Chapter 2: Libraries and the Technology for Information Searching Services
2.6 Theories of Technology Acceptance and Adoption
2.6.9 Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology
The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology – UTAUT – is most frequently used in studies investigating the reasons why people choose to adopt or choose to reject an information technology (Gruzd et al., 2012). The model was established by Venkatesh and colleagues (2003) after the comparison and testing of the eight previous technology acceptance theories mentioned above: the theory of reasoned action, the motivational model, the technology acceptance model, the theory of planned behaviour, the combined TAM and TPB, innovation diffusion theory, social cognitive theory, and the model of PC utilisation. Each of the models were assessed and compared so that their strengths and limitations became clear. Following this, certain constructs were chosen as the key components that make up UTAUT (Venkatesh et al., 2003). The four core concepts of UTAUT are Effort Expectancy, Performance Expectancy, Facilitating Conditions, and Social
63 Influence (Figure 2.13). All of these constructs are direct determinants of behaviour and acceptance of a technology by users. The model also incorporates four moderating variables, namely age, gender, experience, and voluntariness (Venkatesh et al., 2003).
Figure 2.13 Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (Source: Venkatesh et al., 2003)
The following sections present further detail about each of the model’s constructs.
2.6.9.1 Performance Expectancy
Venkatesh et al. (2003, p.447) define Performance Expectancy as “the degree to which an individual believes that using a system will help him or her to attain gains in job performance”.
There are five minor constructs within the main Performance Expectancy component, all of which have been taken from other models. These are extrinsic motivation, perceived usefulness, relative advantage, job-fit, and outcome expectations. As also pointed out by Venkatesh et al. (2003), age and gender are moderators of the relationship between intention and Performance Expectancy. In terms of gender, men have a tendency to accept a new technology more quickly than their female
64 counterparts (Minton & Schneider, 1980). For age, prior studies have demonstrated that age plays no significant role in IT usage, although older users are generally less accepting of new information systems and do not have the same perception of usefulness when using them (Burton-Jones &
Hubona, 2005). It has been suggested by Levy (1988) that any research carried out on gender or age should be carried out in parallel, as studies into gender differences have a tendency to be rather deceptive if age is not taken into account as well. Age and gender might therefore result in higher or lower values for Performance Expectancy for certain types of IT.
2.6.9.2 Effort Expectancy
Venkatesh et al. (2003) define Effort Expectancy as “the degree of ease associated with the use of the system” (p.450). In this model, three concepts have been designed using existing models that are concerned with Effort Expectancy: ease of use (taken from IDT), complexity (from MPCU), and perceived ease of use (from TAM and TAM2). It has been suggested that females are more anxious to use new information systems (Venkatesh et al., 2000), which in the present study, concerns e-libraries. Women appear to be more concerned about the new technology’s ease of use.
In addition, older people seem to struggle more with the retrieval of information, and this is exacerbated as the individual becomes older (Morris & Venkatesh, 2000). Another factor that moderates Effort Expectancy is experience of use. The longer an individual uses a technology, the more their confidence increases (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Therefore, behavioural intention is influenced by effort expectancy, but this is moderated by age, gender, and experience.
2.6.9.3 Facilitating Conditions
Facilitating Conditions are defined by Venkatesh et al. (2003) as “the degree to which an individual believes that an organisational and technical infrastructure exists to support the use of a system”
(p.453). The factor of Facilitating Conditions is taken from three constructs: facilitating conditions (taken from MPCU), perceived behavioural control (from TPB/DTPB, C-TAM/TPB), and compatibility (from IDT). The moderating factors for Facilitating Conditions include age and experience, at least with regards to IT usage. Older users tend to place importance on receiving help while at work (Hall & Mansfield, 1975). If there is sufficient help available to users from their organisations, the number of different types of technology increases (Bergeron et al., 1990).
65 2.6.9.4 Social Influence
Social Influence has been defined as “the degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe he or she should use the new system” (Venkatesh et al., 2003, p.451). This factor is found in TAM2, TRA and TPB/DTPB as a subjective norm, in IDT as an image, and in MPCU as a social factor (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Age, gender, experience and voluntariness all moderate the influence of social behavioural intention. As highlighted by Venkatesh et al. (2003), the effect can be significant, particularly in mandatory settings, among senior females, and during the initial stages of experience.
Studies investigating technology acceptance commonly make use of the UTAUT model. UTAUT was created through the combination of the most appropriate components of existing theoretical models, and as such it is now perceived as the most suitable for describing and predicting individual’s usage intentions (Venkatesh et al., 2003). The UTAUT model is applied in studies across a range of disciplines. The model was utilised by McKenna et al. (2013) along with the theory of organisational services to assess the ways in which individuals perceived and adopted IT-based services related to travel, including obtaining locations and directions and purchasing tickets. Both of the theories were used to firstly create a software artefact and then explain how the system should be developed based on the constructs of UTAUT. The UTAUT model has also been used to investigate the academic community and how they respond to technologies. Gruzd et al. (2012) researched the adoption of social media among academics, focusing on their information dissemination and communication behaviours. The objective of the study was mainly to investigate the ways in which scholars utilised social media to communicate information among each other, using the UTAUT model to analyse this usage behaviour. The results of the study showed that Social Influence and Performance Expectancy supported the scholars’ intention to use social media. On the other hand, the variables of Facilitating Conditions and Effort Expectancy negatively affected the academics’ intention to use social media.
In addition to this, UTAUT has been used in studies of libraries. For example, the model has been adopted in research regarding university students and their interest (or lack thereof) in using digital library systems. Rahman et al. (2011) looked into the influencing factors on intention to use digital libraries by Malaysian postgraduate students, and the findings indicated that both Effort
66 Expectancy and Performance Expectancy do indeed impact positively and significantly on intention to use digital libraries. However, age and gender have no significant impact on behavioural intention, and there was no difference found in the study between female and male students’ behavioural intention to use digital libraries. Age also does not appear to have an effect on students’ perceptions of the system, as both younger and older students perceived the online libraries as being quite hard to use.
Research carried out by Feldstein and Martin (2013) has a specific focus on the e-book context.
Here, the adoption patterns exhibited by university students towards e-textbooks are examined.
The UTAUT model is used to investigate the adoption process, and the study results show that gender has an impact on the students’ attitudes; male students in this study were found to perceive e-textbooks as being less useful compared to the female students. The results further support the notion that UTAUT is a suitable and relevant model to use in the study of technology adoption and use.
2.6.9.5 UTAUT 2
The UTAUT2 model (Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2012) is an extension of UTAUT and was developed based on findings from studies utilising UTAUT. This model encompasses seven aspects that could motivate users to accept new technologies, namely Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Hedonic Motivation, Price Value, and Habit. Three moderating variables are included in the UTAUT2 model: age, gender, and experience (Figure 2.14).
67 Figure 2.14 UTAUT2
(Source: Venkatesh et al., 2012, p.160)