Understanding the mechanism of consumer resistance to innovation : the moderating role of consumption values

Although previous research has established different types of barriers that lead to consumer resistance to innovation, little has been done to understand the effects of some scarcely researched barriers and how these different barriers can be mitigated. Further, there is scant empirical research examining the detrimental impact of resistance to innovation. Therefore, drawing on prospect theory and innovation resistance literature, this study develops and tests a conceptual framework to address the above-noted gaps in the literature. The key aims of the study are to understand: 1) the mechanism of consumer resistance in the context of smart payment services; 2) the development of consumer resistance to smart payment services due to different barrier perceptions; 3) the detrimental impact of consumer resistance to smart payment services by empirically establishing its consequence in the form of negative word of mouth (NWOM); 4) the role of consumer resistance to smart payment services as an underlying mechanism that explicates the translation of perceived barriers into NWOM; and 5) the role of perceived consumption values in buffering the effects of barrier perceptions on consumer resistance to smart payment services. Based on an online survey, data from n = 356 consumers (laggards) were collected and analysed in the context of smart payment services. The findings revealed that although most barriers from the extended Ram and Sheth framework influence resistance, the effects of the commonly investigated value and tradition barriers are, surprisingly, not found to be significant. Resistance is found to mediate the relationship between most barriers and NWOM, implying resistance is the key underlying mechanism that explicates why laggards who perceive barriers spread NWOM about smart payment services. Most importantly, consumption values are found to buffer the effects of some of the perceived barriers on resistance, which extends our understanding of the mechanism of resistance. Based on these results, theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed.