Blockchain technology will increasingly gain attention from both academics as well as practitioners and has \\ the potential to disrupt traditional work methods in most industries. At least, that is what innovators and \\ early adopters have promised. Published papers in the current body of knowledge are almost solely aimed \\ towards technical aspects of blockchain technology. As far as the researchers are aware, no research has \\ been conducted to identify factors affecting blockchain technology diffusion. Through grounded theory-based data collection and analysis, the factors affecting blockchain technology diffusion are identified in \\ this research. Based on 18 semi-structured expert interviews, 13 factors affecting blockchain technology \\ diffusion have been identified. The identified factors could be used as guidelines in the future when \\ implementing or considering the implementation of blockchain technology. Future research should \\ continue to focus on identifying additional factors. Additionally, the factors should be validated more \\ thoroughly in future studies.
Jan 1, 2018·Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences/Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Manuel Schlegel, Liudmila Zavolokina, Gerhard Schwabe
The blockchain, the ledger that underlies the famous cryptocurrency Bitcoin, has huge implications for many industries. There have been various papers dedicated to research how blockchain technology will transform businesses and industries. However, current research lacks an overview of what the blockchain implies for the biggest stakeholder of these businesses and industries: consumers. This paper aims to provide an overview of how the blockchain affects consumers. We conduct a systematic literature review and enrich it with interview-based knowledge from blockchain experts to show how blockchain technology changes business sectors, name affected consumers in these sectors, derive implications for these consumers and list existing as well as currently emerging blockchain-based products and services. Finally, we warn of the technical, institutional and human challenges and manifold pitfalls blockchain technology must overcome to gain widespread adaptation among consumers.
In extant loyalty program (LP) studies, one of the main challenges is to keep customers motivated in participation behaviors and achieving financial goals. While some companies have initiated efforts to use blockchain (BC)-based distributed ledgers and smart contract capabilities to reduce LP operating costs and enhance customer experience, academic assessment of BC application in the LP context remains in paucity. In this paper we establish a theoretical framework to explain the effects of BC on LP participation. Guided by the self-determination theory (SDT), we illuminate how the BC-based natures influence the relationship of varying customer motivations (economy, autonomy, competence and relatedness) and perceived value, which consequently induces participation behaviors. We outline 4 propositions to depict the conceptual mechanism based on the theoretical framework, and then employ a case study to illustrate how a BC-enabled LP scheme can help enhance customers’ involvement in a point exchange environment.
Identifying and quantifying the drivers for adopting blockchain technologies are important for developing effective launch plan. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and its derivatives have been used for this purpose. However, some of these models only use a few standardized, predetermined independent variables to collectively represent the drivers. Low predictive power of TAM leads to questions on whether this restriction may detrimentally constrain the exploration of other driving factors. Some other extended models with higher R2 are considered impractical and lack of theoretical foundations. This paper demonstrates that reasonable predictive power can be achieved even with simple, practically implementable model when research targets are sampled and segmented properly. By employing a more fundamental theory, this study has also included additional variable that would normally not be considered in TAM.
The information age has dawned upon us through the comprehensive and boundless adoption of the internet; E-banking and smart-phones thus, causing a reliance on online transaction sys-tems reducing the need to handle tangible cash notes. The current monetary system is arguably on the cusp of an evolutionary moment through the adoption of virtualised currencies, this phe-nomenon potentially possesses the next metamorphic step in contemporary global economic money. Cryptocurrency is a radical new innovation, and has become a widely debated topic over the past few years despite this, the topic of the diffusion of innovation and the procedures which the phenomenon needs to overcome have had relatively small amounts of academic attention in comparison to other fields of research. Therefore, this study aims to identify how cryptocurrency is diffusing through the diffusion of innovation model with the intention of identifying the current location of diffusion; this in turn will create a more universalised understanding of the phenomenon in regards to other radical innovations. Due to the nature of the study, the conducted research utilised a qualitative method. Additional-ly, the focus on collecting data which will positively reflect an academic study with the purpose of uncovering information in alignment with the research questions of the study at hand lead to an ‘interpretivist’ methodology. Hence, 10 interviews were conducted of which the interviewees came from a range of different countries allowing the researcher to identify information rich da-ta. This approach allowed for two pathways of research to occur. Firstly, the non/potential in-vestors of which had basic cryptocurrency knowledge and secondly, current users/investors of which had an overall understanding of the cryptocurrency phenomenon. Furthermore, the pri-mary data alongside the utilisation of secondary survey questions and the literature allowed for a wider understanding of the phenomenon. The results of the study unveiled a range of trends and developments in the diffusion process. Accordingly, these findings advance the understanding of the micro, macro and psychological factors which are present in the diffusion of the cryptocurrency innovation. Thereby, the re-search draws attention to how a range of barriers synergistically working together requires a synergistic strategic approach from governments and individuals to surpass the current diffu-sion position and progress further, in turn increasing the chances of mainstream adoption.
