Peer Influence and User Experience as Drivers of Gen Z E-Wallet Adoption

The rapid adoption of e-wallets among Gen Z in Indonesia has created a highly competitive market, making it imperative for providers to understand the key drivers of customer decision-making. This study investigates the influence of three digital marketing dimensions gamification, peer influence, and user experience (UX) on e-wallet adoption decisions among Gen Z consumers in the Jabodetabek metropolitan area. Employing a quantitative approach, data was collected from 370 respondents via a structured online questionnaire. The data were subsequently analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling with Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) to test the hypothesized relationships. The results reveal that user experience has the most significant positive impact on customer decisions (β=0.434), followed by peer influence (β=0.357). Conversely, gamification marketing was found to have an insignificant direct effect on customer choice (β=0.138). The model successfully explained 74.4% of the variance in customer decisions (R<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> = 0.744). This study concludes that for Gen Z, practical usability and social validation are the primary drivers of e-wallet adoption, superseding the direct influence of gamified elements. Therefore, e-wallet providers should prioritize optimizing app interfaces and leveraging peer networks through community-based marketing, using gamification as a supplementary tool for engagement rather than a primary conversion strategy.