Acta Informatica Pragensia X:X | DOI: 10.18267/j.aip.31846

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

Wesam Mustafa Kollab ORCID...1, Yousef Ahmed Yousef ORCID...1, Mohammed Abdullah AbuAziz ORCID...2
1 Department of Applied Information Technology, Faculty of Computers and Information Technology, Al-Aqsa University, Gaza Strip, Palestine
2 Department of Management Information Systems, Faculty of Business and Finance, Al-Aqsa University, Gaza Strip, Palestine

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.

Keywords: E-wallet adoption; Unified theory of acceptance and use of technology; Digital finance; Financial resilience; Conflict zone; PLS-SEM.

Received: May 7, 2026; Revised: June 14, 2026; Accepted: June 15, 2026; Prepublished online: November 7, 2026 

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