Purpose

While the financial relief efforts are struggling to keep up with the COVID-19 outbreak, there is a need for the diffusion of e-Zakat initiatives and work with fintech if governments truly strive to ensure that most vulnerable do not fall behind. The newly launched e-system – popularly known as ZAKATY (e-portal and smartphone application) – in Saudi Arabia is an example worth attention and study on how well people can accept and use the system and Zakat payer-centric e-services, especially amid such uncertain times. The purpose of this study is to explore how an extended unified model of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) can induce users to adopt the ZAKATY e-services provided by the General Authority of Zakat and Tax during this unprecedented challenge to pay Zakat online in an easy, fast and reliable way.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on a quantitative approach through an online administered survey, a total of 479 usable responses from individual Zakat payers were obtained using snowball sampling and analyzed through smart partial least squares (SmartPLS) software.

Findings

This study confirms the suitability and utility of the UTAUT model used in predicting Zakat payers’ intention to adopt the e-Zakat system and its services, indicating that the model possesses 72% of the predictive capability to explain variance in intentions. It also shows that all UTAUT constructs (i.e. performance expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions) were statistically significant, except for effort expectancy. Online trust exerted a significant moderating effect on the relationship between UTAUT constructs and users’ intentions to uptake the system’s online services amid COVID-19.

Practical implications

To keep pace with rapid digital transformations amid the pandemic, Zakat institutions, as governmental entities, are likely pursuing to identify the main determinants that influence people’s intentions to engage in adopting e-Zakat services. This could be eventually translated into maximizing the proceeds of Zakat funds by developing ICT-based infrastructure and introducing reliable and efficient e-services that can be adopted by users.

Originality/value

Given the scarce literature on the relevance of e-Zakat systems’ adoption, this work could serve as a building block and springboard for literature and future research by empirically examining an extended framework derived from the UTAUT theory in the Zakat context.

中文翻译：

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在 COVID-19 危机期间及以后推广 e-Zakat 计划

目的

虽然财政救济工作正在努力跟上 COVID-19 的爆发，但如果政府真正努力确保最弱势群体不落后，则需要传播 e-Zakat 计划并与金融科技合作。沙特阿拉伯新推出的电子系统——俗称 ZAKATY（电子门户和智能手机应用程序）——是一个值得关注和研究的例子，即人们如何接受和使用该系统以及以 Zakat 付款人为中心的电子服务，尤其是在这样不确定的时期。本研究的目的是探索一个扩展的统一接受和使用技术模型 (UTAUT) 如何在这一前所未有的在线支付 Zakat 挑战中诱导用户采用 Zakat 和税务总局提供的 ZAKATY 电子服务。一种简单、快速和可靠的方式。

设计/方法/方法

通过在线管理调查采用定量方法，使用滚雪球抽样获得了来自个人 Zakat 支付者的总共 479 份可用回复，并通过智能偏最小二乘法 (SmartPLS) 软件进行了分析。

发现

这项研究证实了 UTAUT 模型在预测 Zakat 支付者采用 e-Zakat 系统及其服务的意图方面的适用性和实用性，表明该模型具有 72% 的预测能力来解释意图的差异。它还表明，所有 UTAUT 结构（即绩效预期、社会影响和便利条件）都具有统计显着性，但努力预期除外。在线信任对 UTAUT 结构与用户在 COVID-19 期间采用系统在线服务的意图之间的关系产生了显着的调节作用。

实际影响

为了跟上大流行期间快速的数字化转型，作为政府实体的天课机构可能正在寻求确定影响人们参与采用电子天课服务的意图的主要决定因素。这最终可以转化为通过开发基于 ICT 的基础设施和引入用户可以采用的可靠和高效的电子服务来最大化 Zakat 资金的收益。

原创性/价值

鉴于关于 e-Zakat 系统采用相关性的文献稀少，这项工作可以作为文献和未来研究的基石和跳板，通过在 Zakat 上下文中实证检验源自 UTAUT 理论的扩展框架。