Leonard J. Sarmiento
1 Publications
Scopus ID: 105030543999
2025 23rd International Conference on ICT and Knowledge Engineering (ICT&KE), (2025), pp. 1-6
Conference Paper | Published: December 9, 2025
Abstract
This paper discusses that the Digital marketplaces play a crucial role in connecting startups with potential investors, yet their adoption success depends on understanding the key factors influencing user intention. Predicting adoption behaviors accurately can help improve engagement and ensure platform sustainability. The study applies the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) framework to identify key adoption factors including Performance Expectancy (PE), Effort Expectancy (EE), Social Influence (SI), Facilitating Conditions (FC), Trust (TR), and Government Support (GS).and this has been widely applied to study technology adoption, limited research integrates this framework with machine learning models to predict adoption intention in e-marketplaces for startups. This study aims to develop machine learning-based prediction models for StartSmart an e-marketplace linking startups and investors and identify the most influential factors affecting adoption intention based on the UTAUT framework. Data from 542 respondents were analyzed using six machine learning techniques: Decision Trees (DT), Random Forests (RF), Gradient Boosting (GRB), XGBoost (XGB), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and Support Vector Machines (SVM).Results indicate that DT achieved the highest accuracy (0.93) and precision (0.94), while RF obtained the highest AUC-ROC score (0.98). Analysis of feature importance revealed that PE and EE were the most significant predictors of adoption, followed by TR and GS. These findings provide valuable insights for platform developers to prioritize usability and performance improvements, and for policymakers to strengthen trust and government support. The study also highlights the potential of combining UTAUT with machine learning to enhance predictive accuracy in digital adoption research.