An application of the technology acceptance model to the level of Internet usage by older adults

In this cross-sectional study, the principles of a technology acceptance model were used to identify variables related to the level of Internet usage by older adults. Community-dwelling older adults aged 60–88 years completed a postal questionnaire survey that elicited responses on the use of the Internet. Out of a sample of 592 older adults (236 males and 356 females), 50.7% used the Internet. A multiple linear regression analysis was carried out on the Internet users sample using the self-reported number of hours of Internet usage per week as the dependent variable. The results indicated that attitude toward using the Internet and good health status were statistically significant predictors of the level of Internet usage. A second multiple regression analysis using Internet activity as the dependent variable showed that attitude, usefulness, good health, and gender (males) were significant predictor variables.     

An empirical examination of users' post-adoption behaviour of mobile services

Extant research has focused on the initial adoption and usage of mobile services and paid little attention to the post-adoption and continuance usage. However, unless users continue using mobile services, service providers cannot achieve success. Drawing upon the expectation confirmation theory, this research develops a mobile post-adoption model. The post-adoption behaviour includes three variables: continuance intention, recommendation and complaint. We conducted data analysis with partial least squares. The results indicated that expectation confirmation, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and usage cost significantly affect users' satisfaction, further determining their post-adoption behaviour. In addition, perceived usefulness has a direct effect on the continuance intention.     

Examining Postadoption Usage of Mobile Services From a Dual Perspective of Enablers and Inhibitors

Users' postadoption usage is crucial to the success of mobile service providers. From a dual perspective, this research examined the effects of trust, satisfaction as enablers, and switching barrier as inhibitors on the postadoption usage of mobile services. A survey was used to collect data, and data analysis was conducted with structural equation modeling. The results indicated that trust, satisfaction, and switching barrier have significant effects on the postadoption usage. In addition, service quality and perceived value strongly affect trust and satisfaction, whereas switching cost determines switching barrier. These results advance our understanding of mobile users' postadoption usage as extant research has focused on using a single perspective of enablers such as perceived usefulness to examine mobile user behavior.     

Understanding the effect of flow on user adoption of mobile games

Mobile games as an emerging service have not received wide adoption among users; especially, presenting a compelling experience to users may be crucial to their usage. Drawing on the flow theory, this research identified the factors affecting user adoption of mobile games. The results indicated that perceived ease of use, connection quality and content quality affect flow. Among them, content quality has the largest effect. Flow, social influence and usage cost determine usage intention. The results imply that service providers need to improve users’ experience in order to facilitate their adoption and usage of mobile games.     

Exploring students' awareness and perceptions: Influencing factors and individual differences driving m-learning adoption

This study investigates students' awareness and perceptions of m-learning and examines the factors affecting students' behavioral intention to adopt m-learning, by using a modified research model that integrate technology acceptance model (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (social influence) along with other factors (m-learning services and mobile limitations). In addition, control (gender, field of study, study level) and moderator variables (mobile capabilities, level of mobile usage, and frequent use of m-services) were introduced to verify the individual differences between respondents on the key factors affecting the adoption and usage of m-learning. Structural equations modeling and path analysis were used to test the hypotheses and the proposed model. The results revealed that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were found to be the primary factors driving students' intentions to use m-learning. Both m-learning services and social influence have positive effects on the acceptance of m-learning, while mobile limitations were found to be the main obstacle restraining students' participation in a m-learning environment. Most of the control variables yield no significant differences between students, but all the moderator variables were found to be significant determinants that can influence students to adopt m-learning. Overall, students have great potential to engage and integrate mobile technology into their educational environment.     

Correlates of using the billing system of a mobile network operator to pay for digital goods and services

In many countries mobile network operators (MNOs) offer their customers the possibility to pay for digitized content, applications or services which they buy over their mobile smartphone via the carriers’ billing systems. To date, customer take-up of this mobile carrier billing (MCB) payment option is predominantly modest. At the same time, there is little empirical evidence on individual level factors significantly associated with the acceptance of MCB payment which differentiates firstly the principal adoption of the service in the sense of a yes-or-no decision and secondly the intensity of service usage among adopters. Therefore, the present study explores correlates between a total of 10 socio-demographic, contract-, communication habits- and smartphone-related variables on the one hand and the two MCB payment acceptance criteria on the other in a sample of 5010 postpaid residential customers of the German subsidiary of a multinational MNO. In contrast to many prior investigations, MCB payment adoption and usage intensity measures in the present work reflect real (and not retrospective subjective estimates of or intended) payment behaviors. A Probit regression analysis indicates that, compared to non-adopters, customers who have paid via MCB are male, have a shorter MNO tenure, have higher mobile service spending, generate more mobile Internet traffic, send more SMS and use a smartphone whose OS manufacturer offers MCB payment on its own online market place. In the subsample of adopters of MCB payments higher mean monthly MCB settlement amounts are generated by male and older subscribers who have a shorter MNO tenure, create more mobile Internet traffic, use mobile voice telephony more and SMS less heavily and who are equipped with a smartphone whose OS manufacturer does not offer MCB payment on its online market place. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for scholarly research on antecedents of the acceptance of novel telecommunication-based service offerings such as MCB payments and of basic levers of MNOs for improving the customer take-up of their MCB payment offerings and the usage intensity of the service among its adopters.     

