A Conceptual and Operational Definition of Personal Innovativeness in the Domain of Information Technology

Abstract

T he acceptance of new information technologies by their intended users persists as an important issue for researchers and practitioners of information systems. Several models have been developed in the literature to facilitate understanding of the process by which new information technologies are adopted. This paper proposes a new construct that further illuminates the relationships explicit in the technology acceptance models and describes an operational measure for this construct that possesses desirable psychometric properties. The construct, personal innovativeness in the domain of information technology, is hypothesized to exhibit moderating effects on the antecedents as well as the consequences of individual perceptions about a new information technology. The construct was developed and validated in the context of the innovation represented by the World-Wide Web. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. IntroductionWhy do some individuals readily adopt new information technologies while others reject them? This problem, variously labeled information systems implementation, technology adoption, and technology acceptance, has persisted in the information systems literature for several decades. As the organizational utilization of information technology proliferates, and as technology becomes more critical for competitive survival, the importance of the technology acceptance problem escalates; systems that are not accepted by their intended users will not result in any sought-after benefits. Recognition of the magnitude of this problem is evident in the quantity of recent research focused on examining the determinants of information technology acceptance (Moore and Benbasat 1991, Davis et al. 1989, Taylor and Todd 1995, Szajna 1996. Indeed, significant attention has been focused on developing and validating theoretical models that postulate various relationships between constructs recognized as germane to technology acceptance (Davis et al. 1989, Taylor andTodd 1995). The purpose of this paper is to propose a new construct that further illuminates the relationships explicit in the technology acceptance models, and to describe an operational measure for this construct that possesses desirable psychometric properties.The construct described in this paper, personal innovativeness in the domain of information technology, has implications for both theory and practice. From the perspective of practice, personal innovativeness helps identify individuals who are likely to Downloaded from informs.org by [129.93.16.3] on 06 April 2015, at 02:32 . For personal use only, all rights reserved. adopt information technology innovations earlier than others. Such individuals can then serve as key change agents and opinion leaders to facilitate further diffusion of a new technology (Rogers 1995). Moreover, when implementation resources are limited, the construct helps target scarce resources more fruitfully. From a theoretical perspective, although the dominant technology acceptance models provide insights into how a...

Airline passengers’ continuance intention towards online check-in services: The role of personal innovativeness and subjective knowledge

“…San Martín & Herrero, 2012) usually adopt the definition of innovativeness in the domain of information technology (Agarwal & Prasad, 1998). In contrast, this study adopts the definition at global trait level, because the personal innovativeness is a predisposition towards innovation across different products and services (Goldsmith & Hofacker, 1991), and this global conception has been widely accepted in psychology to identify the innovative characteristics of individuals (Im, Bayus, & Mason, 2003).…”

“…Innovative individuals tend to be more risk-taking, which means that they will be more eager to try new technologies (Agarwal & Prasad, 1998). Empirical results on the role of innovativeness on PEOU and PU have been inconsistent.…”

The moderating role of prior experience in technological acceptance models for ubiquitous computing services in urban environments

“…Agarwal and Prasad [63] argued that personal innovativeness is important for examining the acceptance of information technology innovation. They assumed that a person at a high level of personal innovativeness might be a risk-lover or early adopter, so that personal innovativeness affects the user's behavior or intention to use the new technology.…”

“…"Perceived Fee" has a positive correlation with "intention to use". [63] argued that personal innovativeness is important for examining the acceptance of information technology innovation. They defined personal innovativeness as 'the individual willingness to try out any new information technology'.…”

Technology‐assisted supplemental work: Construct definition and a research framework

“…Research linking individual differences to information technology (IT) use experienced a decline in the 1980s, only to enjoy renewed interest in the 1990s and early 2000s (Agarwal & Prasad, 1998;Huber, 1983;Leonard-Barton & Deschamps, 1988;Thatcher & Perrewe, 2002). Following this recent trend, we feel that revisiting the predictive capacity of individual-level characteristics (e.g., job involvement, conscientiousness, career commitment, and personal innovation) holds much promise for explaining which employees will be more likely than others to perform TASW.…”