Promising or Influencing? Theory and Evidence on the Acceptance of Mobile Payment Among the Elderly in China

Mobile payment has become popular in China recently. However, China's population is aging rapidly at the same time. Therefore, it is necessary to explore factors that can affect the elderly to accept mobile payment. By adding two constructs of trust and social influence, this study proposed an extended TAM, and a questionnaire survey was conducted among the Chinese elderly. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. Results show that the model explains 77.3% of the variance in behavioral intention. Besides, perceived usefulness and social influence significantly and positively affect behavioral intention, while trust does not. This result demonstrates that what matters is the usefulness and influence from important others, but not the promise provided by mobile payment platforms. Based on the results, this study provides suggestions for the future development of mobile payment.