An empirical examination of application frameworks success based on technology acceptance model

Framework-based development is currently regarded as one of the most promising software development approaches when it comes to improvements in lead time, productivity and quality. However, many frameworks and projects based on frameworks still report failures, which indicate that there are problems related to both frameworks technology and frameworks usage. The objective of our research was to examine the major drivers that have an impact on a framework’s acceptance and a framework’s success. We used the technology acceptance model (TAM) and Seddon’s information systems success model as our underlying theory. Data collected from an online survey of 389 active framework users was used to test hypothesized models. Data analysis was performed via structural equation modeling. Our findings support the post-adoption version of TAM and the relationship between continuous use and the successful use of systems, where more use also means more net benefits. We found that the successful use of frameworks is mainly dependent on two factors: continuous framework usage intention and the perceived usefulness of the framework. Several practical and theoretical implications can be foreseen including advances in framework development guidelines and insight into the relationship between the acceptance and success of frameworks.     

Determinants of users’ intention to adopt wireless technology: An empirical study by integrating TTF with TAM

This paper reported the results of a survey study and provided evidences of empirically testing a model that integrates both technology acceptance model (TAM) and task-technology fit (TTF) model in understanding the determinants of users’ intention to use wireless technology in organizations. Questionnaires were distributed to organizations that bring mobile commerce into practice through the wireless handheld devices. The results indicated that both technology acceptance model and task-technology fit model are robust models by themselves. First, both perceived usefulness and ease of use significantly influence users’ behavior intention to utilize wireless technology. Perceived ease of use has significant effect on perceived usefulness. Second, characteristics of technology and task significantly predict the fit between these two constructs. Significant effect of characteristics of technology on perceived ease of use and usefulness were observed. Finally, significant relationships between TAM and TTF model were also observed. Task-technology fit is a significant direct predictor of technology adoption intention. Overall, users’ intention to adopt wireless technology in organizations was determined directly by fit between characteristics of task and technology as well as users’ perceived ease of use and usefulness.     

An empirical study of the factors affecting social network service use

Social network services are emerging as a promising IT-based business, with some services already being provided commercially such as Facebook, Cyworld and Xiaonei. However, it is not yet clear which potential audience groups will be key social network service participants. Moreover, the process showing how an individual actually decides to start using a social network service may be somewhat different from current web-based community services. Hence, the aims of this paper are twofold. First, we empirically examine how individual characteristics affect actual user acceptance of social network services. To examine these individual characteristics, we apply a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to construct an amended model that focuses on three individual differences: social identity, altruism and telepresence, and one perceived construct: the perceived encouragement, imported from psychology-based research. Next, we examine if the users’ perception to see a target social network service as human relationship-oriented service or as a task-oriented service could be a moderator between perceived constructs and actual use. As a result, we discover that the perceived encouragement and perceived orientation are significant constructs that affect actual use of social network services.     

A theoretical acceptance model for computer-based communication media: Nine field studies

This research study develops and tests a theoretical acceptance model to explain users’ acceptance of computer-based communication media. The model, which is referred to as TAM_CCM, originated from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and conforms to the context of Computer-based Communication Media (CCM). It explains perceived usefulness and actual system use in terms of system characteristics (information process support and facilitating conditions), social influence (subjective norm and rules on media use), and user characteristics (experience and computer self efficacy). The model was tested using empirical data collected at nine organizations (N = 425), of which four had media rules and five had no similar rules. The TAM_CCM model was strongly supported accounting for 74% of the variance in usefulness perceptions and up to 74% of the variance in behavior intention to use. System characteristics (information process support), social influence (subjective norm and rules on media use), and user experience significantly influenced user acceptance of computer-based communication media. These advanced theory findings on computer-based communication media adoption and the research approach contribute to future research aimed at incorporating the TAM into specific contexts.     

