Effects of managers' environmental consciousness and digital expertise on their technology adoption intentions

Environmental consciousness and digital competence are sought-after characteristics of managers by many organisations today. The digital expertise of organisations is considered a critical capability that drives their digitalisation strategies. Also, values and beliefs towards environmental sustainability influence their attitudes towards achieving environmental performance. By integrating the three 'big' adoption theories of DoI, TAM and UTAUT, along with decision-making literature, this study empirically investigates the effects of the digital expertise and environmental consciousness of managers on their intention to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies. We used an online survey with 172 managers from Australian firms using the PLS-SEM method for data analysis. The results show that managers’ environmental consciousness and digital expertise significantly and positively affect their intention to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies. Their perceived usefulness of technologies partially mediates the relationships between digital expertise and intention to adopt and between environmental consciousness and intention to adopt. The mediation roles of perceived ease of use, perceived visibility and social influence were not empirically confirmed. Integrating adoption theories with domain-specific knowledge-based decision-making is a novel theoretical approach adopted in the study. The key contribution is to the Industry 4.0 technology adoption literature by empirically confirming the effects of domain-specific knowledge expertise and environmental consciousness on the intention to adopt. Its practical implications lie in the confirmation that organisations benefit from their investment in the digital skill development of managers and environmentally conscious managers.