Online environmental community members’ intention to participate in environmental activities: An application of the theory of planned behavior in the Chinese context

This study investigated the factors associated with online environmental community members’ intention to participate in environmental activities in the Chinese context, employing the framework of the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Using data from a survey of community members (N = 211), structural equation modeling analyses confirmed the roles of subjective norm and self-efficacy in affecting intention to participate in environmental activities. Unlike other TPB studies, however, the study discovered that attitude was not significantly associated with intention. In addition, other relevant factors, including ego involvement, group identification, perceived salience of environmental problems, perceived popularity of environmental activities, and perceived interactivity of the community websites, were found to be associated with the intention of participation, either directly or indirectly. The theoretical and practical implications were discussed.     

The effects of the self and social identity on the intention to microblog: An extension of the theory of planned behavior

Microblogging has become one of the most popular social communication styles in the world. Much research has already addressed this hot issue; however, studies examining the intentions behind microblogging behaviors are limited. This study extended the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict intention to microblog and other behaviors. The results showed that social identity was the greatest predictor of intention, followed by attitude and perceived behavioral control. Social identity fully mediated the effects of subjective norms and self-identity on intention. Intention significantly predicted users' microblogging behaviors. These results have important implications for industry players and marketing managers.     

What drives continued knowledge sharing? An investigation of knowledge-contribution and -seeking beliefs

Knowledge management (KM) research has yielded extensive explanations regarding the individual's motivation to share knowledge, each with different sets of factors. Yet the study of continued knowledge sharing is rare. There has been little research investigating this issue from contributing and seeking perspectives—the two distinct, but closely interrelated, facets of continued knowledge sharing. We propose that knowledge management system (KMS) users' beliefs are contextually differentiated, and thus a distinction between knowledge-contribution and knowledge-seeking behaviors and an adequate emphasis on their variance in terms of user belief is needed. By incorporating the knowledge-contribution and knowledge-seeking perspectives in a single study, we model and examine the differences among driving factors in two behavioral contexts, provide the conceptual comparisons and preliminary discussions, and thus advance our understanding of continued knowledge sharing via the KMS.     

Effects of innovativeness and trust on web survey participation

Responding to suggestions of prior research for examining the psychological constructs involved in a decision for or against participation in web surveys, this paper investigated the effects of trust in sponsor and personal innovativeness on potential respondents’ participation intention. Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), two alternative models were empirically tested in which the roles of trust and innovativeness were theorized differently—either as moderators of the effects which perceived behavioral control and attitude have on participation intention (moderator model) or as direct determinants of the attitude, perceived behavioral control and intention (direct effects model). Data was collected from a sample of 131 university students enrolled in a computer course. The results of our study indicated that: (1) TPB could satisfactorily predict the behavioral intention with up to 44% variation of the intention being predicted by the model; (2) trust in sponsor and personal web innovativeness exerted direct determinant effects rather than moderate effects on participation attitude and perceived behavioral control, which in turn significantly affected participation intention; and (3) integrating the variables of trust and personal innovativeness into TPB model enhanced the prediction effect.     

Predicting electronic service continuance with a decomposed theory of planned behaviour

Previous research suggests that an eventual information technology (IT) success depends on both its initial adoption (acceptance) and subsequent continued usage (continuance). Theory of planned behaviour (TPB) has been successfully used to predict users' acceptance of IT. Yet, this theory has not been applied to the context of continuance of IT. This paper examines post-adoption cognitive beliefs and factors influencing one's intention to continue using (continuance) electronic services (e-services). Decomposed theory of planned behaviour (DTPB) is adapted from social psychology and integrated with theoretical and empirical findings from prior information systems (IS) usage research to theorize a model of e-service continuance. Specifically, the research model decomposes the perceived behavioural control components of TPB into Internet self-efficacy and perceived controllability, the subjective norm component into social influences and interpersonal influence, and the attitude component into perceived usefulness, perceived playfulness, and perceived risk. Nine research hypotheses derived from this model are empirically validated using a field survey of Web-based tax filing service users. The results suggest that users' continuance intention is determined by Internet self-efficacy and satisfaction. Satisfaction, in turn, is jointly determined by interpersonal influence, perceived usefulness, and perceived playfulness.     

Usability, quality, value and e-learning continuance decisions

Previous research suggests that an eventual information technology (IT) success depend on both its initial adoption (acceptance) and subsequent continued usage (continuance). Expectancy disconfirmation theory (EDT) has been successfully used to predict users’ intention to continue using information technologies. This study proposed a decomposed EDT model to examine cognitive beliefs and affect that influence users’ continuance decision in the context of e-learning service. The proposed model extended EDT by decomposing the perceived performance component into usability, quality, and value. Research hypotheses derived from this model are empirically validated using the responses to a survey on e-learning usage among 183 users. The results suggest that users’ continuance intention is determined by satisfaction, which in turn is jointly determined by perceived usability, perceived quality, perceived value, and usability disconfirmation.     