Explaining IS continuance in environments where usage is mandatory

Several research efforts over the last decade have attempted to explain user acceptance in mandated environments. This research is an attempt in the same direction. It addresses users’ satisfaction in mandated environments to further contribute to our understanding of how we can manage mandated use of information systems (IS) effectively beyond initial adoption. To better explain users’ IS continuance a revised post-acceptance model is proposed and empirically tested using the structural equation modelling technique. The results demonstrate the reliability and validity of the proposed measurement model and further demonstrate that confirmed expectations and ease of use perceptions explain 61% of the users’ satisfaction in this setting. Our findings have important implications for the management of users in mandated environments as well as for further research in the area of mandated use. To that end, we offer directions for future research.     

Exploring Chinese users’ acceptance of instant messaging using the theory of planned behavior,the technology acceptance model,and the flow theory

Instant messaging (IM) is a popular Internet application around the world. In China, the competition in the IM market is very intense and there are over 10 IM products available. We examine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that affect Chinese users’ acceptance of IM based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the technology acceptance model (TAM), and the flow theory. Results demonstrate that users’ perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment significantly influence their attitude towards using IM, which in turn impacts their behavioral intention. Furthermore, perceived usefulness, users’ concentration, and two components of the theory of planned behavior (TPB): subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, also have significant impact on the behavioral intention. Users’ intention determines their actual usage behavior.     

Explaining and predicting users’ continuance intention toward e-learning: An extension of the expectation–confirmation model

Although e-learning has been prompted to various education levels, the intention to continue using such systems is still very low, and the acceptance-discontinuance anomaly phenomenon (i.e., users discontinue using e-learning after initially accepting it) is a common occurrence. This paper synthesizes the expectation–confirmation model (ECM), the technology acceptance model (TAM), the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and the flow theory to hypothesize a theoretical model to explain and predict the users’ intentions to continue using e-learning. The hypothesized model is validated empirically using a sample collected from 363 learners of a Web-based learning program designed for continuing education. The results demonstrate that satisfaction has the most significant effect on users’ continuance intention, followed by perceived usefulness, attitude, concentration, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control as significant but weaker predictors. The implications of these findings for e-learning practitioners are discussed at the end of this work.     

Exploring Koreans’ smartphone usage: An integrated model of the technology acceptance model and uses and gratifications theory

This study investigates factors that influence adoption and use of smartphones among Koreans and seeks to integrate two theoretical approaches: the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the uses and gratifications (U&G) approach. To that end, the study used data from a self-reported survey of 491 Korean adults who use Apple’s iPhone. A structural equation model employed in the current study demonstrates that Koreans’ smartphone use is affected more by motivations based on instrumental and goal-oriented use than by ritualized and less-goal oriented use. The findings suggest that to spread information system with innovative and active features, developers should pay attention to users’ intrinsic motivations as well as to their extrinsic perceptions.     

Perceived values and prospective users’ acceptance of prospective technology: The case of a career eportfolio system

Technology-acceptance tests are traditionally conducted after users have obtained at least a certain amount of experience with a technology. Taking college students who had no real interaction with a prospective eportfolio system, this study investigated both their perceptions of the system and the perceptions’ association with attitude towards and intention of using the system. A pre-implementation value-assessment model was proposed, and the results indicate that for prospective users, attitudes appear to have the strongest significant direct effect on usage intentions. Perceived functional value serves as the preliminary conditions that mediate the effect of the perceived epistemic value on attitude. Perceived contextual value influences users’ attitude and intention via the mediation of perceived epistemic value and perceived functional value. This model provides a systemic understanding of prospective users’ perceptions of the system, and such an understanding can help change agents to examine their assumptions about prospective users’ perceptions concerning the value and acceptance of a new technology.     

