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The development of technology has resulted into huge connection of different smart objects which have to communicate in providing various services to users. This expansion has given a rise to new concept termed as Internet of Things (IoT) (Karen, Scott, & Lyman, 2015). Various projects related to IoT have been deployed to enable users to interact with smart objects through the internet and make services easily accessible (Hsu & Lin, 2016a). The use of technologies such as mobile payments, biometric identification, smart logistic and internet finance are becoming common in people’s life because it enables capturing, processing and dissemination of real-time information which simplify service accessibility (Hu et al., 2017). Radio frequency identification (RFID), intelligent sensors, actuators and mobile phones are networked through wired or wireless to enable fast and easy communication between devices (Hsu & Lin, 2016a; Hu et al., 2017). This connectivity has made the field of IoT to attract more attention in recent years and it is considered as one of the best technologies which could simplify services accessibility if it is clearly implemented and accepted. The rise of IoT could be due to the availability of low-cost technologies, low energy and efficiency wireless sensors, ubiquitous internet and advancement in cloud computing technology (Mattern & Floerkemeier, 2010).
Real-time data and information sharing is very limited in developing countries particularly sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as a result different sectors such as agricultural, health, transportation and environment are growing slowly. Therefore, proper implementation of acceptable IoT in SSA could enhance fast development in different sectors (Miazi, Erasmus, Razzaque, Zennaro, & Bagula, 2016). Despite the availability of enabling environment for usage of IoT, there are a lot of challenges which limit IoT acceptance. Different studies have been conducted to identify various pressing technical and social challenges such as cost, connectivity, security, privacy, legal and interpretability which limit the application of IoT (Hsu & Lin, 2016b; Karen et al., 2015). Nevertheless, thorough literature scanning revealed that few empirical studies have been conducted to examine acceptance of IoT in developing countries (AlHogail, 2018; Gao & Bai, 2014; Jaafreh, 2018; Kao, Nawata, & Huang, 2019; Nikbin, & Abushakra, 2019). However, these studies have concentrated on Middle East and East Asia countries. Little evidences have been found on studies related with IoT in SSA (Atayero, Oluwatobi & Alege, 2016). This is because the IoT is still in its early stage of development in developing countries and particularly in SSA (Miazi et al., 2016). Furthermore, studies have shown that technology adoption lags behind in SSA which could also limit acceptance of IoT (Wamboye, Tochkov, & Sergi, 2015). This implies that the acceptance and usage of IoT in SSA will be very difficult if antecedents that may contribute to its acceptance and usage are not clearly understood. Therefore, this study adopts value-based adoption model (VAM) to identify the antecedents that could influence the acceptance and usage of IoT and particularly mobile payments in developing countries, specifically in Tanzania. The findings of this study will benefit the IoT services’ providers to understand why and how people will consume their services and thus improve the service.
This study contributes to the literature on the following ways. Firstly, it extends limited knowledge on the acceptance of IoT in sub-Saharan Africa. This is because limited empirical studies have been conducted in sub-Saharan Africa to examine the acceptance of IoT. Secondly, the study extends VAM theory by adding perceived trust to examine its influence on the acceptance of IoT.