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This study develops and tests a theoretically integrated model of sustainable mobile banking adoption by positioning trust as the central mechanism linking user evaluations to behavioural intention. Drawing on an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2), the study organises key determinants into three complementary dimensions: functional evaluations (effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, and self-service technology attributes), affective experience (hedonic motivation), and value-based and risk considerations (sustainability and perceived privacy risk). These dimensions are theoretically integrated through trust, a cognitive–affective construct that addresses performance uncertainty, emotional engagement, and value alignment in digital financial contexts. A quantitative survey of 430 retail banking customers in Zimbabwe was analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. The results indicate that functional, affective, and value-based perceptions do not independently drive adoption intention; instead, their effects converge through trust, which serves as a central mediating mechanism. Specifically, trust transmits the influence of these antecedents to behavioural intention, establishing a clear hierarchical pathway from perceptions to outcomes. Notably, hedonic motivation and sustainability, often viewed as competing motivational logics, operate coherently as affective and normative antecedents of trust. The study concludes that trust is the primary pathway through which diverse user perceptions translate into adoption behaviour. It contributes by advancing a trust-centric integration of technology adoption, sustainability, and risk perspectives, reconciling competing motivational logics within a unified framework, and providing empirical evidence from an under-researched African context. Importantly, the Zimbabwean context, characterised by economic volatility, infrastructural constraints and heightened uncertainty in financial systems amplifies the role of trust as a critical mechanism, thereby extending existing technology adoption models that are typically developed in more stable environments. These findings highlight the importance of aligning functional performance, user experience, and sustainability values to strengthen trust and promote the adoption of sustainable digital banking.
Nyagadza et al. (Fri,) studied this question.