Stakeholder Perceptions of Barriers to GIS Adoption for Market Location Planning: Evidence from Dodoma Urban, Tanzania

This study quantitatively assesses stakeholder perceptions of the primary barriers to adopting Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for market location planning in Dodoma Urban, Tanzania. The research was motivated by the city's rapid urbanization a 20.7% population increase (2012–2022) and the concurrent challenges in ensuring equitable market access. A cross-sectional design was employed, administering a structured questionnaire to 171 stakeholders selected via stratified proportional random sampling from a defined frame of 300 individuals (68.4% response rate). The instrument demonstrated strong psychometric properties: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) confirmed a three-factor structure (68% variance explained, all loadings > 0.70), and Cronbach's alpha values indicated excellent reliability for all constructs limited technical skills (α = 0.91), high costs (α = 0.87), insufficient infrastructure (α = 0.89), and the dependent variable, perceived GIS adoption challenges (α = 0.88). Multiple linear regression identified limited technical skills as the most significant barrier (β = 0.312, p < 0.001), followed by high costs (β = 0.289, p < 0.001) and insufficient infrastructure (β = 0.261, p = 0.001). The model explained 51.0% of the variance (R² = 0.510, F (3,167) = 57.91, p < 0.001), with diagnostics confirming no OLS assumptions violations. Subgroup analysis revealed that urban planners perceived cost-related barriers more acutely than other stakeholders (F (5,165) = 3.21, p = 0.009). The study concludes that capacity building is the most critical intervention, alongside cost-reduction and infrastructural investment. These findings provide empirically grounded, actionable insights for policymakers in Dodoma and similar urban contexts in developing countries.