A two-staged SEM-neural network approach for understanding and predicting the determinants of m-commerce adoption

The advancement in wireless and mobile technologies has presented tremendous business opportunity for mobile-commerce (m-commerce). This research aims to examine the factors that influence consumers’ m-commerce adoption intention. Variables such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, trust, cost, network influence, and variety of services were used to examine the adoption intentions of consumers. Data was collected from 376 m-commerce users. A multi-analytic approach was proposed whereby the research model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM), and the results from SEM were used as inputs for a neural network model to predict m-commerce adoption. The result showed that perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, trust, cost, network influence, and trust have significant influence on consumers’ m-commerce adoption intentions. However, the neural network model developed in this research showed that the best predictors of m-commerce adoption are network influence, trust, perceived usefulness, variety of service, and perceived enjoyment. This research proposed an innovative new approach to understand m-commerce adoption, and the result for this study will be useful for telecommunication and m-commerce companies in formulating strategies to attract more consumers.     

Predicting the determinants of the NFC-enabled mobile credit card acceptance: A neural networks approach

The main aim of this study is to determine the factors influencing the adoption of Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile credit card, an innovation in contactless payment for the future generation. Constructs from psychological science, trust-based and behavioral control theories were incorporated into the parsimonious TAM. Using empirical data and Structural Equation Modeling-Artificial Neural Networks approach together with multi group analysis, the effects of social influence, personal innovativeness in information technology, trust, perceived financial cost, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were examined. The significance of indirect effects was examined using the bias-corrected percentile with two-tailed significance through bootstrapping. Gender, age, experience and usage were introduced as the moderator variables with industry being the control variable in the research model. The scarcity in studies regarding the moderating effects of these variables warranted the needs to further investigate their impacts. The mediating effect of perceived usefulness was examined using the Baron–Kenny’s technique. The findings of this study have provided invaluable theoretical, methodological and managerial implications and will contribute to the decision making process by CEOs, managers, manufacturers and policy makers from the mobile manufacturing industry, businesses and financial institutions, mobile commerce, mobile telecommunication providers, mobile marketers, private or government practitioners and etc.     

A structural equation modeling of the Internet acceptance in Korea

The objective of this study is to develop and test an integrated conceptual model of the Internet acceptance. Based on the two dominant theoretical paradigms – the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) – we propose a model of the Internet acceptance to investigate the relationship between external variables such as individual differences, task characteristics and management support, and individual acceptance of the Internet. The model is tested using data gathered from 374 end users of the Internet in Korean firms and data analysis is conducted using a structural equation modeling with LISREL. Significant relationships are found between experience and usefulness, between experience and ease of use, and between ease of use and usefulness. Organizational support is found to influence usefulness, ease of use and subjective norm. We also observe that actual usage is not influenced by subjective norm, but significantly influenced by experience, usefulness and ease of use. This result implies that individual acceptance of the Internet is significantly related to external factors such as experience, task characteristics and organizational characteristics rather than beliefs.     

A structural equation modeling of the Internet acceptance in Korea

The objective of this study is to develop and test an integrated conceptual model of the Internet acceptance. Based on the two dominant theoretical paradigms – the theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the technology acceptance model (TAM) – we propose a model of the Internet acceptance to investigate the relationship between external variables such as individual differences, task characteristics and management support, and individual acceptance of the Internet. The model is tested using data gathered from 374 end users of the Internet in Korean firms and data analysis is conducted using a structural equation modeling with LISREL. Significant relationships are found between experience and usefulness, between experience and ease of use, and between ease of use and usefulness. Organizational support is found to influence usefulness, ease of use and subjective norm. We also observe that actual usage is not influenced by subjective norm, but significantly influenced by experience, usefulness and ease of use. This result implies that individual acceptance of the Internet is significantly related to external factors such as experience, task characteristics and organizational characteristics rather than beliefs.     

