A theoretical acceptance model for computer-based communication media: Nine field studies
Highlights
► Extending the TAM in a specific system usage context by adding environmental factors. ► Rules on media use produce a mandatory force for using computer-based media. ► Task characteristics have effects on users’ beliefs.
Introduction
Communication is a fundamental management activity in an organization, which accounts for almost 80% of a manager’s time spent at work (Trevino, Daft, & Lengel, 1990). Effective communication helps managers improve their job performance, accomplish their tasks, and broaden their views. An underpinning of effective communication is effective communication media. A range of communication media has been used in work places for a long time, including face to face meetings, telephone, fax, and written documents. However, these traditional media can no longer satisfy all of the communication requirements raised by organizations trying to survive in a mobile and networked environment. Thus, new computer-based communication media such as electronic mail and teleconferences have been introduced into organizations to increase job efficiency. However, the new media have not actually brought the expected efficiencies to these organizations (Fulk and DeSanctis, 1995, Malhotra, 1997).
Research related to the incompetence of computer-based applications in organizations has been conducted in the past (e.g., DeLone and McLean, 1992, DeLone and McLean, 2002, Pitt and Watson, 1997, Seddon et al., 1998, Sethi et al., 1993, Stebbins, 2001). One research study focuses on users’ acceptance of applications, since a premise of determining the success of a technology is based on people’s acceptance and decision to use that technology (Hu et al., 1999, Venkatesh et al., 2003). Computer-based communication media, like other computer-based applications, needs the acceptance of organization members before it can take effect and produce efficiency. Thus, understanding and creating the conditions under which computer-based communication media will be embraced by users remains a significant research issue.
Significant progress has been made over the last decade in explaining and predicting user acceptance of information technology in an organization. In particular, theoretical and empirical support has been accumulated in favor of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989, Davis et al., 1989). The TAM theorizes that an individual’s behavioral intention to use a system is determined based on two beliefs: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The effects of external variables on intention to use are mediated by perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. However, as a general model designed to explain user behavior across a broad range of end-user computing technologies (Davis et al., 1989), the TAM fails to explain the specific acceptance behavior on computer-based communication media.
On the basis of the TAM, in this paper we propose a model called TAM_CCM. As a variation of the TAM in the context of Computer-Based Communication Media (CCM), the model adds two context-related brief constructs and specifies the external variables, which were only vaguely referred to in the TAM. Three categories of external variables that were incorporated into the model and were derived from various media choice theories include characteristics of CCM systems, social influence processes, and user characteristics. Empirical studies were conducted to provide support for the model.
In the next section, the TAM_CCM is developed and specific hypotheses are presented. Next, a research methodology for testing these hypotheses is provided, followed by the empirical results. Finally, the results are discussed from both theoretical and practical perspectives, and contributions and implications are also presented.
Section snippets
Theory and hypothesis
In this research study, we propose a model called TAM_CCM. It is a theoretical extension of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), specifically designed to explain user acceptance of computer-based communication media. Using the TAM as a starting point, the TAM_CCM extends the original brief structure with two context-related briefs (perceived communication effectiveness and perceived communication efficiency), and incorporates external variables spanning characteristics of computer-mediated
Method
Nine field studies were conducted to test TAM_CCM. To meet the requirement of ecological validity (Venkatesh & Davis, 1996), we sought naturalistic research sites where a new computer-based communication media was about to be introduced, or was in the early stage of implementation. The nine field sites spanned a range of industries and types of systems being introduced. We chose four sites where rules on media use were unavailable and five sites where rules on media use were available, to
Data analysis
In this section, we present the validation of our constructs and model, and describe our model estimation method.
Results
We present the path estimates of the structural equation model in Table 7.
Discussion
Table 10 shows all the results of the hypothesis testing. All of the hypotheses have been supported except for H5, H7 and H11.
Our explanation for H5 being rejected, is perceived usefulness (PU) only has indirect effect on behavior intention (BI) to use. Its effect on BI is mediated by attitude towards use (ATs). A potential reason for H7 being rejected is the lack of difference in communication effectiveness of the computer-based media studied in the samples. The descriptive statistics of
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