Forced Adoption of E-Wallets in Conflict Zones: An Extended UTAUT Analysis of Gaza

Background: The rapid evolution of digital financial technologies has reshaped transaction behaviour, particularly in conflict-affected regions where traditional banking systems are disrupted.Objective: This study examines e-wallet adoption in the Gaza Strip, investigating whether traditional technology acceptance models apply when adoption is necessity-driven rather than preference-based.Methods: Drawing on an extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model, a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design was employed. The qualitative phase involved 19 semi-structured interviews analysed using MAXQDA 24. The quantitative phase tested the extended model via PLS-SEM using SmartPLS 4 with 305 respondents, examining direct effects of awareness, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and trust on behavioural intention (H1-H6), the intention-use relationship (H7) and moderating effects of conflict zone conditions (H8-H10).Results: Four out of six antecedents significantly predicted behavioural intention: social influence (β = 0.207, p < 0.001), performance expectancy (β = 0.178, p = 0.004), trust and security (β = 0.174, p = 0.006) and effort expectancy (β = 0.138, p = 0.018), while awareness and facilitating conditions were non-significant. Conflict zone conditions emerged as the strongest direct predictor of actual use (β = 0.435, p < 0.001), surpassing behavioural intention (β = 0.218, p < 0.001), revealing a dual-pathway adoption model. Moderation effects (H8-H10) were not supported, as uniformly severe conflict conditions functioned as a contextual constant rather than a differential moderator. Qualitative data revealed the dual impact of conflict: driving adoption through cash scarcity while imposing barriers via destroyed infrastructure and security fears.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that UTAUT retains partial explanatory power in conflict zones but requires contextual recalibration. It introduces necessity-driven forced adoption as a distinct mechanism and reconceptualizes conflict as a contextual constant. Findings inform humanitarian technology interventions, emphasizing infrastructure reliability and security transparency over traditional promotion strategies.