Extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology for sustainable technologies context

Abstract

Following the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) recommendations, sustainable technologies are increasingly being introduced as a step toward more sustainable behaviors and efforts against environmental problems. However, a holistic investigation of the main factors influencing its adoption and use is necessary. To this end, this work aims to explain the determinants of sustainable technologies used by consumers. Specifically, we develop a contextualized model that extends the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2) by leveraging a mixed-methods approach and, therefore, conducting three studies. The so-developed contextualized model of consumer adoption of sustainable technology is tested using 2003 observations from five European countries. Such a sample also provides the opportunity for a cross-country comparison. We found that habit, environmental knowledge, information provision, and innovativeness were significant predictors of sustainable technology use. Additionally, the cross-country comparison revealed that although conclusions are generally consistent across the countries, they differ in some effects, like social influence and price value. Taken together, we thus provide insights into the consumers' motivations to adopt and use sustainable technologies.