This chapter investigates how the three referent groups (peers, parent, media) of subjective norms (SN) influence the intention of millennials to adopt e-wallets. This study is supported by the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework. A total of 215 usable responses were obtained and analyzed using SPSS 25 and SmartPLS 3.2.6. The data is collected using a self-administered survey (Lancaster Qualtrics) and distributed randomly using the snowball sampling technique. The results indicate that the decomposition of SN has a significant relationship towards the intention of millennials to adopt e-wallets. This chapter also provides useful insights on what are the other factors that would build the intention of millennials towards the usage of e-wallets. Moreover, TPB along with the SOR framework supports the findings and provides better credibility to this study. This chapter concludes that brands should leverage more capital on media advertisements rather than peer referrals if they want to capture a larger market.
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There has been a steep increase in contactless payments in the world, as it has now emerged as an essential solution for companies to push their business forward during the COVID-19 pandemic (Gundaniya, 2020). Reville (2020) shares a similar view that the pandemic has theoretically become a catalyst for contactless payments with 30% more respondents using contactless payments, and 70% of those customers are expected to continue using contactless payments even after the pandemic (White, 2020; Lai, Toh & Alkhrabsheh, 2020) worldwide. For example, in Germany, contactless payments have boomed from 35% to 50% due to the pandemic, and China has witnessed the highest adoption rate of contactless payment where e-wallet transactions are 23% higher than cash transactions (Patel, 2020). The World Health Organization (WHO) state “When possible it would be advisable to use contactless payments to reduce the risk of transmission.” The below stats are testimony to this fact:
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An increase of 40% of 'the year to year' global contactless growth between Jan to March this year (Gundaniya, 2020).
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MasterCard's contactless payments increased by 40% in the first quarter of the year (Rooney, 2020).
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Around 58% of Americans are now likely to use contactless payment methods than they were before the pandemic (White, 2020).
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51% of Americans used mobile wallets like Apple Pay and other tap-to-go credit cards. (MasterCard Content Exchange, 2020).
With the rise of mobile payments, smartphone penetration, changes in customer behavior, and regulation, the proliferation of e-wallets has intensified. Furthermore, a combination of contactless payments (related to customer experience), security, and the added value that a consumer gets from using the service and the innovation behind these wallets seem to be the key to their success (Jollie, 2017). As such, new possibilities presented by e-wallets are appealing as they are easy to implement on different devices across channels; have user-friendly interfaces; paving the way for loyalty and marketing gimmicks along with new payment ideas using smartphones as their bank cards, etc. (Constantinescu, 2019; Lai, Toh & Alkhrabsheh, 2020). In addition, Malaysians can participate in the global financial system thanks to e-wallets, as they do not need a bank account which allows users to connect in rural areas.
By 2020, almost 2.1 billion consumers worldwide used e-wallets to pay or transfer money as (Smith, 2018). More than two-thirds of e-wallet users live in the Asia-Pacific region. Users in the Asia-Pacific region were also the most active due to the higher smartphone penetration (yStats.com, 2019). Malaysia leads other countries in the Southeast Asia in terms of usage of e-wallets (40%), ahead of the Philippines (36%), Thailand (27%), and Singapore (27%) in a report by Mastercard Impact Study 2020.