The Institutionalization of „Cashless Poland”. Values, Norms, Sanctions and Grand Narrations in the SMEs’ Perspective on the Adoption of Cashless Payments

As more and more societies are transforming into cashless economies, questions about the social nature of this transformation are arising. With this paper we present specific insights into the process of the institutionalization of cashlessness in Poland. The paper elaborates the concept that the institutional field of cashlessness emerges with the gradual expansion of interaction structure, solidification of interests, articulation of ideas and finally the creation of sanctions and norms. The paper presents the cashlessness’ institutionalization from the perspective of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). To reach our objectives, we have used empirical data collected in SMEs’ sector research in Poland – 74 individual in-depth interviews with SMEs owners. The analysis is grounded in the qualitative research design and the theory of neo-institutionalism. We show that the complex impact of interlocked social interactions, financial sanctions, narrations, and norms are creating the matrix for SMEs’ decision whether to implement cashless payments into their business