The mediating role of social media fatigue on social media usage behaviour of the ageing society during the COVID-19 pandemic

At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, research on social media in the Malaysian context focused on its benefits and overlooked its drawbacks. To investigate this, we looked at an ageing society whose psychological health was severely affected during the pandemic. This study developed a model based on the Stressor-Strain-Outcome (SSO) framework that predicts factors that prompt passive social media use in Malaysia's ageing society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Convenient sampling was utilised to collect responses from 389 Malaysian older adults through an online survey. The direct effects of stressors, including information overload, communication overload, complexity, privacy, and fear of missing out on the strain of social media fatigue, and indirect effects on the outcome of passive social media use were investigated. For the assessment of the study model, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied. Out of 11 hypotheses, four direct and three indirect hypotheses were accepted. The study findings did not support the direct and indirect effects of privacy and fear of missing out on social media fatigue and passive social media use, respectively. Findings reveal complexity as the more significant factor influencing social media fatigue, and indirectly, contributing towards the passive use of social media. This study contributes to understanding how social media interaction affects an ageing society during the pandemic lockdown. Despite widespread interest in this field, research on ageing populations concerning social media effects and pandemics is still in its early stages in Malaysia. The study's conclusion offers a thorough examination of its limitations and provides valuable recommendations for future research endeavours. © SEARCH Journal 2023.

Changes in Internet use during the COVID-19 confinement in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and Argentina

the CoVid-19 pandemic drastically changed different aspects of the daily lives of millions of people, generating an increase in the use of the internet for maintaining social contact, teleworking or online studies. this study explores the extent to which the internet connection pattern changed during the CoVid-19 confinement in a sample of adults from four latin american countries, considering gender and age. a descriptive study was carried out, including a non-probabilistic convenience sample design. the final sample was comprised of 1488 participants. this analysis shows that internet habits changed in terms of frequency, duration, and time of use. We observe differences when it comes to gender and age. in women, the increases in use are greater for the different variables analyzed, especially for the frequency of connection at night. in terms of age, the younger the age, the greater the increase in internet connection time throughout the day and connection time at night. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Spanish) la pandemia de CoVid-19 cambio drasticamente diferentes aspectos de la vida cotidiana de millones de personas, generando un incremento del uso de internet para el mantenimiento del contacto social, el teletrabajo o los estudios online. en este articulo se evalua en que medida presento cambios el patron de conexion a internet durante el confinamiento por CoVid-19 en una muestra de adultos de cuatro paises de america latina, considerando el sexo y la edad. se propuso un estudio descriptivo, con diseno no probabilistico de muestreo por conveniencia. la muestra final quedo compuesta por 1488 participantes. el analisis muestra que los habitos de conexion a internet se modificaron en terminos de frecuencia, duracion y horarios, observandose diferencias en funcion del sexo y la edad. en mujeres son mayores los incrementos de uso para las distintas variables analizadas, especialmente para la frecuencia de conexion nocturna. en cuanto a la edad, a menor edad se observa un mayor aumento del tiempo de conexion a internet a lo largo del dia y de conexion en horario nocturno. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Rising Cybercrime on Social Media during Covid pandemic and its Impact on Digital Marketing

Covid pandemic brought a significant change in the way people learn, entertain, interact and conduct business. With people working and socializing remotely, social media usage skyrocketed and provided a fertile ground to cybercriminals to exploit the platforms and its users. This paper will explore the rising trend of cybercrime on social media, including specific types of cybercrime such as phishing scams, impersonation and misinformation. The paper will also discuss about the parties mostly affected by cybercrimes. Additionally, the paper will delve into the impact of increase in cybercrime on digital marketing, including the challenges faced by businesses. Overall the paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of cybercrime media during the covid pandemic and how it is impacting the overall society and digital markets all together.

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Internet Addiction Among Male Students of Jubail University College, Saudi Arabia

This study aims to determine the associated factors and prevalence of Internet addiction among Jubail University College – Male Branch students. Descriptive cross-sectional method was applied. 171 students participated. Self-administered survey questionnaire was the data-gathering instrument. Young's Internet Addiction Test was used to determine the level of internet usage. Factors associated with high internet consumption are accessibility, boredom, isolation, and extreme weather condition. Covid-19 pandemic changed the way respondents consume internet. It also changed the respondents' sleeping pattern and increases the average internet usage per day. Though the internet played a vital role during Covid-19 pandemic, it also increases the dependency of students on it. Higher number of moderate level internet addiction has been found among respondents. Therefore, it is encouraged that JUC should design a program to address the current situation.

