Digital payments under uncertainty: a stimulus–organism–response perspective on mobile wallet adoption in mountain tourism

Mobile wallets are reshaping tourist transactions, yet their adoption in geographically fragile mountain destinations remains underexplored. This article examines how tourists in Uttarakhand’s Garhwal region navigate mobile wallet use amid fluctuating connectivity, uneven merchant acceptance, and infrastructural uncertainty. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework, the research employs a two-round, Delphi-inspired qualitative design involving 20 tourism service providers. Inductive thematic analysis identifies environmental stimuli (connectivity reliability, institutional trust, usability cues), cognitive–affective evaluations (perceived usefulness, anxiety, satisfaction), and adaptive behavioural responses (continued use, wallet switching, fallback to cash). Key themes are analysed using a context-sensitive conceptual framework to explain interviewees’ experiences with digital payment in the mountain tourism ecosystem researched. By highlighting emotional assurance and infrastructural volatility, the research advances SOR theory and offers practical insights for strengthening trust-centred, resilient digital payment systems in remote tourism destinations.