Patrick Y. K. Chau

Information Technology Acceptance by Individual Professionals: A Model Comparison Approach

The proliferation of innovative and exciting information technology applications that target individual “professionals” has made the examination or re-examination of existing technology acceptance theories and models in a “professional” setting increasingly important. The current research represents a conceptual replication of several previous model comparison studies. The particular models under investigation are the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), and a decomposed TPB model, potentially adequate in the targeted healthcare professional setting. These models are empirically examined and compared, using the responses to a survey on telemedicine technology acceptance collected from more than 400 physicians practicing in public tertiary hospitals in Hong Kong. Results of the study highlight several plausible limitations of TAM and TPB in explaining or predicting technology acceptance by individual professionals. In addition, findings from the study also suggest that instruments that have been developed and repeatedly tested in previous studies involving end users and business managers in ordinary business settings may not be equally valid in a professional setting. Several implications for technology acceptance/adoption research and technology management practices are discussed.

A perception-based model for EDI adoption in small businesses using a technology-organization-environment framework

Abstract The wide adoption of electronic data interchange (EDI) has been argued to be important for the success of the technology. Past studies on EDI have focused mainly on large firms, as they were the major users at the time. With the advance of technology, however, EDI applications that used to require mainframe computers can be used on PCs at a much lower cost. At a result, small businesses are now able to enjoy the benefits of EDI. Using a technology–organization–environment framework, this study proposes a perception-based small business EDI adoption model that is tested against data collected from 575 small firms in Hong Kong. Six factors are tested using logistic regression and five are found to be significant in distinguishing adopter firms from non-adopter firms. The results suggest the perception-based model using a technology–organization–environment framework is a useful approach for examining factors affecting the adoption decision. For small businesses, while direct benefits are perceived to be higher by adopter firms than by non-adopter firms, indirect benefits are not perceived differently by either adopter firms or non-adopter firms, contrary to the findings in studies on large business. In addition, adopter firms perceive lower financial costs and higher technical competence than non-adopter firms do. Also, adopter firms perceive higher government pressure but lower industry pressure than non-adopter firms do. Implications of the findings and future research areas are discussed.

An empirical assessment of a modified technology acceptance model

The technology acceptance model (TAM) is one of the most influential research models in studies of the determinants of information systems/information technology (IS/IT) acceptance. In TAM, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are hypothesized and empirically supported as fundamental determinants of user acceptance of a given IS/IT. A review of the IS and psychology literature, however, suggests that perceived usefulness can be of two distinct types: near-term usefulness and long-term usefulness. This paper reviews the concept of perceived usefulness and modifies TAM to include the two types of perceived usefulness. Data collected from nearly 285 administrative/clerical staff in a large organization were tested against the modified model using the structural equation modeling approach. The results of the study showed that, even though perceived near-term usefulness had the most significant influence on the behavioral intention to use a technology, perceived long-term usefulness also exerted a positive, though lesser, impact. No significant, direct relationship was found between ease of use and behavioral intention to use a technology. Implications of the findings and future research areas are discussed.

Investigating healthcare professionals’ decisions to accept telemedicine technology: an empirical test of competing theories

Abstract The proliferation of information technology (IT) in supporting highly specialized tasks and services has made it increasingly important to understand the factors essential to technology acceptance by individuals. In a typical professional setting, the essential characteristics of user, technology, and context may differ considerably from those in ordinary business settings. This study examined physicians’ acceptance of telemedicine technology. Following a theory comparison approach, it evaluated the extent to which prevailing intention-based models, including the technology acceptance model (TAM), the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and an integrated model, could explain individual physicians’ technology acceptance decisions. Based on responses from more than 400 physicians, both models were evaluated in terms of overall fit, explanatory power, and their causal links. Overall, findings suggest that TAM may be more appropriate than TPB for examining technology acceptance by individual professionals and that the integrated model, although more fully depicting physicians’ technology acceptance, may not provide significant additional explanatory power. Also, instruments developed and repeatedly tested in prior studies involving conventional end-users and business managers may not be valid in professional settings. Several interesting implications are also discussed.

Cultural differences in the online behavior of consumers

Understanding how different cultures use the Net---as well as perceive the same Web sites---can translate to truly global e-commerce.