Study on Dynamic Change of Land Usage in Hongta District Based on Sentinel-2

This work utilizes Sentinel-2A L1C remote sensing photographs from the years 2018, 2020, and 2022 to identify the different land use categories in the study area using the support vector machine (SVM) technique. The accuracy of categorization is greater than 90%. This research explores four factors of the dynamic change in land use in Hongta District from 2018 to 2022: the proportion of various types of land;the extent of something like the changing land usage;land use transfer;and the dynamic degree of the change in land use. According to the study's results, the proportion of cultivated and grassland land grew, while the quantity of barren and construction land fell by 1.90 percent, 0.03 percent, and 0.69 percent, respectively. The water system land portion of total area increased by 2.58 percent and 0.13 percent, respectively. After comparing the two research periods, the entire dynamic degree of the second stage is determined to be 3.5 percent lower than that of the first stage, and the pace of land use change is quite sluggish, which may be associated with the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. The outcomes of the research may give the natural resources department the knowledge it needs to manage land resources properly. © 2023 SPIE.

Science video usage in a pandemic

During the pandemic, instruction moved online, and physical formats of media were unable to be used. This presented the opportunity to undertake a quantitative study on the use of streaming videos, particularly in the sciences, at Colorado College. The authors used vendor statistics for the last 5 years (2016–2017 to 2020–2021) and reviewed the time period of March–February, which is what the authors refer to as the covid year. By 2021, streaming videos were being used 25 times more than in 2016, and science videos were being streamed 26 times as much.

Perceptions of university students regarding engagement in synchronous discussions involving teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic

Teamwork is usually a component of the learning assessment framework of online courses, and the timely sharing of information and feedback through synchronous communication is beneficial for team-based assignments. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, university students did not always actively engage in virtual teamwork in online environments because they were learning from home and were subject to the effect of disruptions at home. This study explored the perceptions of university students who engaged in synchronous discussions involving teamwork during the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 25 Taiwanese university students. Through qualitative methods that incorporated individual interviews and a content analysis, six content concepts were established. Afterward, relational content analysis was conducted. This study revealed that the students benefited from visible synchronous discussions in terms of inquiry dialogue, project creation, and learning satisfaction. Notably, the interviewees mostly did not switch on their webcams but recognized that webcam use can benefit discussions. The participants' decision to switch on/off their webcams was primarily influenced by their perception of the importance of a given project than by their privacy concerns. Moreover, when home-based leaning was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, group leaders encountered an obstruction when they were guiding their group members to engage in teamwork involving physical tasks. Future studies should explore how members should be guided to engage in teamwork involving physical tasks during synchronous discussions.

Optimization and Deoptimization of Codons in SARS-CoV-2 and Related Implications for Vaccine Development.

The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has progressed into a global pandemic. To date, thousands of genetic variants have been identified among SARS-CoV-2 isolates collected from patients. Sequence analysis reveals that the codon adaptation index (CAI) values of viral sequences have decreased over time but with occasional fluctuations. Through evolution modeling, it is found that this phenomenon may result from the virus's mutation preference during transmission. Using dual-luciferase assays, it is further discovered that the deoptimization of codons in the viral sequence may weaken protein expression during virus evolution, indicating that codon usage may play an important role in virus fitness. Finally, given the importance of codon usage in protein expression and particularly for mRNA vaccines, it is designed several codon-optimized Omicron BA.2.12.1, BA.4/5, and XBB.1.5 spike mRNA vaccine candidates and experimentally validated their high levels of expression. This study highlights the importance of codon usage in virus evolution and provides guidelines for codon optimization in mRNA and DNA vaccine development.

[Influence of screen time on the sleep quality of students]. / Einfluss der Bildschirmzeit auf die Schlafqualität Studierender.

