Broadband Internet adoption and utilization in the inner city: A comparison of competing theories☆
Introduction
Evidence of the economic benefits of broadband access is fairly unambiguous and, while more contested, there is also a widespread belief in its social benefits (Genachowski, 2013, Gillett et al., 2006, Holt and Jamison, 2009, Horrigan, 2009, ICF, 2012, LaRose et al., 2007, Smith, 2010). For the past decade, researchers have been examining the key factors influencing broadband adoption so as to increase adoption rates. Various theories have been applied to understand the adoption and utilization of new technologies which are relevant to understanding broadband adoption and utilization. These include the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM, Davis, 1986, Davis et al., 1989), the Unified Theory of the Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT, Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003), Diffusion of Innovations (DoI, Rogers, 2003), the Model of Adoption of Technology in Households (MATH, Brown and Venkatesh, 2005, Venkatesh and Brown, 2001), and social cognitive theory (SCT, LaRose et al., 2007, LaRose et al., 2012). Although previous studies have compared the effectiveness of TAM, UTAUT, MATH, and the theory of planned behaviors (e.g., Brown et al., 2014, Chen and Chao, 2011, Lee, 2009, Terzis and Economides, 2011, Venkatesh et al., 2003, Yousafzai et al., 2010), this area of research has evolved into a patchwork of competing theories and variables lacking conceptual integration. The present research attempts to restore conceptual order by re-examining technology adoption from the perspective of a seminal theory of human behavior, SCT, that integrates foundational concepts of diffusion of innovation research (Rogers, 2003). The focus of the research is on an important issue confronting society, the adoption of broadband Internet service by inner city populations.
Section snippets
Theoretical advances in technology adoption and utilization research
When developing technology adoption models, a common practice among researchers is to add or borrow variables from competing theories. This approach may add to the variance explained, making an argument for model sufficiency. However, while adding variables may increase the variance explained, the price for that is the sacrifice of parsimony (Bagozzi, 2007). There is also the risk of introducing multi-collinearity and statistical suppression (Conger, 1974, Weber and Monarchi, 1977) among
Toward sustainable broadband adoption
Recognizing the transformative potential of broadband Internet, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted measures to make affordable broadband available to every citizen. The agency formulated a set of ambitious goals in the National Broadband Plan of 2010 (FCC, 2010). One of the plan’s goals is to make affordable 100 Mbps download speeds available to 100 million homes by 2020. Based on this overarching vision, the agency expanded universal service policy to broadband service
Models of broadband adoption and utilization
The present analysis begins by examining five competing models of technology adoption and utilization for their applicability to broadband adoption and use. These are the SCT model of broadband adoption (LaRose et al., 2007, LaRose et al., 2012), DoI (Rogers, 2003), TAM (Davis et al., 1989), and UTAUT (Venkatesh et al., 2003), and MATH (Brown & Venkatesh, 2005).
Data collection
A mail survey was conducted among residents of urban areas in a Midwestern state in October–December 2012. Two thousand addresses were sampled from 9 cities—Benton Harbor, Flint, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Muskegon, Pontiac, Saginaw, and Detroit—at random from the address sequence files maintained by the U.S. Postal Service and available through a commercial vendor, USADATA. The survey followed the Tailored Design Method (Dillman, Smyth, & Christian, 2009) by sending out a pre-notification
Results
The means and standard deviations of all variables included in the analysis are shown in Table 1. Pearson product–moment correlations (Table 2) were calculated using SPSS (2013) version 20.0 (IBM Corp., 2011).
The zero-order correlations were all consistent with the predictions of their respective theories. Among SCT variables, expected outcomes, self-efficacy, habit strength, observational learning, and enactive learning were positively related to broadband intention, confirming H1 through H5.
Discussion
The SCT model of broadband adoption continues to show promise. Empirically, it accounted for 52 percent of the variance in broadband intentions. As in LaRose et al. (2012) the expected outcomes variable was the most powerful predictor among the direct antecedents of intentions. Variables drawn from competing theoretical models of technology acceptance and utilization made weak contributions by comparison. Interactions with gender, age and prior experience were insignificant both in combination
Acknowledgment
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the NTIA. In addition, we wish to thank the following for their contributions to the preparation of the manuscript: Kurt De Maagd, Steve S. Wildman, Johannes M. Bauer, and Charles Steinfield.
