study, the TPB model was applied to understand the determinants of behavioural
intention to adopt cryptocurrency. The results of the study show that the proposed model has a
sufficient explanatory power of 59 per cent to predict behavioural intention to adopt
cryptocurrency. Notable highlights of the study are discussed. In line with Ajzen (1991),
attitude was found to be the strongest antecedent to behavioural intention followed by
perceived behavioural control. The results show that attitude as a construct of the TPB model
had the greatest significant influence (β ¼ 0.74, p o 0.001) on behavioural intention to adopt
cryptocurrency. This may indicate that surveyed respondents showed a high positive attitude
towards cryptocurrency as a one-unit increase in attitude is associated with a 74 per cent
increase in behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency. In line with Akhtar and Das’ (2019)
findings, the results may imply that attitude is of great concern when deciding to adopt
cryptocurrency. Perceived behavioural control had a moderate positive and significant
influence (β ¼ 0.14, p o 0.05) on behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Surveyed
respondents were less confident about their behavioural control on the adoption of the digital
currencies. This implies that participants were moderately concerned about their capabilities to
perform the target behaviour of adopting cryptocurrency. As a result, an increase of one-unit in
perceived behavioural control is associated with a 14 per cent increase in behavioural intention
to adopt cryptocurrency. Subjective norm had a non-significant negative relationship with
intention to adopt cryptocurrency. In some studies, subjective norm is insignificant but positive
(Lee, 2009). In this study, subjective norm could be negative because most respondents may
treat financial matters with secrecy and privacy (Akhtar and Das, 2019), which may negate
their reliance on others to influence their behavioural intention. Additionally, in closed societies
and countries prone to electronic scams, there is a general scepticism of financial transactions
and information that is not from traditional financial institutions or government agencies
(Ham et al., 2015). The South African financial market has been hit by numerous internet-based
referral financial scams which may dissuade participants to succumb to social pressure
on financial matters (Business Report Online, 2018; Steyn, 2018). Overall, this negates the
effect of subjective norm as a predictor of behavioural intention. The development of secure
transactions platforms may drive adoption (Haddad and Hornuf, 2019). Although we found no
evidence of the impact of subjective norm on behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency, we
would like to suggest that individual-based financial product innovations are unlikely to

Hypothesis Path Estimate SE t-value p Supported

H1 Intention ← Attitude 0.739 0.090 7.917 *** Yes

H2 Intention ← PBC 0.145 0.071 2.150 0.032 Yes Table IV.
H3 Intention ← SN −0.100 0.080 −1.341 0.180 No Hypotheses
Note: ***p o0.001 testing results
AJEMS spread quickly through spontaneous adoption based on the basis of social pressure in the
11,1 context of African markets than group-based financial innovations with communal benefits. It
would be worthwhile for innovators to explore social norms of the South African market in
order to develop products that capture common behaviour.

Conclusion
42 Financial technology innovation is of great interest to emerging markets as it comes with
developmental benefits (Marszk et al., 2019). This makes a study on the adoption of financial
innovation like cryptocurrency important. In this context, the adoption of financial innovation is
important to the development of financial markets. Based on the TPB model participants’
attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norm were used to predict intention to
adopt cryptocurrency. The objective of the study is to develop a model for predicting
behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency that could be used to develop responsive
strategies. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the measurement was sufficiently reliable
and valid while the structural model almost perfectly fit the data. In summary, the three
predictors of intention were found to predict the adoption of cryptocurrency with a 59 per cent
explanatory power. The study has shown that consumer attitude is the key driver of behavioural
intention to adopt cryptocurrency followed by perceived behavioural control. There was no
evidence to suggest any impact of subjective on behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency.
The study contributes towards behavioural finance or economics by interrogating the
determinants of the adoption of financial technology in the form of cryptocurrency in South
Africa. The findings of the study inform policymakers and financial technology developers
on which factors to consider on behavioural interventions and when developing financial
technology. Karp and Fletcher (2014) noted that the widespread adoption of technology
requires users to be acquainted about how the technology works. Perhaps policymakers and
cryptocurrency providers might need to visibly engage in consumer finance and technology
education that promote the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency. Maybe further studies
that explore more determinants of intention to adopt cryptocurrency such as financial
education, literacy and technology knowledge could be more insightful.
The results of this study provide insight on the variables on which intervention should
focus. Policy and business strategies should focus on influencing attitude and perceived
behavioural control to accelerate intention to adopt cryptocurrency. There is a need to
capitalise on the positive attitude and perceived behavioural control through strategies that
improve the perception of cryptocurrency and work on improving the confidence of
consumers in the application of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies have been perceived as
too technical and complicated products, perhaps there is a need to demystify such
perception through visibility and simplification of processes. Local financial institutions and
regulators with consumer collateral will have to take a leading role to demonstrate benefits
in the introduction of cryptocurrencies. Currently, the cryptocurrency industry is
fragmented and dominated by international institutions with no relationships with local
South African consumers. There is a need to agglomerate and coordinate the industry
in a way that reduces risk and improves consumer confidence. The involvement of local
stable financial institutions in digital currency investments may improve consumer
perceived control and drive adoption. Additionally, financial innovators may need to
facilitate adoption by taking a step-by-step introduction of their services starting with basic
applications that prepare consumers to function effectively in transacting with
cryptocurrency and then introduce advanced functions when consumers are comfortable.
Any strategy that improves consumer attitude and increases perceived behavioural control
will positively influence the intention to adopt.
Consumers in low-income markets are idiosyncratic different and do not always behave
as financial innovators from developed markets anticipate. The key to that is to develop a
culture of evidence-led financial innovations that are based on understanding the nuanced Predicting
behaviour of the local market through consumer facing studies like this study. The FinTech
application of evidence-based strategies or policies becomes paramount in developing a innovation
culture of new technology acceptance in emerging markets. Because of that, Salimon et al.
(2017) urged practitioners of financial technology innovation to know which aspects of adoption
cryptocurrency to improve and which aspects to escalate towards policy improvement that
will enhance adoption when serving low-income markets. While subjective norm was 43
observed to have no significant influence on intention in this study, the construct has been
instrumental in the wildfire adoption of technologies in African markets based on referral or
group conformity. There is a need to increase the visibility of the currency platforms
through local personalities to endorse the benefits of cryptocurrencies in local media.
Similarly, the design of the cryptocurrency services should be customised to the South
African market context with services that allow consumers to participate in groups. This
may drive social influence and escalate adoption. Alternatively, digital currencies could be
bundled with successful products of social importance to the local market.
Financial technology as one of today’s hottest topics among financial and technology
experts is driven by advancement in technology, consumer access to technology and pressure
for inclusive sustainable markets. This kind of development creates important interest for
regulators to protect consumer, drive social impact and promote adoption. It should be noted
that recent financial technology developments have created positive social impacts which are
of interest to regulators. Financial technology has extended markets by attracting new
consumers and previously excluded people at a fraction of the cost than traditional financial
institutions. Such development needs full support from regulators by providing a legal
framework that promotes consumer adoption. Regulators may also provide evidence to show
current and future benefits of widespread adoption.
There are some inherent limitations in this study. The sample used for the study was
drawn from adult students at a campus of a single institute in Cape Town, South Africa. The
participants may not be representative of the general population across South African, thereby
limiting generalisation. The use of quantitative cross-sectional methodology may also miss
important texts from respondents. Additional studies that try to be representative of the South
African population and using mixed method approaches may solve some of these deficiencies.

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