Balancing external pressure and risk tolerance: examining the influence of business value in entrepreneurs’ investment decisions in digital technologies

In this study, we extend expectation–confirmation theory to propose a model arguing that the decision of entrepreneurs to continue investing in emerging digital technologies (CUS) depends directly on three essential factors, including the business value of their past investment (BVA), risk tolerance (RTR), and external pressure (EXP). Our model also predicts that BVA influences entrepreneurs’ expectations (EXC) and satisfaction (USF), which in turn affect CUS. We further argue that the relationship between USF and CUS is contingent on entrepreneurs’ RTR and EXP. For additional and novel insights, we argue that all these predictors could combinatorially explain CUS. We tested this model drawing on 221 survey responses involving owners/managers in small and medium-sized enterprises in the Czech Republic and analysed them through partial least squares structural equation modelling and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis approaches. We found support for our predicted direct relationships. We also found that although EXP and RTR do not moderate the relationship between USF and CUS, all the study’s predictors (EXC, USF, BVA, EXP, and RTR) combined in varied ways explain CUS. Our findings expand digital transformation scholarship and have several implications for entrepreneurs.