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Impact of Product/Service Characteristics on the Rate of Adoption of an Innovation: A case of Eco Cash mobile services in Chipinge District, Zimbabwe.

The emergence of Eco Cash in Zimbabwe ushered a new dispensation in the banking services sector market, with the urbanites responding favorably. The range of mobile banking services offered include bank transfers (sending and receiving money), airtime top-ups, bill payments and bank to wallet and wallet to bank transfers. However this development was not welcome by the traditional banking businesses as they realized the imminent danger of competition, a move that prompted the brick and mortar banks to summon the central bank to force the new rival to undertake its services in conjunction with them. Despite showing great potential, the Eco Cash services have attracted limited attention in some rural market segments in the country and yet this innovation was aimed at bringing banking convenience to the rural folks. It is against this background that this research was carried out to establish the extent to which the characteristic nature (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trial-ability and observability) of the Eco Cash mobile services impacts on its rate of adoption and acceptance in the rural market. The study was conducted in Chipinge District at four selected business centers, namely Birchenough Bridge, Tanganda, Chibuwe and Rimbi and Checheche. A descriptive survey research design was employed and a sample size of 80 respondents comprising principally registered Econet Wireless subscribers was conveniently intercepted as they entered the townships. The major instrument used was a structured questionnaire and the results were analyzed using descriptive statistical tools namely the mean and standard. The results show that Eco Cash services are not popular in the rural market, despite them having better attributes that can hasten their rate of adoption by the target market. This therefore implies that Econet Wireless should make some deliberate targeted promotional programs aimed at the rural market and this may improve the adoption of eco cash service in Zimbabwe. Key Terms: Product/Service, Eco-cash, Innovation, Service Characteristics, Rate of Adoption,