Introduction: The restorative effects of sleep are essential for physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral daily performance in college. In addition to the stress of everyday student life, the use of screen devices at the forefront of pandemic-related online teaching is also increasing dramatically. Particularly during evening and nighttime hours, increased screen use may contribute to physical, psychological, and cognitive activation, which in turn may negatively affect students' sleep quality. Methods: To determine possible associations between screen use in online teaching and its effects on sleep hygiene and quality, 216 students at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences anonymously and voluntarily participated in the online survey in May 2021. The positive ethics vote is available. Results: The general sleep quality of the student body can be rated as poor in 68.9% (n = 149) of the surveyed students. In particular, students who worked predominantly on screen devices in the evening or at nighttime for their studies, and thus had a chronobiological tendency to be a night person, tended to have poorer sleep. Discussion: The effects of long screen time in the evening and nighttime hours can have far-reaching consequences on sleep patterns and awareness of physical needs for breaks and sleep. Online teaching in times of the COVID-19 pandemic in particular led to an increase in screen time alongside equally high levels of personal use. This could result in a continued negative impact on sleep hygiene and quality, not only at the expense of daytime concentration and performance but rather of physical and mental health.

The Impact of Individuals' Social Environments on Contact Tracing App Use: Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: The German Corona-Warn-App (CWA) is a contact tracing app to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2. As of today, it has been downloaded approximately 45 million times. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the influence of (non)users' social environments on the usage of the CWA during 2 periods with relatively lower death rates and higher death rates caused by SARS-CoV-2. METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal survey study in Germany with 833 participants in 2 waves to investigate how participants perceive their peer groups' opinion about making use of the German CWA to mitigate the risk of SARS-CoV-2. In addition, we asked whether this perceived opinion, in turn, influences the participants with respect to their own decision to use the CWA. We analyzed these questions with generalized estimating equations. Further, 2 related sample tests were performed to test for differences between users of the CWA and nonusers and between the 2 points in time (wave 1 with the highest death rates observable during the pandemic in Germany versus wave 2 with significantly lower death rates). RESULTS: Participants perceived that peer groups have a positive opinion toward using the CWA, with more positive opinions by the media, family doctors, politicians, and virologists/Robert Koch Institute and a lower, only slightly negative opinion originating from social media. Users of the CWA perceived their peer groups' opinions about using the app as more positive than nonusers do. Furthermore, the perceived positive opinion of the media (P=.001) and politicians (P<.001) was significantly lower in wave 2 compared with that in wave 1. The perceived opinion of friends and family (P<.001) as well as their perceived influence (P=.02) among nonusers toward using the CWA was significantly higher in the latter period compared with that in wave 1. The influence of virologists (in Germany primarily communicated via the Robert Koch Institute) had the highest positive effect on using the CWA (B=0.363, P<.001). We only found 1 decreasing effect of the influence of politicians (B=-0.098, P=.04). CONCLUSIONS: Opinions of peer groups play an important role when it comes to the adoption of the CWA. Our results show that the influence of virologists/Robert Koch Institute and family/friends exerts the strongest effect on participants' decisions to use the CWA while politicians had a slightly negative influence. Our results also indicate that it is crucial to accompany the introduction of such a contact tracing app with explanations and a media campaign to support its adoption that is backed up by political decision makers and subject matter experts.

An adaptive testing strategy for efficient utilization of healthcare resources during an epidemic.

Lockdowns are found to be effective against rapidly spreading epidemics like COVID-19. Two downsides to strategies rooted in social distancing and lockdowns are that they adversely affect the economy and prolong the duration of the epidemic. The extended duration observed in these strategies is often due to the under-utilization of medical facilities. Even though an under-utilized health care system is preferred over an overwhelmed one, an alternate strategy could be to maintain medical facilities close to their capacity, with a factor of safety. We explore the practicality of this alternate mitigation strategy and show that it can be achieved by varying the testing rate. We present an algorithm to calculate the number of tests per day to maintain medical facilities close to their capacity. We illustrate the efficacy of our strategy by showing that it reduced the epidemic duration by 40% in comparison to lockdown-based strategies.

Nomophobia and smartphone addiction amidst COVID-19 home confinement: the parallel mediating role of digital gaming and social media tools usage across secondary school students.