References (65)
The theory of planned behavior
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
(1991)- et al.
An analysis of the determinants of Internet access
Telecommunications Policy
(2005) - et al.
Habitual or reasoned? Using the theory of planned behavior, technology acceptance model, and habit to examine switching intentions toward public transit
Transportation Research
(2011) - et al.
An analysis of the determinants of broadband access
Telecommunications Policy
(2007) - et al.
Broadband and contributions to economic growth: Lessons from the US experience
Telecommunications Policy
(2009) - et al.
Closing the rural broadband gap: Promoting adoption of the Internet in rural America
Telecommunications Policy
(2007) Factors influencing the adoption of internet banking: An integration of TAM and TPB with perceived risk and perceived benefit
Electronic Commerce Research and Applications
(2009)- et al.
Exploring factors influencing consumers’ behavioral intention to adopt broadband in Malaysia
Computers in Human Behavior
(2011) - et al.
The acceptance and use of computer based assessment
Computers & Education
(2011) Digital divide research, achievements and shortcomings
Poetics
(2006)
A conceptual and operational definition of personal innovativeness in the domain of information technology
Information Systems Research
Attitudes, personality and behaviour
From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior
The legacy of the technology acceptance model and a proposal for a paradigm shift
Journal of the Association for Information Systems
Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory
Social cognitive theory of mass communication
Model of adoption of technology in households: A baseline model test and extension incorporating household life cycle
MIS Quarterly
Technology adoption decisions in the household: A seven-model comparison
Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
A revised definition for suppressor variables: A guide to their identification and interpretation
Educational and Psychological Measurement
User acceptance of computer-technology: A comparison of two theoretical models
Management Science
The role of perceived enjoyment and social norm in the adoption of technology with network externalities
European Journal of Information Systems
Internet, mail and mixed-mode surveys: The tailored design method
A Meta-analysis of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)
Connecting America: The national broadband plan
Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research
International broadband deployment: The impact of unbundling
Communications and Strategies
The broadband engine of economic growth
The Wall Street Journal
The diffusion of the Internet and the geography of the digital divide in the United States (No. w12182)
Cited by (28)
Consumer acceptance of drone-based technology for last mile delivery
2024, Research in Transportation EconomicsDeterminants of intention to use autonomous vehicles: Findings from PLS-SEM and ANFIS
2023, Journal of Retailing and Consumer ServicesInvestigating the acceptance of shared e-scooters: Empirical evidence from Turkey
2022, Case Studies on Transport PolicyCitation Excerpt :Therefore, we have used the PS instead of the price value construct because shared e-scooters are a new technology in the Turkey context. PS has already been used to predict users' intention in limited areas, including broadband internet (Tsai and Larose, 2015), autonomous delivery cars (Kapser and Abdelrahman, 2020), and mobile shopping applications (Natarajan et al., 2017). Therefore, this research assumed that users' behavioral intention to use shared e-scooters depends on the PS of individuals.
Models of information systems habit: An exploratory meta-analysis
2022, International Journal of Information ManagementAutonomous delivery vehicles to fight the spread of Covid-19 – How do men and women differ in their acceptance?
2021, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and PracticeCitation Excerpt :Price sensitivity can be defined as the “way in which buyers react to price changes” (Goldsmith et al., 2005). It has not been studied much in previous technology acceptance research (Goldsmith and Newell, 1997; Goldsmith et al., 2005; Tsai and LaRose, 2015), nor has it been incorporated into the UTAUT2 model in other technology acceptance studies (Kapser and Abdelrahman, 2020b). In the field of ADVs, Kapser and Abdelrahman (2020a) found that it is the most important determinant of behavioural intention, which can be linked to the competitiveness within the last-mile delivery market.
- ☆
Funding for this research was provided by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)’s broadband technology opportunities program (BTOP). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and not the NTIA.