The Application of the Technology Acceptance Model under Different Cultural Contexts: The Case of Online Shopping Adoption

Abstract

Global usage of the Internet has increased remarkably in the past few decades, thus necessitating a better understanding of e-commerce adoption across cultures. Against this backdrop, this study contributes to the existing technology adoption and acceptance literature in the following ways. First, the authors develop an extended technology acceptance model that incorporates trust and perceived behavioral control and examine it in settings outside the United States to better understand the adoption of e-commerce across cultures. Contrary to the authors' expectations, the predictive power of the technology acceptance model seems robust and holds true for both Pakistan and Canada, despite some noteworthy differences between the two cultures. Second, although the importance of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness on consumers' intentions to shop online was validated across both cultures, the results highlight the complex relationships between perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and intention to adopt in each country. The authors offer suggestions to technology managers and e-retailers regarding navigating through new technology and ecommerce adoption under various cultural contexts.

The connection and disconnection between e-commerce businesses and their customers: Exploring the role of engagement, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease-of-use

“…From a technology acceptance perspective, studies have shown that individual beliefs-PU and PEOU-mediate the effect of external factors on individuals' attitudes towards and intention to purchase from a website (Ashraf et al, 2014;Chen et al, 2002;Venkatesh and Davis, 2000). As illustrated in Figure 1, and in line with the regulatory fit and technology acceptance literatures, we expect that in addition to being more engaged, individuals experiencing fit will not only perceive the website as easier to use, but will also perceive it as more useful.…”

“…Engagement has been shown to mediate fit effects; however, a review of regulatory fit and technology acceptance literature reveals that engagement may not be the only factor that mediates the effect of fit (Wang and Lee, 2006;Lee at al., 2010;Ashraf et al, 2014;Venkatesh and Davis, 2000). Drawing on the regulatory fit and technology acceptance literatures, our study identifies other mechanisms that clarify how regulatory focus exerts its effects.…”

“…Next, they were shown one smartphone website homepage (the same one that was used in pre-test 1; see Appendix A) and asked to evaluate the website on a five-item seven-point scale adapted from Wang and Lee (2006): (1 = "not at all appropriate, dislike very much, very bad, very unfavorable, very undesirable," and 7 = "definitely appropriate, like very much, very good, very favorable, very desirable"). Participants were then asked to indicate their purchase intention on a three-item seven-point scale adapted from Ashraf et al (2014): "I predict that I would use this website to make a purchase" (strongly disagree/strongly agree), "what is the likelihood that you would explore this website further to make a purchase" (highly unlikely/highly likely), and "how likely would you be to purchase a smartphone from this website" (highly unlikely/highly likely). We repeated the procedure for the second website and counterbalanced the order of the two websites across all participants.…”

Il ruolo della competenza culturale nell'event marketing del turismo

“…Nell'industria dell'ospitalità, internet assume, in effetti, un ruolo sempre maggiore in virtù della crescente propensione, da parte dei viaggiatori, a ricercare informazioni e realizzare prenotazioni online (Ashraf et al, 2014;Sabiote-Ortiz et al, 2016;Sia et al, 2009;Straub et al, 1997). È interessante notare come i viaggiatori provenienti da contesti individualisti, nonostante siano più indipendenti ed autonomi nelle proprie scelte, ripongono molta importanza nelle recensioni online che vengono utilizzate per elaborare un proprio giudizio sulle potenziali strutture da visitare.…”

“…Una meta-analisi dell'effetto moderatore della cultura sui processi di acquisto online ha rilevato, inoltre, l'importanza dell'utilità percepita come fattore determinante delle scelte di acquisto dei consumatori occidentali (culture prevalentemente individualiste) e non dei consumatori asiatici (culture collettivistiche) (Zhang et al, 2012). Ashraf et al (2014) e Straub et al (1997) hanno analizzato, invece, il ruolo dell'uncertainty avoidance, riscontrando che i consumatori provenienti da paesi ad elevato rifiuto dell'incertezza tendono ad acquistare meno online, ma ripongono molta fiducia nelle recensioni, che leggono con estrema attenzione.…”