Introduction: With the inevitable technological boom enforced by the COVID-19 lockdowns and online emergency remote teaching practices, the prevalence of nomophobia (NMP) and smartphone addiction (SA) among adolescents has become a pressing issue, which has come under scrutiny. However, the impact of social media tools usage (SMTU) and digital gaming behavior (DGB) on these phenomena remains unclear since there is little research focusing on the complex interplay among these variables. Regarding this context, the present study aimed to explore the parallel mediating role of secondary school students' SMTU and DGB in the relation between NMP and SA. Methods: In line with this aim, we employed a cross-sectional design with a critical case sampling strategy and collected data through an online survey from a total of 427 secondary school students in Istanbul in the 2021-2022 academic year. In order to test the parallel mediation model, we employed multiple linear regression models by utilizing PROCESS models with 5000 BC bootstrap samples and 95% CI. Results and discussion: Results illustrated that there was an increase in the prevalence of NMP and SA during the COVID-19 home confinement as consistent with the previous research. The results also indicated that among the multiple mediators, the mediating role of SMTU was significant in the relation between NMP and SA. This means NMP has direct and indirect significant impact on SA through SMTU. However, the mediating role of DGB was found nonsignificant in this relationship. Our results are robust and hold key contributions to both theoria and praxis in educational psychology research realm by disentangling the complex underlying mechanism between NMP, SMTU, DGB, and SA. On the practical side, our results provide insightful implications for school boards and researchers in the development of effective interventions.

Drivers of e-marketing orientation for entrepreneurs and the self-employed in Jordan: the moderating role of perceived continuity of COVID-19 using the SEM approach

This paper sought to identify what key drivers have shaped the extent of E-marketing orientation (EMO) among entrepreneurs and the self-employed during these 'unprecedented times' in the Jordanian context. The study made use of a previously proposed model and incorporated the perceived continuity of COVID-19 as a moderating factor. The study used cross-sectional quantitative-deductive methods and self-administrated questionnaire. Non-probability convenience sampling was used, and the sample comprised 314 responses from owners, directors, managers, supervisors, the partners of businesses in Jordan. SMART partial-least-squares were used and path analysis reported that perceived relative advantage, level of competition and perceived continuity of COVID-19 scored moderate level of influence, whereas the remaining antecedents scored a low level of variance. Moreover, perceived complexity seen insignificant negative antecedent. Perceived continuity of COVID-19 was seen to directly influence EMO and was identified as a standalone antecedent considering that the moderation paths did not demonstrate any significant influence.

Understanding the role of social media usage and health self-efficacy in the processing of COVID-19 rumors: A SOR perspective.

Apart from the direct health and behavioral influence of the COVID-19 pandemic itself, COVID-19 rumors as an infodemic enormously amplified public anxiety and cause serious outcomes. Although factors influencing such rumors propagation have been widely studied by previous studies, the role of spatial factors (e.g., proximity to the pandemic) on individuals' response regarding COVID-19 rumors remain largely unexplored. Accordingly, this study, drawing on the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework, examined how proximity to the pandemic (stimulus) influences anxiety (organism), which in turn determines rumor beliefs and rumor outcomes (response). Further, the contingent role of social media usage and health self-efficacy were tested. The research model was tested using 1246 samples via an online survey during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The results indicate that: (1)The proximity closer the public is to the pandemic, the higher their perceived anxiety; (2) Anxiety increases rumor beliefs, which is further positively associated rumor outcomes; (3) When the level of social media usage is high, the relationship between proximity to the pandemic and anxiety is strengthened; (4) When the level of health self-efficacy is high, the effect of anxiety on rumor beliefs is strengthened and the effect of rumor beliefs on rumor outcomes is also strengthened. This study provides a better understanding of the underlying mechanism of the propagation of COVID-19 rumors from a SOR perspective. Additionally, this paper is one of the first that proposes and empirically verifies the contingent role of social media usage and health self-efficacy on the SOR framework. The findings of study can assist the pandemic prevention department in to efficiently manage rumors with the aim of alleviating public anxiety and avoiding negative outcomes cause by rumors.