Behavioral intention in social networking sites ethical dilemmas: An extended model based on Theory of Planned Behavior

The expanding use of social networking sites (SNSs) and their flexible functionalities allow individuals to use these sites in unexpected and unethical ways. SNS users face ethical dilemmas each day and they need to decide how to behave in these cases. The aim of this study was to identify the influential factors that have an impact on individuals' ethical decision-making and propose a model of the factors that are significant in the ethical decision-making process in the SNS context. This study employed the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and included personal normative beliefs, moral intensity, perceived threat of legal punishment to the main constructs of TPB namely attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control to predict the behavioral intention using a scenario based questionnaire. The moderating effects of several factors, including age, gender, level of income, ego strength, locus of control and religion, were investigated for the probable effect on the proposed model. Derived from a designed procedure, several scenarios were constructed, of which four were selected to be embedded in the survey instrument. With 441 returned questionnaires in hand, the collected data were analyzed using the partial least squares–structural equation modeling technique. The results showed attitude to be the most influential factor, followed by subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, personal normative beliefs, and moral intensity. Level of education, age, and scenario also showed a significant effect on the relation between predictors and behavioral intention.     

The role of knowledge sharing self-efficacy in sharing Open Educational Resources

In the current paper we report on a study regarding teachers’ sharing behavior regarding their Open Educational Resources (OER) in the Netherlands. Little is known about how many teachers actually share their learning materials and, therefore, an attempt was made to estimate the number of Dutch teachers and the types of OER they share. Second, we tried to find out whether knowledge sharing self-efficacy facilitated, and evaluation apprehension and trust inhibited teachers to share OER in two different contexts of sharing behavior; sharing with colleagues at their school (interpersonal sharing) and sharing with the public through Internet (Internet sharing). A survey among 1568 teachers from primary to higher education was undertaken to test the relative importance of knowledge sharing self-efficacy, evaluation apprehension and trust in determining Dutch teachers’ intention to share. The results showed that a large proportion of the Dutch teachers shared their OER, but that this sharing was limited to learning materials with low complexity (e.g., texts or images). Moreover, sharing occurred twice as much interpersonally than via websites. Our hypothesis that evaluation apprehension is significantly related to sharing behavior as well as the intention to share was not confirmed. Self-efficacy to share knowledge did, however, explain some of the differences in sharing behavior and in the intention to share of Dutch teachers, although the variables under study accounted only for a small amount of variance. Our findings should thus be replicated in further studies and other variables should be considered that could effectively predict OER sharing behavior of teachers.     

Predicting adolescents’ use of social networking sites from an extended theory of planned behaviour perspective

The popularity of social networking sites (SNSs) among adolescents has grown exponentially, with little accompanying research to understand the influences on adolescent engagement with this technology. The current study tested the validity of an extended theory of planned behaviour model (TPB), incorporating the additions of group norm and self-esteem influences, to predict frequent SNS use. Adolescents (N = 160) completed measures assessing the standard TPB constructs of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control (PBC), and intention, as well as group norm and self-esteem. One week later, participants reported their SNS use during the previous week. Support was found for the standard TPB variables of attitude and PBC, as well as group norm, in predicting intentions to use SNS frequently, with intention, in turn, predicting behaviour. These findings provide an understanding of the factors influencing frequent engagement in what is emerging as a primary tool for adolescent socialisation.     

To give or to receive? Factors influencing members’ knowledge sharing and community promotion in professional virtual communities

Professional virtual communities (PVCs) bring together geographically dispersed, like-minded people to form a network for knowledge exchange. To promote knowledge sharing, it is important to know why individuals choose to give or to receive knowledge with other community members. We identified factors that were considered influential in increasing community knowledge transfer and examined their impact in PVCs. Data collected from 323 members of two communities were used in our structural equation modeling (SEM). The results suggested that norm of reciprocity, interpersonal trust, knowledge sharing self-efficacy, and perceived relative advantage were significant in affecting knowledge sharing behaviors in PVCs. The knowledge contributing and collecting behaviors were positively related to knowledge utilization. Furthermore, while the collecting behavior had a significant effect on community promotion, the influence of contributing behavior on community promotion was limited.     