Users’ attitudes toward Web-based collaborative learning systems for knowledge management

The Web-based technology is a potential tool for supported collaborative learning that may enrich learning performance, such as individual knowledge construction or group knowledge sharing. Thus, understanding Web-based collaborative learning for knowledge management is a critical issue. The present study is to investigate learners’ attitudes toward Web-based collaborative learning systems. Based on this research, the results of factor analysis show that five attitude factors (system functions, system satisfaction, collaborative activities, learners’ characteristics, and system acceptance) should be examined at the same time when building a Web-based collaborative learning system. The results also provide an acceptance model for understanding users’ behavioral intention of facilitating Web-based collaborative systems.     

Smartphones as smart pedagogical tools: Implications for smartphones as u-learning devices

This study aims at understanding the fundamental factors influencing users’ intentions to continually use smartphones as a ubiquitous learning (u-learning) tool. This study examines consumers’ experiences with smartphone learning in order to investigate the areas of its development as a u-learning application. In this paper, the modified unified theory of acceptance and usage technology (UTAUT) model is used with constructs from expectation-confirmation theory (ECT). While the findings confirm the significant roles of users’ cognitive perceptions, the findings also shed light on the possibility of the smartphone serving as an enabler of u-learning. Users may want to use the smartphone as a telecommunication tool, as well as a u-learning application. The proposed model brings together extant research on smartphones and provides an important cluster of antecedents to eventual technology acceptance via constructs of continuance intention to use and actual usage of u-learning. The empirical findings demonstrate that employing perceived usability and perceived quality would be a worthwhile extension of the UTAUT/ECT in the smartphone learning context, as both were found to be influential in predicting smartphone users’ attitudes and behavioral intentions. Practical implications for industry can be drawn from these findings in terms of strategies and new models for u-learning and beyond.     

Antecedents and consequences of e‐learning acceptance

Based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study uses the framework of the extended TAM to examine the antecedents and consequences for employees' acceptance of the e‐learning system within financial services organizations. The total of 328 useable responses collected from eight international or domestic financial services companies in Taiwan were tested against the model using structural equation modelling (SEM). The main research results are summarized as follows in terms of the antecedents of e‐learning acceptance and its impact on employees' perceived performance. Four types of determinants are demonstrated: individual factors, system factors, social factors and network externality factor. Finally, this study proposes relevant suggestions for practitioners and future researchers.     

A longitudinal experimental study on the interaction effects of persuasion quality, user training, and first-hand use on user perceptions of new information technology

While prior research has investigated the main effects of external factors on user perceptions of a new IT, little work has been into the interaction effect of external factors on user perceptions. In a longitudinal experimental study, we examined the effect of the quality of persuasive argument, user training, and first-hand use on user perceptions of the new technology over time. We found that the effect of argument quality on users’ perceived ease of use was greater when users had no training. However, we did not find the same effect occurred due to perceived usefulness. We also found that first-hand use changed users’ perceived usefulness more over time when users received high quality arguments or when they had no training. While we found that first-hand use changed users’ perceived ease of use more when users received high quality arguments, first-hand use did not change users’ perceived ease of use differently whether they had or had not received prior training.     

Design aesthetics leading to m-loyalty in mobile commerce

Researchers have previously examined the technology acceptance model (TAM) in many contexts, including the Internet. More recently TAM has been enhanced to include a hedonic component of enjoyment but the effect has rarely been investigated in a mobile commerce context. In addition, specific antecedents of TAM related to design aesthetics have not been examined within the mobile domain. Our research filled these gaps, and discovered that visual design aesthetics did significantly impact perceived usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyment, all of which ultimately influenced users’ loyalty intentions towards a mobile service.     