Understanding the behavior of mobile data services consumers

Due to rapid advances in the Internet and wireless technologies, a ubiquitous computing world is becoming a reality in the form of mobile computing. At the center of this phenomenon is mobile data services which arise from the convergence of advanced mobile communication technologies with data services. Despite the rapid growth in mobile data services, research into consumers’ usage behavior is scarce. This study attempts to identify and empirically assess the factors that drive consumers’ acceptance of mobile data services. A research model based on the decomposed theory of planned behavior and incorporating factors that represent personal needs and motivations in using mobile data services is presented. The model is tested via an online survey of 811 consumers of four categories of mobile data services (i.e., communications, information content, entertainment, and commercial transactions) associated with different usage contexts. We found that attitude, social influence, media influence, perceived mobility, and perceived monetary value influence consumers’ intention to continue usage of mobile data services. In addition, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived enjoyment influence attitude toward continued usage of mobile data services. Finally, separate analysis of the different categories of mobile data services highlights the influence of individual usage context on consumers’ behavior.

Understanding dynamics between initial trust and usage intentions of mobile banking

Mobile banking is an emerging application of mobile commerce that could become an additional revenue source to both banks and telecom service providers. It is a form of service convergence enabled by innovative technologies. Despite the alleged benefits of mobile banking, its acceptance has been short of industry expectations. One plausible explanation may be consumers' initial lack of trust in available services. The objective of our research is to reveal the mechanisms associated with the initial formation of people's trust in mobile banking and intention to use the service. For this, we attempt to understand the effect of four antecedent variables (structural assurances, relative benefits, personal propensity to trust and firm reputation) on shaping a person's initial trust in mobile banking and its usage intention. They represent four types of trust-inducing forces: institutional offering (structural assurances), cognition (perceived benefits), personality (personal propensity) and firm characteristics (firm reputation). We examine individual significance of the selected antecedents and also their comparative reliability in explaining the two exogenous variables. The technical basis of our empirical research is the innovative mobile banking solution that uses cellphones with a built-in smart chipset. The survey data are analyzed using structural equation modelling. The analysis showed that three variables (relative benefits, propensity to trust and structural assurances) had a significant effect on initial trust in mobile banking. Also, the perception of initial trust and relative benefits was vital in promoting personal intention to make use of related services. However, contrary to our expectation, the reputation as a firm characteristics variable failed to attract people to mobile banking.     

Use Contexts for the Mobile Internet: A Longitudinal Study Monitoring Actual Use of Mobile Internet Services

The mobile Internet, which gives access to the World Wide Web through a mobile device, has been gaining in popularity. The mobile Internet differs from the traditional stationary Internet in that it can be used in a wider variety of contexts. However, no studies have identified the contexts in which mobile Internet services are used most frequently, or determined which contexts exert significant influence on a user's choice of mobile service. This article proposes a framework of use contexts that reflects the characteristics of the mobile Internet. To explore these contexts, a research method was devised and a longitudinal monitoring study was conducted. The results indicate that mobile Internet use is heavily clustered around a few key contexts, rather than dispersed widely over diverse contexts. Further, participants in the monitoring study were found to concentrate their use on a few mobile services, rather than on exploring diverse services. Perhaps most interestingly, some contextual factors were found to correlate closely with the selection of specific mobile Internet services. On the basis of these results, the article concludes with implications for developers of mobile Internet services.     

Understanding continuance usage intention of mobile internet sites

Due to the high acquisition costs and low switching costs, retaining users and facilitating their continuance usage are crucial for mobile service providers. Integrating both perspectives of perceived utility and flow experience, this research identifies the factors affecting continuance usage intention of mobile internet sites. Data were collected through a survey, and data analysis was then conducted with structural equation modeling. The results indicated that system quality and information quality affect perceived usefulness, satisfaction and flow. And these three factors determine continuance usage intention. Among them, flow has the largest effect on continuance usage intention. The results imply that service providers need to improve users’ experience in order to facilitate their continuance usage of mobile internet sites.     

The mediation of external variables in the technology acceptance model

TAM specifies a pathway of technology acceptance, from external variables to beliefs, attitudes, and system usage. We tested one of its assumptions that the ‘perceived ease-of-use’ and ‘perceived usefulness’ constructs fully mediate the influence of external variables on usage behaviors. Using a survey of 125 employees of a U.S. Government agency we found, contrary to the normally accepted assumption, that external variables could have direct effects on usage behavior over and above their indirect effects. We also found that TAM is significantly and consistently better at predicting frequency than volume of usage.     

What drives netsourcing decisions? An empirical analysis

Netsourcing, a rather innovative form of web-enabled value creation, describes outsourcing of selected software applications to external service providers via the Internet. It promises flexibility and cost advantages over operating software applications in-house. However, it also raises the question which software applications corporate users should netsource and which they should keep in-house. To answer these questions, we develop a research framework with seven independent variables derived from the literature on full information technology outsourcing. On data collected in a 2004 survey among the 500 largest German companies, we apply a logistic regression analysis. As a result, we find significant statistical support for strategic management variables and no support for transaction cost economics variables as being relevant to the netsourcing decision. We conclude the paper with some lessons learned and suggestions for further research.     

