Exploring the Influential Antecedent Factors of Mobile Application Adoption: Insights on Local Smes in the Digital Technology Era

This research was conducted with the aim of exploring the factors that affect the intention of mobile application (app) adoption by local hospitality businesses (i.e., restaurants, hotels, and attraction sites) for a mobile app, the Tripper Notifiers Application (TNA), which is still in the initial stage of design. The qualitative methods were based on semi-structured interviews with 40 business owner-managers from three main business focus areas and incorporated a grounded approach for data analysis. The results show that at the initial stage, six main dimensions shape TNA adoption intention: User-Centric Interface and Operational Simplicity, Customer Value Proposition and Relational Capital, Knowledge Acquisition and Absorptive Capacity, Human Capital Upskilling and Process Integration, Entrepreneurial Leadership and Cognitive Flexibility, and Digital Infrastructure and Ecosystem Readiness. The measurement of use was self-reported, rather than being based on actual use. This study provides key findings with insights into the implications of mobile app adoption embedded with the concepts of resilience, agility, and adaptability, integrating into Knowledge Management (KM) and Intellectual Capital (IC) theory for both academics and practitioners.