Study the impact of Internal and External key Influencers on the level of adoption of technological Innovation in Affordable Housing Projects

The availability of various technological innovations in the construction industry is able to enhance the sustainability of affordable housing and promote the development ofsustainable, innovative, affordable houses (SIAH). However, the existing studies do not provide practical knowledge on the impact of key internal and external influencers on the level of adoption of these technological innovationsin affordable housing in the global south. Therefore, the current study scrutinises the impact of the key internal and external influencers on the level of adaptation of technological innovation in South African affordable housing projects. The initial findings were utilised to develop SIAH causal model. The SIAH casual model and the nexus between the constructs/sub-constructs were validated through a structured questionnaire survey returning 517 completed questionnaires by registered home developers in South Africa with structural equation modelling as the analysis method. The study found a low positive impact of internal influences and moderate negative impact of external influences on the level of adoption of technological innovation by home developers in South African affordable housing projects. Moreover, the research proved the high negative mediating impact of external influences on the association between internal influences and technological innovation adoption level. The study deduces that the external influencers are the main drivers of adopting technological innovation in affordable housing. By addressing the external influences, the level of adoption will significantly improve. This is because of both direct and mediating adverse effects of external influencers on the level of adoption of technological innovation in affordable housing projects. The validated casual model can use as a robust framework to reduce the challenges of adaptation to technological innovations in SIAH.