Effect of digital gap on virtual care in the time of COVID-19 pandemic: empirical evidence in Taiwan

Decent internet usage rates make Taiwan a case to succeed in virtual care practices during the pandemic. We investigate how internet usage rates across regions condition Taiwan's varieties, concerns, and expectations for virtual care. During the semi-lockdown, we fielded an online census of the managers of care programs for people with disabilities (PWDs). 70% of the PWDs care programs provide three to four virtual care types. Concerned about the PWDs' degeneration and their family caregivers' capacity, respondents expect empowerment of their programs. High internet usage rates facilitate more diversified virtual care, fewer concerns, and various expected assistance. © 2023 Department of Social Work, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

Potential of Bike Sharing During Disruptive Public Health Crises: A Review of COVID-19 Impacts

With public transport (PT) continuing to be negatively affected by the coronavirus pandemic and private car usage surging, alternative modes need to be considered. In this study, we review the available evidence (from academic and gray literature sources) on the performance of bike sharing systems (BSSs) during COVID-19 around the world, with the goal of assessing their potential contribution to improving the resilience of transport systems during pandemics and similar disruptive events. We found BSS usage followed a decrease-rebound pattern, with BSSs overall sustaining lower ridership declines and faster recoveries compared with PT. During lockdowns especially, the average duration of BSS trips increased, following a rise in casual users and leisure trips, while commuting trips decreased. Evidence has also been found for a possible modal shift from some PT users to BSSs, with a decline in the share of multimodal trips conducted between PT and BSSs. Bike sharing is perceived as safer than other shared modes (e.g., PT, taxis, and ride-hailing/sharing) but as having a higher infection risk than personal modes (e.g., private car, walking, and personal bike). Moreover, the BSS was an important transport alternative for essential workers, with several operators providing waivers especially to healthcare staff, leading to ridership increases near healthcare facilities and in deprived neighborhoods. Findings from this research support policies for promoting bike sharing, namely through fee reductions, system expansions, and symbiotic integration with PT, as BSSs can increase the sustainability and resilience of transport systems during disruptive public health events like COVID-19.

Social Media App Usage in Relation with PHQ-9 Depression Scores during the COVID-19 Pandemic

With about 300 million affected people, major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common diseases worldwide. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of cases increased even further, by 28%. Many factors may be correlated with MDD, including the excessive use of social media apps. In this paper, we investigated the relationship between the use of social media and communication apps and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic and social distancing like lockdowns probably changed smartphone usage times and usage patterns. While previous studies have shown an association between depression and social media usage, we report about the situation during these special circumstances. We employed a log-linear regression to examine the association of social media and communication app usage and depression. To quantify the usage, we applied the total usage time in hours of social media apps (e.g., WhatsApp, Facebook) as well as communication apps (Phone and Messaging) within one week. To measure depressive symptoms, we used the PHQ-9 score. We discovered a significant association between the usage time and the PHQ-9 score (beta=0.0084, p-value=0.010). We conclude that social media usage is a robust marker for depression severity and future research should focus on a better understanding of the underlying causality and potential counter-measures. © 2022 ACM.

The Influence of Mass Media on the COVID-19 Vaccination Decision-making Process: Prospective Survey-Based Study.

BACKGROUND: Vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic was exacerbated by an infodemic of conflating accurate and inaccurate information with divergent political messages, leading to varying adherence to health-related behaviors. In addition to the media, people received information about COVID-19 and the vaccine from their physicians and closest networks of family and friends. OBJECTIVE: This study explored individuals' decision-making processes in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, focusing on the influence of specific media outlets, political orientation, personal networks, and the physician-patient relationship. We also evaluated the effect of other demographic data like age and employment status. METHODS: An internet survey was disseminated through the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine Facebook account. The survey included questions on media sources for COVID-19 information, political affiliation, presidential candidate choice, and multiple Likert-type agreement scale questions on conceptions of the vaccine. Each respondent was assigned a media source score, which represented the political leaning of their media consumption. This was calculated using a model based on data from the Pew Research Center that assigned an ideological profile to various news outlets. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 1757 respondents, with 89.58% (1574/1757) of them choosing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. Those employed part-time and the unemployed were at 1.94 (95% CI 1.15-3.27) and 2.48 (95% CI 1.43-4.39) greater odds of choosing the vaccine than those employed full-time. For every 1-year increase in age, there was a 1.04 (95% CI 1.02-1.06) multiplicative increase in odds of choosing to receive the vaccine. For every 1-point increase in media source score toward more Liberal or Democrat, there was a 1.06 (95% CI 1.04-1.07) multiplicative increase in odds of choosing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The Likert-type agreement scale showed statistically significant differences (P<.001) between respondents; those who chose the vaccine agreed more strongly on their belief in the safety and efficacy of vaccines, the influence of their personal beliefs, and the encouragement and positive experiences of family and friends. Most respondents rated their personal relationship with their physician to be good, but this factor did not correlate with differences in vaccine decision. CONCLUSIONS: Although multiple factors are involved, the role of mass media in shaping attitudes toward vaccines cannot be ignored, especially its ability to spread misinformation and foster division. Surprisingly, the effect of one's personal physician may not weigh as heavily in one's decision-making process, potentially indicating the need for physicians to alter their communication style, including involvement in social media. In the era of information overload, effective communication is critical in ensuring the dissemination of accurate and reliable information to optimize the vaccination decision-making process.