Decentralised issued crypto "currencies", like bitcoin, have the potential to drastically change the existing retail payment system and even the monetary system. Insights into the factors that influence their adoption are therefore crucial. Using a large representative sample of retailers that sell their products online, we find that acceptance of crypto payments is currently modest (2%), but there is substantial interest among retailers to adopt crypto payments in the near future. Consumer demand, net transactional benefits and perceived adoption effort influence adoption intention and actual acceptance by retailers. Regarding non-financial factors, our findings suggest that service providers who act as intermediaries between retailers, their customers, and providers of payment instruments play a crucial role as facilitators of competition and innovation in the online retail payments market by lowering such barriers. The most serious barrier for crypto acceptance seems to be a lack of consumer demand. Information from consumers indicate that those who possess cryptos, don't use it for online payments. It seems therefore unlikely that the adoption of cryptos by retailers will increase substantially, making it highly unlikely that cryptos like bitcoin will drastically change the existing retail payment system.
Julio C. Mendoza-Tello, Higinio Mora, Francisco A. Pujol, Miltiadis D. Lytras
The deployment of cryptocurrencies in e-commerce has reached a significant number of transactions and continuous increases in monetary circulation; nevertheless, they face two impediments: a lack of awareness of the technological utility, and a lack of trust among consumers. E-commerce carried out through social networks expands its application to a new paradigm called social commerce. Social commerce uses the content generated within social networks to attract new consumers and influence their behavior. The objective of this paper is to analyze the role played by social media in increasing trust and intention to use cryptocurrencies in making electronic payments. It develops a model that combines constructs from social support theory, social commerce, and the technology acceptance model. This model is evaluated using the partial least square analysis. The obtained results show that social commerce increases the trust and intention to use cryptocurrencies. However, mutual support among participants does not generate sufficient trust to adequately promote the perceived usefulness of cryptocurrencies. This research provides a practical tool for analyzing how collaborative relationships that emerge in social media can influence or enhance the adoption of a new technology in terms of perceived trust and usefulness. Furthermore, it provides a significant contribution to consumer behavior research by applying the social support theory to the adoption of new information technologies. These theoretical and practical contributions are detailed in the final section of the paper.
Blockchain technology is the underlying enabling technology developed for Bitcoin, the most common cryptocurrency. Blockchain technologies have become increasingly popular with the potential to become a powerful disruptive force. Individuals and organizations may benefit from blockchain with its ability to increase secure data exchange and to make that transaction simpler and easier between entities. We investigate factors that influence an individual's intention to use a blockchain cryptocurrency. We develop a model of cryptocurrency adoption grounded in the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to: identify the determinants for the acceptance of cryptocurrency and explore the relative importance of each construct. We offer empirical evidence for a better theoretical understanding of cryptocurrency adoption with practical implications in an e-government context.
This research intended to understand the factors affecting the acceptance of Bitcoin technology in Indonesia. It adopted the model of Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), which took into account four influencing factors. Those were performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions. The factors of gender and age were assumed to moderate the relations between those four factors and use and behavioral intention. The empirical data for those factors were collected by questionnaires from 49 respondents. The statistical significance of the relationships was evaluated by multivariate regression analysis. The result is a model that matches the data with R2 = 0,678. It demonstrates a high level of fitness. The analysis suggests that the performance expectancy factor and the social influence factor greatly affect the behavioral intention to use Bitcoin with the values of t-statistic of 3,835 (p-value = 0,000) for the former factor and 1,948 (0,059) for the latter factor. However, the social influence factor has less profound effect on the behavioral intention.
