Status-quo satisfaction and smartwatch adoption: a multi- group analysis Ezlika M. Ghazali Faculty of Business and Accountancy, Department of Marketing, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Dilip S. Mutum Nottingham University Business School, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia Michele Hui-Jing Pua Faculty of Business and Accountancy, UM-Graduate School of Business, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and T. Ramayah School of Management, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia Abstract Purpose – This study explains and predicts smartwatch adoption trends among non-users of smartwatches based on theories of the diffusion of innovation and inertia. It explores the impact of satisfaction with the status- quo with traditional wristwatches, on attitudes toward smartwatches and intentions to adopt the technology. Design/methodology/approach – The study used PLS-SEM to conduct a multi-group analysis considering high (HSQS) and low (LSQS) status-quo satisfaction groups. The multi-group analysis followed the MICOM procedure, and the software SmartPLS three was used to analyse the data. Findings – The results suggest that attitudes of the LSQS group were more strongly impacted by perceived ease of use and trialability. Their attitude toward innovation also had a stronger effect on their adoption intention. For the HSQS group, social influence more strongly impacted adoption intention; this group also perceived the disruption associated with an innovation as greater than the LSQS group. Analysis using PLS- Predict indicated that both models have considerable predictive power. Originality/value – Most scholarship on this subject has taken a positive view of the diffusion and adoption of smartwatches. This study considers smartwatches from positive and inhibitory perspectives. In the context of smartwatches, this is the first scholarly attempt at comparing levels of resistance to innovation adoption to consumer satisfaction with the status quo. Keywords Innovation resistance, Smartwatches, Status-quo satisfaction, Innovation adoption, Inertia, PLS-MGA Paper type Research paper 1. Introduction Smartwatches are the most popular smart wearables (Dehghani et al., 2018) and are expected to continue outpacing other such technologies into the year 2022 (Llamas et al., 2019; Statista, 2019). Dehghani (2018, p. 2) defines a smartwatch as a “multi-function wrist-worn device that provides convenient, fast access to data and applications via a short-range wireless Bluetooth connection with a paired smartphone”. According to Hsiao (2017, p. 1), smartwatches are devices that “can connect with smartphones and receive a lot of information, such as time, text messages, schedules, and GPS data” and, while they “can perform basic data and Status-quo satisfaction and smartwatch adoption This study is funded by Faculty Grant (No: GPF016I-2018), Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Malaysia. It received the Best Paper Award, Information Systems track at SASEM 2019, Melaka, Malaysia. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/0263-5577.htm Received 28 October 2019 Revised 11 January 2020 26 April 2020 19 June 2020 5 July 2020 Accepted 6 July 2020 Industrial Management & Data Systems © Emerald Publishing Limited 0263-5577 DOI 10.1108/IMDS-10-2019-0576