Influence of computer attitude and self-efficacy on IT usage behavior

Based on an augmented Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this paper examines the influence of computer attitude and self-efficacy on IT usage behavior. Computer attitude and self-efficacy were explicitly incorporated in the research model as external variables affecting perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, the two key factors influencing the IT usage behavior in the original TAM. Data collected from 360 business students were tested against the model using LISREL. The results show that computer attitude has a significant, positive effect on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Computer self-efficacy, on the other hand, has a relatively small, but negative, effect on perceived usefulness and no significant effect on perceived ease of use. The addition of computer attitude and self-efficacy into the TAM greatly improves the explanatory power of the model on the variance of perceived usefulness, which is again found to be a significant factor affecting the behavioral intention of using an IS/IT. Implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed.

An Empirical Investigation of the Determinants of User Acceptance of Internet Banking

The growth in the use of the Internet as a distribution channel of products and services offered by various businesses has been phenomenal. One such application is Internet banking services. As more and more financial institutions are finding ways to utilize Internet technologies to launch Internet banking services, an important issue is to understand what factors will impact the decisions of customers in adopting the service. Based on Daviss technology acceptance model with 4 additional variables that are theoretically justified as having influence on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, a research model for the investigated technology acceptance was developed and empirically examined, using responses from more than 160 intended users of the technology. Results of the data analysis generally support the model as well as 7 of 8 of the proposed hypotheses. In particular, personalization, alliance services, task familiarity, and accessibility were found to have significant influence on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, which, in turn, were found to be important factors in fostering a positive attitude toward accepting the services. Several implications for both research and practice have emerged and are discussed.

Dynamics between the trust transfer process and intention to use mobile payment services: A cross-environment perspective

Many Internet-based services have already been ported to the mobile-based environment, embracing the new services is therefore critical to deriving revenue for services providers. Based on a valence framework and trust transfer theory, we developed a trust-based customer decision-making model of the non-independent, third-party mobile payment services context. We empirically investigated whether a customers established trust in Internet payment services is likely to influence his or her initial trust in mobile payment services. We also examined how these trust beliefs might interact with both positive and negative valence factors and affect a customers adoption of mobile payment services. Our SEM analysis indicated that trust indeed had a substantial impact on the cross-environment relationship and, further, that trust in combination with the positive and negative valence determinants directly and indirectly influenced behavioral intention. In addition, the magnitudes of these effects on workers and students were significantly different from each other.

An empirical investigation on factors affecting the acceptance of CASE by systems developers

Abstract This paper presents the findings of an empirical study of factors affecting the acceptance of CASE by systems developers. Based on two research models (technology acceptance and personal computer utilization) recently published in IS literature, an integrated model which consists of six variables and incorporates key elements of both models was developed to examine determinants of CASE acceptance. The findings indicate that ease of use has the largest influence on CASE acceptance, followed by long-term consequences. Both transitional support and near-term usefulness do not have a significant direct effect on the acceptance but exhibit their indirect influence through ease of use and/or long-term consequences. The implementation gap was found to have a relatively small and negative effect on CASE acceptance through its influence on ease of use, near-term usefulness, and long-term consequences. Implications of the findings, from both a research and a managerial perspective are discussed in this paper.

Assessing the effects of service quality and justice on customer satisfaction and the continuance intention of mobile value-added services: An empirical test of a multidimensional model

Understanding the antecedents and consequences of customer satisfaction in the mobile communications market is important. This study explores the effects of service quality and justice on customer satisfaction, which, in turn, affects continuance intention of mobile services. Service quality, justice and customer satisfaction were measured by multiple dimensions. A research model was developed based on this multidimensional approach and was empirically examined with data collected from about one thousand users of mobile value-added services in China. Results show that all three dimensions of service quality (interaction quality, environment quality and outcome quality) have significant and positive effects on cumulative satisfaction while only one dimension of service quality (interaction quality) has a significant and positive effect on transaction-specific satisfaction. Besides procedural justice, the other two dimensions of justice (distributive justice and interactional justice) significantly influence both transaction-specific satisfaction and cumulative satisfaction. Furthermore, both types of customer satisfaction have significant and positive effects on continuance intention. Implications for research and practice are discussed.