FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ADOPTION OF FINANCIAL ROBO-ADVISORS IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES

The emergence of financial robo-advisors has completely altered how individuals manage and invest their funds. Given the increasing impact of AI on the financial technology industry, this paper seeks to provide a research approach that might shed light on the adoption of financial roboadvisors. This paper aims to investigate individuals' willingness to adopt financial robo-advisors using UTAUT from potential individuals' perspectives. It analyzes the factors that impact them to adopt robo-advisors which include Financial Literacy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, and Perceived usefulness. Data was collected from an online survey of 220 Mirpur AJK division individuals and analyzed by SMART-PLS statistical software. According to the study, three main factors impact people's willingness to adopt financial robo-advisors: social influence, facilitating conditions, and perceived usefulness. However, financial literacy was found to be insignificant and did not impact the adoption of financial robo-advisors. Key recommendations include leveraging social influence, improving facilitating conditions, and emphasizing perceived usefulness to encourage adoption. Future studies should look at broader geographic areas, greater sample sizes, and more technology acceptance theories. Limitations include a small sample size and a regional focus. This study provides significant insights for developers, marketers, MUST Business School 2 researchers, and policymakers to encourage the adoption of robo-advisors, hence promoting financial inclusion and innovation.