Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User

Valid measurement scales for predicting user acceptance of computers are in short supply. Most subjective measures used in practice are unvalidated, and their relationship to system usage is unknown. The present research develops and validates new scales for two specific variables, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, which are hypothesized to be fundamental determinants of user acceptance. Definitions of these two variables were used to develop scale items that were pretested for content validity and then tested for reliability and construct validity in two studies involving a total of 152 users and four application programs. The measures were refined and streamlined, resulting in two six-item scales with reliabilities of .98 for usefulness and .94 for ease of use. The scales exhibited hgih convergent, discriminant, and factorial validity. Perceived usefulness was significnatly correlated with both self-reported current usage r = .63, Study 1) and self-predicted future usage r = .85, Study 2). Perceived ease of use was also significantly correlated with current usage r = .45, Study 1) and future usage r = .59, Study 2). In both studies, usefulness had a signficnatly greater correaltion with usage behavior than did ease of use. Regression analyses suggest that perceived ease of use may actually be a causal antecdent to perceived usefulness, as opposed to a parallel, direct determinant of system usage. Implications are drawn for future research on user acceptance.

Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology

A large number of studies have been conducted during the last decade and a half attempting to identify those factors that contribute to information systems success. However, the dependent variable in these studies-I/S success-has been an elusive one to define. Different researchers have addressed different aspects of success, making comparisons difficult and the prospect of building a cumulative tradition for I/S research similarly elusive. To organize this diverse research, as well as to present a more integrated view of the concept of I/S success, a comprehensive taxonomy is introduced. This taxonomy posits six major dimensions or categories of I/S success-SYSTEM QUALITY, INFORMATION QUALITY, USE, USER SATISFACTION, INDIVIDUAL IMPACT, and ORGANIZATIONAL IMPACT. Using these dimensions, both conceptual and empirical studies are then reviewed a total of 180 articles are cited and organized according to the dimensions of the taxonomy. Finally, the many aspects of I/S success are drawn together into a descriptive model and its implications for future I/S research are discussed.

Information Systems Success: The Quest for the Dependent Variable

The Technology Acceptance Model and two variations of the Theory of Planned Behavior were compared to assess which model best helps to understand usage of information technology. The models were compared using student data collected from 786 potential users of a computer resource center. Behavior data was based on monitoring 3,780 visits to the resource center over a 12-week period. Weighted least squares estimation revealed that all three models performed well in terms of fit and were roughly equivalent in terms of their ability to explain behavior. Decomposing the belief structures in the Theory of Planned Behavior provided a moderate increase in the explanation of behavioral intention. Overall, the results indicate that the decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior provides a fuller understanding of behavioral intention by focusing on the factors that are likely to influence systems use through the application of both design and implementation strategies.

Understanding Information Technology Usage: A Test of Competing Models

Much previous research has established that perceived ease of use is an important factor influencing user acceptance and usage behavior of information technologies. However, very little research has been conducted to understand how that perception forms and changes over time. The current work presents and tests an anchoring and adjustment-based theoretical model of the determinants of system-specific perceived ease of use. The model proposes control (internal and external--conceptualized as computer self-efficacy and facilitating conditions, respectively), intrinsic motivation (conceptualized as computer playfulness), and emotion (conceptualized as computer anxiety) as anchors that determine early perceptions about the ease of use of a new system. With increasing experience, it is expected that system-specific perceived ease of use, while still anchored to the general beliefs regarding computers and computer use, will adjust to reflect objective usability, perceptions of external control specific to the new system environment, and system-specific perceived enjoyment. The proposed model was tested in three different organizations among 246 employees using three measurements taken over a three-month period. The proposed model was strongly supported at all points of measurement, and explained up to 60% of the variance in system-specific perceived ease of use, which is twice as much as our current understanding. Important theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

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Determinants of Perceived Ease of Use: Integrating Control, Intrinsic Motivation, and Emotion into the Technology Acceptance Model

This paper presents the findings of two studies that replicate previous work by Fred Davis on the subject of perceived usefulness, ease of use, and usage of information technology. The two studies focus on evaluating the psychometric properties of the ease of use and usefulness scales, while examining the relationship between ease of use, usefulness, and system usage. Study 1 provides a strong assessment of the convergent validity of the two scales by examining heterogeneous user groups dealing with heterogeneous implementations of messaging technology. In addition, because one might expect users to share similar perspectives about voice and electronic mail, the study also represents a strong test of discriminant validity. In this study a total of 118 respondents from 10 different organizations were surveyed for their attitudes toward two messaging technologies: voice and electronic mail.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/249577.pdf

Perceived usefulness, ease of use, and usage of information technology: a replication

Understanding the successful adoption of information technology is largely based upon understanding the linkages among quality, satisfaction, and usage. Although the satisfaction and usage constructs have been well studied in the information systems literature, there has been only limited attention to information and system quality over the past decade. To address this shortcoming, we developed a model consisting of nine fundamental determinants of quality in an information technology context, four under the rubric of information quality (the output of an information system) and five that describe system quality (the information processing system required to produce the output). We then empirically examined the aptness of our model using a sample of 465 data warehouse users from seven different organizations that employed report-based, query-based, and analytical business intelligence tools. The results suggest that our determinants are indeed predictive of overall information and system quality in data warehouse environments, and that our model strikes a balance between comprehensiveness and parsimony. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for both theory and the development and implementation of information technology applications in practice.

/pdf/antecedents-of-information-and-system-quality-an-empirical-4bgw3z769l.pdf

Antecedents of Information and System Quality: An Empirical Examination Within the Context of Data Warehousing

This article presents and empirically evaluates a conceptual model of how training can impact the acceptance of information systems within the organization. Specifically, the training of end users is explored via an extensive field study of 100 middle- and upper-level managers from 20 companies. The results indicate that (1) a positive relationship exists between the computer-related training an individual receives and his/her computer-related ability, and (2) a positive relationship exists between the computer-related ability of an end user and his/her acceptance of information systems products and technologies.

Training end users: an exploratory study

In recent years, IT project failures have received a great deal of attention in the press as well as the boardroom. In an attempt to avoid disasters going forward, many organizations are now learning from the past by conducting retrospectives—that is, project postmortems or post-implementation reviews. While each individual retrospective tells a unique story and contributes to organizational learning, even more insight can be gained by examining multiple retrospectives across a variety of organizations over time. This research aggregates the knowledge gained from 99 retrospectives conducted in 74 organizations over the past seven years. It uses the findings to reveal the most common mistakes and suggest best practices for more effective project management.2

R. Ryan Nelson

Papers

Perceived usefulness, ease of use, and usage of information technology: a replication

Antecedents of Information and System Quality: An Empirical Examination Within the Context of Data Warehousing

Training end users: an exploratory study

IT Project Management: Infamous Failures, Classic Mistakes, and Best Practices.

Training end users: an exploratory study