Blockchain Technology is the advance information technology in medical sector that need secure data sharing among related parties in the network. The investigating factors have impacts on electronic medical record Blockchain technology adoption. Online questionnaire was developed from literature with performance expectation, trust, and risk concepts. Online survey sent to patients and medical personnel. The feedback respondents were 149. The research results showed that the most influential factor affecting the acceptance is performance expectation which includes the recognition of technological benefits and relative advantages. Trust factor has impact on acceptance and low risk has positive impact of the Blockchain technology
Objectives: From the area of the research conducted, Malaysian acceptance towards the idea of online payment methods and understanding the concept of cryptocurrency has been studied. Our main area of focus was in the area of Klang Valley, which has been found that they are one of the most technological savvy people in Malaysia. Methods: One of the main areas of our research is the level of acceptance of the Malaysian market towards the idea of the cryptocurrency, which in our area of interest was Bitcoin. Findings: This research can be further used to identify the mitigating factors that influence peoples’ interest towards online payments such as debit/credit card payments and other channel such as PayPal. Technology acceptance among the Malaysian market can be the main factor that affects the use of the online payment method. Besides, it was also been found several factors that affects the consumers choice on the acceptance of the online payment, which was used as the main variable used to measurement on the level on acceptance. Application: Acceptance of Bitcoin by the Malaysian market. Keywords: Bitcoin, Malaysian Market, Online Payment, Technology Acceptance
Healthcare complexity and costs can be decreased through the application of blockchain technology to medical records and insurance companies. Estonia has taken a leadership role in blockchain based services both in the commercial sector and in government. The Estonian government’s innovation strategy was to create GovTech partnerships to implement blockchain based technologies throughout the country, and become a global leader in the technology. Starting in 2011, just 3 years after Satoshi Nakamoto published the first description of distributed ledgers and blockchain technology, the Estonian Government started partnering with the private technology startup company Guardtime to use blockchains to secure public and internal records. Then in 2016, Estonia once again reinforced its global leadership in blockchain technology when it announced it would use blockchain technology to secure the health records of over a million citizens. Estonia’s systematic method of applying blockchain technologies through GovTech partnerships demnostrates how innovation is a process. Estonia also identified early the value of the blockchain as a disruptive platform innovation. The application of blockchain technology to healthcare is a radical innovation given that nearly all previous applications have been in the financial and legal sectors.
Abstract Blockchain has the potential to become a significant source of disruptive innovations in business and management. There is a scarcity of knowledge and understanding of blockchain techniques that hinders its academic research and practical application. Business managers need to understand the potential impact and threat of blockchain applications in order to gain and maintain competitive advantage. Blockchain applications appear to offer considerable performance improvement and commercialization opportunities.
Kevin O’Leary, Philip O’Reilly, Joseph Feller, Rob Gleasure · 6 authors
Today, many multi-national organisations operate in a dispersed geographical environment. Teams consisting of members from around the globe can be assembled on an as-needed basis. However, this can prove to be a complex managerial task. Individuals, who believe that their efforts are not being effectively monitored by upper management, lose their motivation to fully contribute to the best of their abilities as they do not believe there is any correlation between the effort they exert and the reward they receive. With low levels of intrinsic involvement among employees, a lack of task visibility from upper management and limited social interaction among group members, many organisations struggle to combat the issue of social loafing in cross functional working groups. Blockchain technology, widely acknowledged as enabling openness, can facilitate the development of an immutable, transparent, secure and verifiable application for capturing individuals Intellectual Property as they work. This would motivate employees to more openly contribute to group work, safe in the knowledge that their contribution will be recognised, enabling management to maintain a high level of task visibility over their employees work without requiring their physical presence.
In this paper, we consider the issue of trust and trust-related factors in the context of decentralized applications running on public blockchain platforms such as Ethereum. These decentralized applications emphasize a lack of reliance on a trusted third party, and are marketed as applications that cannot be censored or stopped. To determine whether either social trust or technology trust applies in these cases, we examine the extent to which these applications could be considered to be out of the control of a third party, by qualitatively analyzing how developers define the characteristics of decentralization, trustlessness and autonomy. The results show that although decentralized applications' websites make reference to these concepts, they are not defined in the same way. In cases where there is no mention of either of these concepts, it is therefore difficult to say which definitions are assumed. In addition, we also found contradictions in the characterization of the level of developer control. We discuss these findings in the context of research on user trust and propose future research directions.
This paper analyses the effect of adding Bitcoin, to the portfolio (stocks, bonds, Baltic index, MXEF, gold, real estate and crude oil) of an international investor by using daily data available from 2<sup>nd</sup> of July, 2010 to 2<sup>nd of</sup> August, 2016. We conclude that adding Bitcoin to portfolio, over the course of the considered period, always yielded a higher Sharpe ratio. This means that Bitcoin’s returns offset its high volatility. This paper, recognizing the fact that Bitcoin is a relatively new asset class, gives the readers a basic idea about the working of the virtual currency, the increasing number developments in the financial industry revolving around it, its unique features and the detailed look into its continuously growing acceptance across different fronts (Banks, Merchants and Countries) globally. We also construct optimal portfolios to reflect the highly lucrative and largely unexplored opportunities associated with investment in Bitcoin.
