Investigating farmers’ concerns toward the adoption of smart agriculture internet of things (IoT): The moderating role of resistance to change

Smart agriculture internet of things (IoT) is the application of IoT to agriculture for achieving improved efficiency, productivity, and sustainability. It harnesses the power of connected devices such as sensors, automation, and data analysis to revolutionize farming practices (Torky & Hassanein, 2020). With the help of this technology, farmers can make more informed decisions to increase their yields and profitability. Existing studies have made considerable efforts to understand the main benefits of smart agriculture IoT adoption and acceptance using various theoretical models. However, in practical situations, farmers tend to be resistant to adoption new technologies due to the knowledge gaps. Moreover, there is a limited study on understanding the farmers’ concerns toward the adoption of smart agriculture IoT technology. To fill this important gap, we aim to analyze the main factors influencing farmers’ adoption intention in smart agriculture IoT by bridging two theories, namely protection motivation theory (PMT) and task-technology fit (TTF) theory. PMT was initially developed to explore individuals' responses to fear appeals. Farmers often experience fears due to the complexity of their task characteristics and the technology characteristics of smart agriculture IoT. These characteristics represent major components of TTF theory, which focuses on the alignment between tasks and technology to enhance performance and technology utilization. Hence, it underscores the necessity of examining the interconnections between these two theories. Further, this study also investigates the impact of resistance to change on the adoption of smart agriculture IoT technology. Thus, this research, grounded in relevant theories and concepts, formulates a more comprehensive framework. This framework can serve as a valuable tool to better understand farmers' willingness to embrace smart agriculture IoT solutions. This research attempts to answer the following research questions: What are the main factors influencing the adoption of smart agriculture IoT technology? Does resistance to change significantly impacted the adoption of a smart agriculture IoT technology? The findings of this research are expected to offer insights into the implementation of smart agriculture IoT and advance the knowledge in the infusion of new information technology.