NFT Art: Restrained or Painting the Future? : Perceived Barriers in the NFT Art Market - Active Innovation Resistance Theory

Background: NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have raised much attention within last year’s media. Many uses can be addressed by and benefit from the underlying technology that enables NFTs. NFTs have already found applications in various industries and are representing a disruptive technological innovation. Nevertheless, the hype goes along with a lot of resistance. As NFTs gained some traction in the art market, this setting is a good example to demonstrate this controversy. The focus of this study lies on the driving forces behind resistance and acceptance in the context of the NFT Art market. Purpose: This thesis investigates the perceptions of psychological and functional barriers regarding the innovation of NFT Art resulting in active innovation resistance. Method: This study meets its purpose by conducting a qualitative, exploratory study using technology-mediated interviews for data collection. Participants included in the study were surrounding the NFT Art market displaying different perspectives, touchpoints and levels of engagement within the market. Interview participants were purposefully selected and contacted through online platforms. The interview followed a semi-structured approach using an interview guide that was inspired by the active innovation theory. The data analysis method related to grounded analysis by following the Gioia approach Conclusion: Perceived functional barriers identified in relation to NFT Art are complexity-, co-dependence-, and norm barriers while perceived psychological barriers emerged due to information asymmetries, economic risks, and the image barrier. Next to the initially targeted innovation-specific factors, this study showed the impact of situation-specific factors when it comes to the emergence of barriers leading to active innovation resistance. The large impact of individual characteristics influencing the evaluation and interpretation of innovation-specific factors explains the controversial perceptions regarding the NFT Art market. Examples are perceptions about the value of the innovation, surrounding communities or environmental impact. Further, the research also revealed perceived opportunities relating to potential uses NFT Art offers for both artists and buyers. Here, the ideological value attached to the underlying technology contributed to this completion.