Technology adoption research has a tradition of using and improving Davis' (1989) ''Technology Acceptance Model'' (TAM) and extended versions of it. This article suggests a break with this tradition by showing that the TAM is limited in its understanding of technology adoption. Two alternative approaches are proposed that focus on the role of knowledge and user-technology match, and on the role of temporary dynamical contexts in the process of adoption decision-making. Together with the TAM, both approaches were empirically tested and compared to the TAM by incorporating them in a questionnaire regarding the adoption intention of HDTV in the Netherlands. Results show that the constructs of both approaches show significant relations with the respondents' adoption intentions of HDTV and, together, offer a good alternative to the TAM. This result can be seen as a basis for more future research that uses technological and contextual factors as a starting point for adoption research. Using this starting point will contribute to a better understanding of future technology adoption processes.Whenever a new media technology is developed, scholars from various social science disciplines attempt to understand the factors that influence its possible success or failure. In the last 10 years, the digitization of television has been subject to studies of standardization (

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Abstract

In this article, an experiment was conducted to measure the effect of framing a high definition television (HDTV) clip. One group of participants was told they were watching a brand new HDTV clip, while the other group was told they were watching a digital DVD clip. Both groups were in fact watching the same (low) quality DVD clip. After watching this clip, the beliefs of the participants and their viewing experiences were measured via a questionnaire. The people framed to watch the HDTV clip were found to have a significantly more positive viewing experience. This shows that participants were unable to discriminate properly between digital and high definition signals but were influenced by the frame set for them. This effect has been shown in many different situations, and has now been established when watching HD-quality television as well. The results still indicate that the HDTV-frame is already associated with a high-quality viewing experience, which may influence the selling strategy and/or speed in the adoption of this technology. In the following discussion we will pay attention to the different ways in which HDTV can be framed in the media.

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