James Y.L. Thong

Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology

This paper extends the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to study acceptance and use of technology in a consumer context. Our proposed UTAUT2 incorporates three constructs into UTAUT: hedonic motivation, price value, and habit. Individual differences--namely, age, gender, and experience--are hypothesized to moderate the effects of these constructs on behavioral intention and technology use. Results from a two-stage online survey, with technology use data collected four months after the first survey, of 1,512 mobile Internet consumers supported our model. Compared to UTAUT, the extensions proposed in UTAUT2 produced a substantial improvement in the variance explained in behavioral intention (56 percent to 74 percent) and technology use (40 percent to 52 percent). The theoretical and managerial implications of these results are discussed.

CEO characteristics, organizational characteristics and information technology adoption in small businesses

The importance of information technology (IT) to businesses is widely acknowledged. Yet, while large businesses have been using computers for some time, small businesses have been slow in adopting IT. The literature on technological innovation suggests that there are two main classes of variables that are important in determining adoption of an innovation: individual characteristics and organizational characteristics. As IT can be viewed as a technological innovation, these two classes of variables are possible determinants of IT adoption. This paper examines the effect of three characteristics of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and three organizational characteristics on adoption of IT. The three CEO characteristics studied are CEO innovativeness, CEO attitude towards adoption of IT, and CEO IT knowledge. The three organizational characteristics studied are business size, competitiveness of environment, and information intensity. Six hypotheses were formulated and tested using data collected from a sample of 166 small businesses. The results suggest that notwithstanding the business size, CEO characteristics are important factors affecting IT adoption in small businesses. Small businesses are more likely to adopt IT when the CEOs are more innovative, have a positive attitude towards adoption of IT, and possess greater IT knowledge.

Understanding continued information technology usage behavior: a comparison of three models in the context of mobile internet

There are provided a dust generation preventing structure of a wafer storage case and a process for preventing dust generation thereof, wherein dust generation is effectively prevented by blocking or suppressing free movement of particles constantly generated from a surface of a wafer storage case of a synthetic resin with a coating layer of a surfactant, and a wafer storing method using the wafer storage case. The wafer storage case of synthetic resin is used for housing wafers, and a surface of the wafer storage case is coated with a coating layer of a coating agent to prevent dust generation from the surface.

Top Management Support, External Expertise and Information Systems Implementation in Small Businesses

Top management support is a key recurrent factor critical for effective information systems (IS) implementation. However, the role of top management support may not be as critical as external IS expertise, in the form of consultants and vendors, in small business IS implementation due to the unique characteristics of small businesses. This paper describes an empirical study of the relative importance of top management support and external IS expertise on IS effectiveness in 114 small businesses. Partial least squares (PLS) was used for statistical testing. The results show that top management support is not as important as effective external IS expertise in small business IS implementation. While top management support is essential for IS effectiveness, high quality external IS expertise is even more critical for small businesses operating in an environment of resource poverty. These findings call for more research efforts to be directed at selecting and engaging high quality external IS expertise for IS implementation in small businesses.

Software Piracy in the Workplace: A Model and Empirical Test

Theft of software and other intellectual property has become one of the most visible problems in computing today. This paper details the development and empirical validation of a model of software piracy by individuals in the workplace. The model was developed from the results of prior research into software piracy, and the reference disciplines of the theory of planned behavior, expected utility theory, and deterrence theory. A survey of 201 respondents was used to test the model. The results indicate that individual attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are significant precursors to the intention to illegally copy software. In addition, punishment severity, punishment certainty, and software cost have direct effects on the individuals attitude toward software piracy, whereas punishment certainty has a significant effect on perceived behavioral control. Consequently, strategies to reduce software piracy should focus on these factors. The results add to a growing stream of information systems research into illegal software copying behavior and have significant implications for organizations and industry groups aiming to reduce software piracy.Theft of software and other intellectual property has become one of the most visible problems in computing today. This paper details the development and empirical validation of a model of software piracy by individuals in the workplace. The model was developed from the results of prior research into software piracy, and the reference disciplines of the theory of planned behavior, expected utility theory, and deterrence theory. A survey of 201 respondents was used to test the model. The results indicate that individual attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control are significant precursors to the intention to illegally copy software. In addition, punishment severity, punishment certainty, and software cost have direct effects on the individuals attitude toward software piracy, whereas punishment certainty has a significant effect on perceived behavioral control. Consequently, strategies to reduce software piracy should focus on these factors. The results add to a growing stream of information systems research into illegal software copying behavior and have significant implications for organizations and industry groups aiming to reduce software piracy.

