Active and Passive Resistance to Financial Applications in Egypt: A Study within the Framework of Innovation Resistance Theory

 
 
 
 
Abstract:
The study aimed to measure the levels of active and passive resistance to innovation among non-users of financial applications in Egypt. It sought to determine the role of functional and psychological barriers, technostress, and concerns related to information privacy in increasing resistance levels to these applications. The study involved a purposive sample of 300 individuals who do not use financial applications. Based on the MOCART (Mobile Commerce Applications Resistance Theory), the researcher found that the level of active resistance to financial applications among respondents is moderate, with an average score of 2.15. This indicates that respondents tend to refuse the use of financial applications after trying and evaluating them, as the features of these applications do not meet their expectations. Consequently, psychological and functional barriers associated with resistance to innovation begin to surface. Additionally, there is passive resistance among respondents, with an average score of 2.27. Passive resistance here represents the initial reaction of rejecting new products without even considering their features.
The results indicate a direct correlation between active resistance to innovation and behaviors such as rejection, postponement, and opposition to adopting financial applications. Rejection is linked to risk and value barriers, postponement is associated with value, use, image, and tradition barriers, and opposition is related to value and tradition barriers. However, there is no relationship between passive resistance to innovation and these behaviors.
The study shows that there are significant concerns related to information privacy among respondents, which supports their resistance to adopting financial applications. These concerns are categorized into three dimensions: perceived surveillance (fear of being monitored), secondary use of information (exploitation of personal data for other purposes without consent), and perceived intrusion (fears related to privacy breaches or the availability of personal information to others).