Exploring Key Drivers of Solar and Green Innovations Acceptance: Perceived Social Influence and User Intentions

The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors affecting consumer intentions to adopt solar innovations, with a particular focus on households in major cities in Iraq. The objective is also to ascertain how perceived social influence, in conjunction with other variables, influences the uptake of solar technology. Drawing on diffusion of innovation theory and related technology‐adoption perspectives, the study evaluates the effects of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity‐related perceptions, and perceived social influence on behavioral intention and the subsequent effect of behavioral intention on adoption. A quantitative questionnaire survey was conducted with 324 respondents from Baghdad, Basra, Erbil, and Mosul, and the data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings show that relative advantage, lower perceived complexity, and perceived social influence significantly predict future‐use/continued‐use behavioral intention, whereas compatibility does not have a significant effect. Behavioral intention, in turn, has a strong positive association with household adoption of solar energy systems. The study contributes to sustainable technology‐acceptance research by showing how perceived social influence and innovation‐related perceptions are associated with behavioral intention and adoption among surveyed urban respondents in Iraq. The findings offer implications for future research and cautious, context‐specific policy and practice discussions rather than population‐level conclusions for Iraq as a whole.