Advancing sustainable technology adoption: Insights from SMEs in beauty, health, and wellness sectors

This study investigates the factors influencing sustainable technology adoption among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia’s beauty, health, and wellness sectors. It is grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and extended with elements from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), frameworks that provide the theoretical foundation for understanding sustainable technological adoption change. Overall, this project examines how perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and social influence shape attitudes toward sustainable technology adoption and, subsequently, digital implementation. A cross-sectional, quantitative design was employed, involving 261 respondents across various service settings. Data were analysed using SPSS, incorporating correlation, regression, and mediation analyses. The findings reveal that perceived ease of use and social influence significantly predict sustainable technology adoption, with attitude toward technology (ATT) serving as a key mediating variable. Perceived usefulness, while positively correlated with sustainable technology adoption, demonstrated no significant direct effect when ATT was included. The results underscore the importance of fostering a positive digital mindset and highlight the influence of social norms in sustainable technology uptake, particularly in Malaysia’s collectivist culture. Practical implications include the need for user-friendly tools, management-led sustainable technology, and targeted training programmes. The study contributes to theoretical extensions of TAM and offers actionable insights for entrepreneurs and policymakers to bridge digital gaps while advancing sustainable technology adoption among underserved SMEs.