Background and Purpose: The swift advancement of internet technology, particularly accelerated by Covid-19 pandemic, has transformed the lifestyle of Muslims and introduced various digital zakat options. The purpose of this study is to explore the determinants influencing willingness of muzakkis (zakat payers) to fulfil their zakat obligations using digital platform. Methodology: Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of Technology Readiness (TR) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study incorporates prior exposure with zakat digitalization alongside core constructs; innovativeness, optimism, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use. Data have been obtained using structured questionnaires distributed to 230 Malaysian muzakkis (Muslim zakat contributors). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the gathered data in order to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings: The results show that innovativeness, perceived usefulness, and previous exposure to digital zakat services significantly and positively affect zakat payers' desire to use online payment methods. In contrast, optimism and perceived ease of use were not significant factors of such intentions. Contributions: This study enhance our knowledge of factors shaping online zakat payment adoption among Muslim payers. Notably, it is among the first to combine the Technology Readiness and Acceptance frameworks with prior digital exposure to predict zakat payers’ adoption behavior regarding online payment technologies. Keywords: Online zakat payment service, theory of technology readiness, theory of acceptance model, prior exposure, zakat payer’s adoption intention.
Radzi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.