Exploring the impact of use context on mobile hedonic services adoption: An empirical study on mobile gaming in China

Unlike traditional technologies, the use of mobile technology is exposed to shifting use contexts. Use context has frequently been described as an important factor influencing the adoption of mobile innovations. However, empirical evidence about the impact of use context is limited. This paper investigated the effect of use context on the formation of users’ perceptions of mobile hedonic services by using mobile gaming as an example. Through the employment of structural equation modelling technology, an adoption model of mobile gaming is proposed and assessed based on results from 267 questionnaires. The results show that use context is the strongest predictor of mobile game adoption. It directly or indirectly affects all different perceptions of mobile gaming in significant ways, including perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, cognitive concentration, attitude and behavioral intention. Additionally, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment and cognitive concentration all have a positive influence on the attitudinal variables of mobile game acceptance. We concluded that the formation of people’s perceptions about mobile gaming is conditional and based on the special consideration of certain use contexts. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Integrating TTF and UTAUT to explain mobile banking user adoption

Due to its advantages such as ubiquity and immediacy, mobile banking has attracted traditional banks’ interests. However, a survey report showed that user adoption of mobile banking was much lower than that of other mobile services. The extant research focuses on explaining user adoption from technology perceptions such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, interactivity, and relative advantage. However, users’ adoption is determined not only by their perception of the technology but also by the task technology fit. In other words, even though a technology may be perceived as being advanced, if it does not fit users’ task requirements, they may not adopt it. By integrating the task technology fit (TTF) model and the unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology (UTAUT), this research proposes a mobile banking user adoption model. We found that performance expectancy, task technology fit, social influence, and facilitating conditions have significant effects on user adoption. In addition, we also found a significant effect of task technology fit on performance expectancy.     

Parallels in knowledge cycles

Knowledge management as an academic discipline is realizing phenomenal growth and international acceptance. However, there still exists no universally accepted framework or model. This paper reviews three of the most well known KM models from similar epistemological and ontological views. The three models reviewed are: Nonaka’s SECI (Japan), March’s Ex-Ex (USA) and Boisot’s I-space (Europe). A number of recommendations for future research based on the similarities and differences among these models pertaining to knowledge management are presented.     

Explaining physicians’ acceptance of EHCR systems: An extension of TAM with trust and risk factors

This paper explains physicians’ acceptance, in terms of usage intentions, of a central component of health information technology: electronic health care records (EHCR systems). For this purpose, the original version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which included perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude towards usage, and usage intentions, is extended with trust and risk-related factors such as physicians’ perceptions of institutional trust, perceived risk, and information integrity. The results stress the special importance of attitudinal factors (attitude towards usage and perceived institutional trust) and cognitive instrumental processes (mainly, usefulness perceptions) in determining physicians’ intention to use EHCR systems. Perceptions of institutional trust exerted strong direct effects on physicians’ perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude towards the use of EHCR systems. In addition, trust fully mediated the influences of perceived risk and information integrity perceptions on physicians’ acceptance of EHCR systems.     

Effect of trust on customer acceptance of Internet banking

Two beliefs, ease of use and usefulness, have been considered to be fundamental in determining the acceptance of various IS in the past decades. These beliefs may not, however, fully explain the users’ behavior in an emerging environment such as Internet banking. In this study, we introduce trust as another belief that has an impact on the acceptance of Internet banking. We collected 845 cases on the Web to survey users’ behavior towards Internet banks. The results of statistical analyses using structural equation modeling indicate that trust has a significant impact on the acceptance of Internet banking.     

User adoption of social networking sites: Eliciting uses and gratifications through a means–end approach

This research examines users’ motives for adopting and using social networking sites (SNSs), with the aim of providing a better understanding of the fundamental reasons behind SNS adoption behavior. To uncover the relationship between the attributes of SNSs and users’ perceptions of their consequences and values, this study integrates a means–end approach with uses and gratifications theory and thereby extends the technique to a communication media selection context. Laddering interviews identify users’ perceptions of five attributes, 10 consequences, and four values associated with SNS adoption (i.e., Facebook). The results show that belonging, hedonism, self-esteem, and reciprocity are the four main values users attain through SNS adoption. Furthermore, the chains associated with SNS adoption can be represented in a hierarchical value map. This study should help practitioners design online communication platforms that more closely fit their users’ needs and provide users with safer, more friendly, and thus more attractive environments.