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.

Testing an ethical decision-making theory: the case of softlifting

There is a lack of both theoretical and empirical research on the process of ethical decision making in the domain of information systems (IS). As a step in this direction, we describe and test a general ethical decision-making theory developed in the marketing discipline. We conducted a study on the ethical decision-making process of 243 entry-level IS professionals with regard to softlifting--that is, illegal copying of software for personal use. The results show support for the applicability of the tested ethical decision-making theory to the domain of IS, specifically in the context of softlifting. Entry-level IS professionals were found to use both deontological and teleological evaluations to arrive at an ethical judgment of a moral issue. Subsequently, moral intention to pursue softlifting behavior is primarily determined by the ethical judgment. These findings have implications for both research and practice.

Engagement of external expertise in information systems implementation

Most small businesses lack computer experience and do not have sufficient internal computer expertise. Hence, small businesses are more dependent on external expertise such as consultants and vendors than are larger businesses. This paper compares the information systems (IS) effectiveness of a group of small businesses that engage separate consultants and vendors (consultant-vendor approach) with that of another group of small businesses that engage vendors who also provide consultancy service (vendor-only approach). The results show that small businesses that adopt the vendor-only approach have more effective information systems than small businesses that adopt the consultant-vendor approach. Further, the vendor-only approach results in the same level of consultant effectiveness and a better level of vendor support for small businesses compared with the consultant-vendor approach. The relationship between vendor and other parties in the IS implementation project is found to be an important predictor of IS effectiveness.

Acceptance of agile methodologies: A critical review and conceptual framework

It is widely believed that systems development methodologies (SDMs) can help improve the software development process. Nevertheless, their deployment often encounters resistance from systems developers. Agile methodologies, the latest batch of SDMs that are most suitable in dealing with volatile business requirements, are likely to face the same challenge as they require developers to drastically change their work habits and acquire new skills. This paper addresses what can be done to overcome the challenge to agile methodologies acceptance. We provide a critical review of the extant literature on the acceptance of traditional SDMs and agile methodologies, and develop a conceptual framework for agile methodologies acceptance based on a knowledge management perspective. This framework can provide guidance for future research into acceptance of agile methodologies, and has implications for practitioners concerned with the effective deployment of agile methodologies.

Internet privacy concerns: an integrated conceptualization and four empirical studies

Internet privacy concerns (IPC) is an area of study that is receiving increased attention due to the huge amount of personal information being gathered, stored, transmitted, and published on the Internet. While there is an emerging literature on IPC, there is limited agreement about its conceptualization in terms of its key dimensions and its factor structure. Based on the multidimensional developmental theory and a review of the prior literature, we identify alternative conceptualizations of IPC. We examine the various conceptualizations of IPC with four online surveys involving nearly 4,000 Internet users. As a baseline, study 1 compares the integrated conceptualization of IPC to two existing conceptualizations in the literature. While the results provide support for the integrated conceptualization, the second-order factor model does not outperform the correlated first-order factor model. Study 2 replicates the study on a different sample and confirms the results of study 1. We also investigate whether the prior results are affected by the different perspectives adopted in the wording of items in the original instruments. In study 3, we find that focusing on ones concern for website behavior (rather than ones expectation of website behavior) and adopting a consistent perspective in the wording of the items help to improve the validity of the factor structure. We then examine the hypothesized third-order conceptualizations of IPC through a number of alternative higher-order models. The empirical results confirm that, in general, the third-order conceptualizations of IPC outperform their lower-order alternatives. In addition, the conceptualization of IPC that has the best fit with the data contains a third-order general IPC factor, two second-order factors of interaction management and information management, and six first-order factors (i.e., collection, secondary usage, errors, improper access, control, and awareness). Study 4 cross-validates the results with another data set and examines IPC within the context of a nomological network. The results confirm that the third-order conceptualization of IPC has nomological validity, and it is a significant determinant of both trusting beliefs and risk beliefs. Our research helps to resolve inconsistencies in the key underlying dimensions of IPC, the factor structure of IPC, and the wording of the original items in prior instruments of IPC. Finally, we discuss the implications of this research.