Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology: A Synthesis and the Road Ahead

Abstract

The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) is a little over a decade old and has been used extensively in information systems (IS) and other fields, as the large number of citations to the original paper that introduced the theory evidences. In this paper, we review and synthesize the IS literature on UTAUT from September 2003 until December 2014, perform a theoretical analysis of UTAUT and its extensions, and chart an agenda for research going forward. Based on Weber's (2012) framework of theory evaluation, we examined UTAUT and its extensions along two sets of quality dimensions; namely, the parts of a theory and the theory as a whole. While our review identifies many merits to UTAUT, we also found that the progress related to this theory has hampered further theoretical development in research into technology acceptance and use. To chart an agenda for research that will enable significant future work, we analyze the theoretical contributions of UTAUT using Whetten's (2009) notion of cross-context theorizing. Our analysis reveals several limitations that lead us to propose a multi-level framework that can serve as the theoretical foundation for future research. Specifically, this framework integrates the notion of research context and cross-context theorizing with the theory evaluation framework to: 1) synthesize the existing UTAUT extensions across both the dimensions and the levels of the research context and 2) highlight promising research directions. We conclude with recommendations for future UTAUT-related research using the proposed framework.

Enterprise social media impact on human resource practices

“…The intent was to further the discussion in HRM literature as to how ESM impacts employees in Nigeria. We found evidence that performance expectancy positively impacted ESM use, thus complementing numerous other western studies findings (Venkatesh et al 2016). The logic is that if one expects ESM to improve their performance then it would lead to use.…”

“…El Ouirdi et al (2016 found that being a younger male instead of a female was significantly related to effort expectancy and behavior intention. This was contrary to many other studies which found being a female would influence use (Venkatesh et al 2016 (Venkatesh et al 2003;Venkatesh et al 2012). Morris and Venkatesh (2000) found that an age difference exists when it comes to technological adoption.…”

“…Over the past decade, UTAUT has been largely successful in explaining variance in behavioral intentions and variance in technology use and attempts to explain the various factors that influences at a micro level the individual's intentions and subsequent use of technology in over a thousand studies (Venkatesh et al 2016). The four constructs that show the determinants of usage intentions and usage behavior are performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions (Venkatesh et al 2003).…”

Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, and Facilitating Conditions as Factors Influencing Smart Phones Use for Mobile Learning by Postgraduate Students of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria

“…Quite a number of scholars have used UTAUT to provide empirical insights into the acceptance of different technologies by different individuals in a variety of settings (Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2016). However, the studies that relate to the main objective of this study will now be reviewed.…”

Intervention Effect Rates as a Path to Research Relevance: Information Systems Security Example

“…Let us consider a well-known example in IT use-namely, ease of use (Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2016). For example, ease of use could be further associated with concrete system features and then examined to determine to what extent improving these concrete system features actually improves IT use.…”