Determinants of self-report and system-captured measures of mobile Internet use intensity

Most research on the first adoption and subsequent use (= acceptance) of Internet access through cellular networks and portable appliances (= mobile Internet) has followed a similar pattern. It has employed survey responses of mobile network operator [MNO] customers to explain consumers’ stated future use (continuance) intentions or claimed use intensities related to mobile Internet [MI] access by various beliefs about MI (e.g., perceived relative advantage, usefulness, ease of use). However, there is ample evidence suggesting that MI use intentions and self-reported use intensities are only weakly correlated with actual MI use. Therefore, the present paper develops hypotheses on how the ability of different types of variables to account for variance in MI use intensity may vary depending on whether subjectively estimated or objectively captured use serves as the criterion variable. The hypotheses are tested by analyzing actual MI use behaviors of 300 adopters in Germany, whose mobile IP traffic was extracted from an MNO’s billing engine. This “system-captured” criterion measure is integrated with MI adopter responses collected by means of a standardized telephone survey. Results show that the predictors are more strongly correlated with self-rated than with system-captured MI use intensity. Up to 38% of the variance explained in self-rated use may be attributed to artifactual covariance between variables caused by common measurement methods. Factual MI use case features (MI tariff type and appliance class, fixed Internet home access availability) are better able to account for variance in both self-rated and actual MI use intensity than MI related beliefs. The findings imply that variable relationships observed in earlier MI and information system (IS) acceptance studies are likely to have been inflated by common method biases and thus may have provided spurious support for the conceptual frameworks tested. Implications of the results for future MI and IS acceptance research and for MNO seeking to forecast and to influence the MI use intensity of their customers are discussed.     

An Empirical Study of the Impacts of Perceived Security and Knowledge on Continuous Intention to Use Mobile Fintech Payment Services

Financial technology (Fintech) services using emerging technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT) is becoming more prevalent. The recent proliferation of the mobile payment sector led by innovative mobile Fintech payment services such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay is the most important and fastest growing Fintech services from consumers’ perspective. Although businesses have been making efforts to spread the use of the services, security is crucial in the diffusion of the services. Despite the importance, the role of perceived security in continuous intention to use mobile, Fintech services has not yet been investigated in depth. Thus, this study investigates the relationships between perceived security, knowledge regarding the services, confirmation, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction. We propose a research model using an extended post-acceptance model (EPAM) as a theoretical framework in the context of Fintech services. We then validate the model using the data collected from the service users. The analyzed results show that knowledge and perceived security in mobile Fintech services have a significant influence on users’ confirmation and perceived usefulness. However, perceived security does not directly influence users’ satisfaction and continual intention to use. We further find significant relationships among confirmation, perceived usefulness, satisfaction, and continual intention to use of the services. We discuss theoretical and practical contributions of the study.     

Understanding post‐adoption IS usage stages: an empirical assessment of self‐service information systems

Organisations have invested in self‐service information systems (IS) to provide a direct interface for service delivery. Enriching the usage of these systems can provide organisations with immense benefits. However, limited research has been directed towards understanding post‐adoption IS usage behaviour in general and specifically in the context of self‐service IS. This study proposes post‐adoption IS usage behaviour as a broader concept constituting feature level usage of IS, integration of IS in the work system and exploration of new uses of IS. We evaluate how the new conceptualisation can be used to classify users at different stages of self‐service IS usage. Further, we examine user perceptions that differentiate among the users situated at different self‐service IS usage stages. Data were collected in the context of a self‐service Web‐based IS to validate the post‐adoption IS usage constructs and to examine the proposed thesis. The newly developed conceptual structure and measures for post‐adoption IS usage behaviour exhibit strong psychometric properties. The analysis shows three distinct post‐adoption IS usage stages and highlights that usefulness, user‐initiated learning, ease of use, satisfaction and voluntariness of use differentiate users at the different stages of post‐adoption IS usage. The results show that these variables aggregate into value confirmation and learning orientation as two higher‐level concepts. Further, we evaluate the predictive efficacy of the research model in classifying users into different post‐adoption self‐service IS usage stages. Implications are drawn for future research.     

Examining continuous usage of location-based services from the perspective of perceived justice

Due to the privacy risk associated with using location-based services (LBS), users are often reluctant to adopt and use them. Drawing on the justice theory, this research identified the factors affecting continuous usage of LBS. Perceived justice reflects a set of fairness perceptions and involves three dimensions: distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice, which reflect outcome fairness, process fairness and treatment fairness, respectively. We conducted data analysis with structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that procedural justice is the main factor affecting privacy risk, whereas distributive justice is the main factor affecting perceived usefulness. Privacy risk and perceived usefulness influence continuous usage. Thus mobile service providers need to improve users’ perceived justice to facilitate their usage of LBS.