Effect of knowledge sharing visibility on incentive-based relationship in Electronic Knowledge Management Systems: An empirical investigation

Previous studies have confirmed the knowledge sharing visibility (KSV) may ensure the incentive-sharing relationship within traditional organizations. However, considering high loafing tendency in IT-based and distributed environments, this effect should be re-examined. This study examines how KSV impacts on incentive-based relationship in IT-based knowledge management systems. The data were collected from real KM systems in an innovative service company. The results show that, in distributed environment, KSV was still a critical moderators in the prediction of employee’s knowledge sharing behaviors. In the electronic KMS environment, the positive relationship between incentive and KS is stronger when employees’ perceived KSV is higher. This research contributes theoretically to KS literature in examing the KSV as the three-way moderators on incentive-based relationship in IT-based environment, from real organizational samples.     

Retracted: Human factors of knowledge sharing intention among taiwanese enterprises: a preliminary study

Knowledge management (KM) is very important in the business world of today. The Taiwanese government has recognized the importance of KM in helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to innovate through both their internal core competencies and external resources. They have the KM promotion project to combine resources from the information service industry and the academic sector in order to assist SMEs, and have been attempting to introduce the process of KM since 1993. The motivation, opportunity, and ability (MOA) framework has been applied to study how this MOA availability drives knowledge sharing in large enterprises. This study investigates the factors or barriers that influence the intention of knowledge sharing in Taiwanese SMEs through the MOA framework. It should help business managers identify the motivational elements that can encourage investment in it, and then propose pragmatic suggestions for introducing KM initiatives in order to reinvigorate the numbers of KM‐implementing SMEs in Taiwan. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Fostering the determinants of knowledge sharing in professional virtual communities

Professional virtual communities (PVCs), which are formed on the Internet, are expected to serve the needs of members for communication, information, and knowledge sharing. The executives of organizations should consider PVCs as a new innovation or knowledge pool since members share knowledge. However, many PVCs have failed due to members’ low willingness to share knowledge with other members. Thus, there is a need to understand and foster the determinants of members’ knowledge sharing behavior in PVCs. This study develops an integrated model designed to investigate and explain the relationships between contextual factors, personal perceptions of knowledge sharing, knowledge sharing behavior, and community loyalty. Empirical data was collected from three PVCs and tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) to verify the fit of the hypothetical model. The results show that trust significantly influences knowledge sharing self-efficacy, perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility, which in turn positively affect knowledge sharing behavior. Furthermore, the study finds that the norm of reciprocity does not significantly affect knowledge sharing behavior. The results of the study can be used to identify the motivation underlying individuals’ knowledge sharing behavior in PVCs. By investigating the impacts of contextual factors and personal perceptions on knowledge sharing behavior, the integrated model better explains behavior than other proposed models. This study might help executives of virtual communities and organizations to manage and promote these determinants of knowledge sharing to stimulate members’ willingness to share knowledge and enhance their virtual community loyalty. As only little empirical research has been conducted on the impact of knowledge sharing self-efficacy, perceived relative advantage, and perceived compatibility on the individual’s knowledge sharing behavior in PVCs, the empirical evidence reported here makes a valuable contribution in this highly important area.     

What stimulates teachers to integrate ICT in their pedagogical practices? The use of digital learning materials in education

The question ‘What stimulates teachers to integrate Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in their pedagogical practices?’ was addressed in the context of teachers’ usage of digital learning materials (DLMs). We adopted Fishbein’s Integrative Model of Behavior Prediction (IMBP), to investigate the various relationships between distal and proximal variables and intention. Mediation analysis revealed that the proximal variables attitude, subjective norm, and self-efficacy towards DLMs were significant predictors of teachers’ intention to use DLMs. The contribution of subjective norm, however, was modest. Attitude, subjective norm and self-efficacy mediated the effects of the following three distal variables on intention: previous use of DLMs, perceived knowledge and skills to use DLMs, and colleagues’ usage of DLMs. Persuasive communication and skills based training seem, therefore, appropriate interventions to promote a positive attitude towards DLMs and improve self-efficacy in using DLMs.     

A unified model of knowledge sharing behaviours: theoretical development and empirical test

Research and practice on knowledge management (KM) have shown that information technology alone cannot guarantee that employees will volunteer and share knowledge. While previous studies have linked motivational factors to knowledge sharing (KS), we took a further step to thoroughly examine this theoretically and empirically. We developed a unified model that is comprehensive and yet parsimonious, based on the decomposed theory of planned behaviour (DTPB) with three sets of critical antecedents: psychological, organisational and technological that are theorised to influence KS behaviours. Results of a field survey of knowledge workers support the majority of hypothesised relationships, and explained 41.3% of the variance in the actual KS behaviours and 60.8% of the variance in the intention to share knowledge. These results far exceed the predictive powers achieved by previous studies. Among our significant findings include a strong positive influence of perceived enjoyment in helping others (PEH) and a strong negative influence of perceived loss of knowledge power (PLK). Based on the findings, we discussed the study's implications for research and practice.     

