Benchmarking carbon trading adoption in emerging economies through extending the TOE framework

Purpose This study examines the factors influencing carbon trading system adoption by extending the traditional technology–organisation–environment (TOE) model into the decentralised technology–organisation–environment–technoethics (DT-OET) model. Design/methodology/approach This study used a quantitative research design with a cross-sectional approach and collected data from 384 professionals working in related sectors in Bangladesh. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data along with unobserved heterogeneity analysis and importance-performance map analysis (IPMA). Findings The structural model shows that organisational readiness, environmental factors and technoethical factors have significant positive effects on carbon trading adoption. Decentralised technology factors do not have a significant direct effect, but their influence is significantly mediated by trust. Interestingly, trust emerges as a strong direct predictor and also significantly mediates the effects of technoethical, environmental and decentralised technology factors on adoption intention. Practical implications The DT-OET instruments of this paper offer organisations a diagnostic framework to assess their readiness for carbon trading. According to the findings, managers need to prioritise top management support, resource allocation and employee training. Policymakers should design clear regulations and build institutional trust, as environmental factors influence adoption both directly and indirectly through trust. Technology providers need to focus on building trust through system reliability, transparency and user education, as trust mediates the relationship between technological factors and adoption intention. Originality/value This paper expands the TOE model by adding technoethics as a new contextual factor. It moves beyond the view of technology as neutral. This addresses a gap in conventional models that overlook psychological processes in adoption decisions. The findings of this study suggest that benchmarking frameworks need to consider trust as a mediating mechanism.