Spike-Independent Infection of Human Coronavirus 229E in Bat Cells.

Bats are the reservoir for numerous human pathogens, including coronaviruses. Despite many coronaviruses having descended from bat ancestors, little is known about virus-host interactions and broader evolutionary history involving bats. Studies have largely focused on the zoonotic potential of coronaviruses with few infection experiments conducted in bat cells. To determine genetic changes derived from replication in bat cells and possibly identify potential novel evolutionary pathways for zoonotic virus emergence, we serially passaged six human 229E isolates in a newly established Rhinolophus lepidus (horseshoe bat) kidney cell line. Here, we observed extensive deletions within the spike and open reading frame 4 (ORF4) genes of five 229E viruses after passaging in bat cells. As a result, spike protein expression and infectivity of human cells was lost in 5 of 6 viruses, but the capability to infect bat cells was maintained. Only viruses that expressed the spike protein could be neutralized by 229E spike-specific antibodies in human cells, whereas there was no neutralizing effect on viruses that did not express the spike protein inoculated on bat cells. However, one isolate acquired an early stop codon, abrogating spike expression but maintaining infection in bat cells. After passaging this isolate in human cells, spike expression was restored due to acquisition of nucleotide insertions among virus subpopulations. Spike-independent infection of human coronavirus 229E may provide an alternative mechanism for viral maintenance in bats that does not rely on the compatibility of viral surface proteins and known cellular entry receptors. IMPORTANCE Many viruses, including coronaviruses, originated from bats. Yet, we know little about how these viruses switch between hosts and enter human populations. Coronaviruses have succeeded in establishing in humans at least five times, including endemic coronaviruses and the recent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In an approach to identify requirements for host switches, we established a bat cell line and adapted human coronavirus 229E viruses by serial passage. The resulting viruses lost their spike protein but maintained the ability to infect bat cells, but not human cells. Maintenance of 229E viruses in bat cells appears to be independent of a canonical spike receptor match, which in turn might facilitate cross-species transmission in bats.

Assessing challenges to the mobile wallet usage in India: an interpretive structural modelling approach

PurposeMobile-based payment is increasing exponentially but in the developing country like India, consumers' perception is highly positive in daily cash transaction. The purpose of this research is to identify and examine the important challenges for mobile wallet (m-wallet) implementation in India. In the wake of COVID-19, one of the transmission mechanisms of this virus has been the coins and paper money passed between a buyer and a seller. As such m-wallet considered as a convenience of payment has become a necessity in light of the pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors explored 19 unique sets of challenges selected from the literature and collected data from 14 experts from private sector, multinational corporations and mixed private and public partnership who have significant knowledge and experience of mobile payment implementation and use in their respective organisations. Also, the authors have used Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) methodology in developing a hierarchal model for the identified challenges. The authors implemented Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification (MICMAC) analysis to classify the identified challenges.FindingsThe ISM-based framework is divided into nine different hierarchical levels. "Lack of strong regulatory compliance (Ch6)” has been recognised as the most important challenge, which inhibited the mobile wallet implementation, whereas "Perception of customers about the value of using mobile wallets (Ch11)” is the most dependent critical challenge. There are seven hierarchical layers in between the top and the bottom level with the varied number of challenges based on their driving and dependence power.Originality/valueThis is the first research to the best of our knowledge that has not only comprehensively reviewed the m-wallet literature but also employed a unique ISM-MICMAC-based approach to develop a framework of challenges for the m-wallet implementation.