Technological antecedents can radically change the way firms organize value creation and \nengage in value exchange. Blockchain, considered to be an extension of internet is said to \nhave the potential to disrupt many industries. Blockchain is an open, decentralised ledger for \nrecording and moving information, value, assets between peers without the assistance of \nintermediaries. The transactions are done with in minutes and have minimal transaction fees. \nGiven blockchain’s potential to disrupt many industries, it is important to investigate its \nimplications on business models, which represent how firms create, deliver and capture \nvalue. Keeping this in view, the aim of this research is to study how the attributes of \nblockchain affect the elements of a business model. In order to see the impact of these \nattributes on individual elements of a business model, a framework was developed based on \nthe works of Teece (2010), Zott and Amir (2010), Ostwalder & Pignuer (2010) and Weill & \nWoerner (2013). \nUsing Delphi Technique methodology, the impact of the attributes of blockchain on the \nelements of business model was assessed. From the results of the study, it was inferred that \nblockchain has the potential to facilitate significant innovation in business model. However, \nit should be kept in mind that the results would be most applicable to firms who rely on \nintermediaries for recording and exchanging information, value, assets. The more the \nreliance on such intermediaries, the greater the expected benefits of using blockchain to \ninnovate business model. Whereas, intermediaries who provide services with regards to \nrecording and exchanging information, value or assets face great risk from blockchain, and \nthus should look to either incorporate blockchain in their business models or find other \nmeans to counter the threat.
Friedrich Holotiuk, Francesco Pisani, Jürgen Moormann
Because of its potentially disruptive influence on business models (BMs), blockchain technology has sparked a lively debate among researchers. Our Delphi study sets out to explore the impact of blockchain in payments, which represents a major cornerstone of banking and the cradle of this technology. The results, grouped around four areas of thoughts, indicate that blockchain allows the offering of new services and renders some of the current ones obsolete. This consequently impacts the financial structure of firms in the payments industry and further generates great potential for new BMs while making some existing ones obsolete. Eventually, new players, which are better able to leverage the po-tential of blockchain, will give a strong impulse to this development. Our findings contribute to the literature by providing new insights about the impact of innova-tive technologies on BMs and have further practical implications by presenting a better understanding of future BMs in payments.
Cryptocurrency, most notably Bitcoin, has continued to attract attention and consequently substantial investment from businesses, consumers, and the media. Understanding what drives consumer adoption of the technology, however, is not understood. This study uses the UTAUT2 technology adoption theory in order to fill this research gap. A conceptual model is built through a review of the technical aspects of cryptocurrency, an analysis of the technology as currency, and finally a review of technology adoption theory to date. UTAUT2 is found to be the most appropriate adoption theory directly dealing with consumer context. The model conceptualised is tested using multiple linear regression analyses on primary survey data. The findings indicate that facilitating conditions have the highest explanatory effect on actual usage ahead of behavioural intention to use cryptocurrency. Behavioural intention was predicted most strongly by hedonic motivation, followed by perceived trust, and social influence. Interestingly, effort expectancy and performance expectancy were found to be non-significant, contrary to much of the studies in related fields. The study also aimed to identify the primary use-case finding that investment was the primary consumer use. Due to characteristics of the sample collected, the studyÕs findings are limited to the South African context.
Joseph M. Woodside, Fred K. Augustine, Will Giberson
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the acceptance and future use of blockchain technology. Given the rapid technological changes, this paper focuses on a managerial overview and framework of how the blockchain, including its implementations such as Bitcoin have advanced and how blockchain can be utilized in large-scale, enterprise environments. The paper begins with a technological overview that covers the history of the technology, as well as describing the computational, cryptographic theory that serves as the basis for its notable security features. This paper also covers several key application areas such as finance, accounting, and marketplaces where blockchain technology is seeing major investments from some of the world’s largest organizations. Analysis Methods: Triangulation is utilized for this paper, which combines multiple methodologies, such as qualitative and quantitative methods, as complementary components for improving research study accuracy. The triangulation methods chosen for this paper include a secondary data environment analysis, a text analysis, and financial analysis in order to successfully manage and review the adoption diffusion of innovative technologies like blockchain. The blockchain stands to disrupt many areas of society with the proper application and thus it is important to examine its use with as many viewpoints as possible. Contributions and Conclusion: The contribution this paper describes the potential drivers and drawbacks of blockchain technology in real world applications and highlights the managerial implications of its use. This paper also expands the theoretical contributions for identifying blockchain technology progress on the diffusion of innovation curve. As it stands, the blockchain is within the innovation stage in terms of its application in multi-national enterprises, but with major firms making investments, the blockchain could see growing normalization and acceptance, and at an inflection point akin to the Internet of the 1990s.