A longitudinal investigation of continued online shopping behavior: An extension of the theory of planned behavior

The purpose of this study is to propose an extended model of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by incorporating constructs drawn from the model of Expectation Disconfirmation Theory (EDT) and to examine the antecedents of users’ intention to continue using online shopping (continuance intention). Prior research has demonstrated that TPB constructs, including attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, are important factors in determining the acceptance and use of various information technologies. These factors, however, are insufficient to explain a user's continuance intention in the online shopping context. In this study we extended TPB with two EDT constructs—disconfirmation and satisfaction—for studying users’ continuance intention in the online shopping context. By employing longitudinal method with two-stage survey, we empirically validated the proposed model and research hypotheses.     

Explaining non-work-related computing in the workplace: A comparison of alternative models

Our study was initiated to provide a better understanding of the factors influencing employees’ non-work-related computing (NWRC) behavior by comparing two models, one based on Triandis’ theory of interpersonal behavior (TIB) and the other derived from the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Results of the study showed that the TIB-based model had higher explanatory power than the TPB-based model. Specifically, affect, social factors, and perceived consequences significantly influenced employees’ intention to engage in NWRC, while intention to engage in it, habit, and facilitating conditions determined employees’ NWRC behavior. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Retracted: Critical Human Factor Evaluation of Knowledge Sharing Intention in Taiwanese Enterprises

Knowledge management (KM) is important in the Taiwan business world. Only 0.1% of SMEs, however, have been guided by the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA) to introduce knowledge management from 1993 through 2008. The population of KM‐implementing SMEs is low. The climate of knowledge sharing has been recognized as the critical factor to successful KM. According to the research results obtained in this study, relation‐based motivation is positively related to one's intention to share knowledge. Individual workers can have increased relation‐based motivation to become leaders of SMEs building the culture of interpersonal trust and offering group‐based reward mechanisms in an organization. This research can help business managers to identify the motivational elements that can encourage investment and propose pragmatic suggestions for introducing initiatives to reinvigorate the number of SMEs implementing KM in Taiwan. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Predicting selfie-posting behavior on social networking sites: An extension of theory of planned behavior

Over the past few years, a notable trend has emerged in social networking sites (SNSs). With the growing popularity of image-based SNSs such as Instagram, users increasingly communicate and present themselves by posting photographs they take of themselves (“selfies”). As the phenomenon of selfies becomes widespread across a range of SNSs as a unique means of self-presentation, an interesting question arises, what makes people post their selfies on SNSs. To delve into this rising issue, the present study investigates the antecedents of selfie-posting behavior on SNSs by applying and extending Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A conceptual model, which is primarily drawn from the TPB and incorporates narcissism as an additional antecedent, is proposed and empirically tested. Results show that attitude toward selfie-posting, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and narcissism are the significant determinants of an individual's intention to post selfies on SNSs. Further, one's selfie-posting behavior on SNSs is significantly predicted by his or her intention to post selfies. Implications of the findings are discussed with suggestions for future research.     

Domestic Technology Adoption: Comparison of Innovation Adoption Models and Moderators

Domestic technologies, such as assistant robots, have the potential to provide considerable assistance to families in societies with aging populations and increasing labor costs. This study intends 1) to test a series of innovation adoption theories to examine which models may better predict consumer behavioral intention toward the use of domestic technologies and 2) to examine whether lead‐usership and global identity predict intentions. With the floor cleaning robots as target products of the survey and employing a sample of 299 potential consumers in Taiwan, a rapidly aging society, this study finds: 1) the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model accounts for 55% of the variance and better predicts purchase intention than the technology acceptance model and the theory of reasoned action. 2) In the nested TPB model, the effects of usefulness and ease of use on intentions are fully mediated by attitude. 3) When including 2 additional constructs, global identity and lead‐usership, the explanatory power of the extended TPB model rises from 55% to 66%. 4) Lead‐usership moderates the link between attitude and intentions, that is, the stronger the lead‐usership the weaker the effect of attitude on intentions. 5) As lead‐usership and global identity are included in the model, the impact of perceived behavioral control vanishes. 6) Subjective norms moderate (weakening) the effect of attitude on adoption intentions; thus, word of mouth and peer pressure could be powerful communication tools to persuade follower consumers to adopt domestic technologies, such as family robots.