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Integrating Technology
Readiness into
Technology Acceptance:
The TRAM Model
Chien-Hsin Lin
Yu Da College of Business, Taiwan, and National Chi Nan University, Taiwan
Hsin-Yu Shih
National Chi Nan University, Taiwan
Peter J. Sher
National Chi Nan University, Taiwan
ABSTRACT
Based on previous theoretical streams, the present study integrates
technology readiness (TR) into the technology acceptance model
(TAM) in the context of consumer adoption of e-service systems, and
theorizes that the impact of TR on use intention is completely mediated by both perceptions of usefulness and ease of use. TAM was originally developed to predict peoples technology-adopting behavior at
work environments, but this research stemmed from a questioning of
its applicability in marketing (i.e., non-work) settings. The differences
between the two settings are exhibited by consumers self-determining
selection behavior and their high involvement in the e-service creation and delivery process. This paper first reviews the TAM and the
construct of technology readiness, and then proposes and empirically
tests an integrated Technology Readiness and Acceptance Model
(TRAM) to augment TAM by taking technology readiness construct
into the realm of consumers adoption of innovations. The results
indicate that TRAM substantially broadens the applicability and the
explanatory power of either of the prior models and may be a better
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INTRODUCTION
Explaining and predicting user adoption of new technology enjoy a long history of attention in both academia and practice. Among many models, the
technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) appears to be the most
widely cited and replicated empirically. TAM was originally developed to
predict peoples technology-adopting behavior at work environments, but
scant research questions its applicability in marketing (i.e., non-work) settings where adoption is not mandated by organizational objectives. The
differences between marketing and work settings are obvious. Consumers
in marketing settings engage in the e-service creation and delivery process
rather than owning the system equipment per se (Dabholkar & Bagozzi,
2002). People in work settings may reluctantly or involuntarily adopt a
system due to management intervention, but consumers in marketing settings may be freer to choose among numerous available alternatives. For
instance, investors could independently choose between conventional and
online stock trading systems. When they decide to trade stocks online, they
co-create an e-service with the system but do not own the system.
In e-service contexts, service cannot be created apart from customers
active participation (Lovelock & Wirtz, 2004). Due to the necessary high
involvement of customers to co-produce the service, TAM applied in
marketing settings may not sufficiently explain consumers technology
adoption behaviors. Therefore, a model incorporating some individual
difference variables is a necessary first step toward identifying and qualifying the psychological processes of the perceptions of a technologys
value. Accordingly, the primary objective of this paper is to adapt and
extend TAM by considering individual differences. To take individual
differences into account, this study integrates the construct of technology
readiness (TR) (Parasuraman, 2000) with TAM to better explain
consumers intentions to use e-servicesonline stock trading systems
in particular. TR conceptualizes consumers general beliefs about technology and is associated with their use of technology-based products and
services (Parasuraman, 2000). Evidence from the fieldwork shows that
TR is incapable of explaining why high-TR consumers do not always
adopt new technologies, such as cellular phones with open operating systems or in-car global positioning systems. From the TR aspect, this study
tries to supplement the construct of TR with the two focal constructs of
TAM (i.e., perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use). An integrated
Technology Readiness and Acceptance Model (TRAM) is established to
address the issue of consumer adoption of e-services.
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more accurately (Alba & Hutchinson, 1987). More knowledge reflects more
extensive, complex, experienced, expert, and familiar knowledge, and thus
effortful processing of issue-related information and evaluative inferences
concerning product features by high-knowledge consumers could be
expected (Alba & Hutchinson, 1987; Peracchio & Tybout, 1996). Furthermore, consumers expectations, based on prior beliefs stored in memory
can influence consumers perceptual encoding about marketing information (Bettman, 1979). By and large, peoples prior beliefs, formed through
experience, play an important role in guiding information processing and
in directing behavior (John, Scott, & Bettman, 1986). Impacts of prior
beliefs include: (1) deciding which data are relevant, (2) interpreting and
integrating information, (3) using the estimate to make other judgments
(Crocker, 1981).
Within this papers context, people with more knowledge or experience
of information technology form stronger computer self-efficacy (Gist &
Mitchell, 1992; Venkatesh & Davis, 1996), or perceive stronger control
over information technologyrelated tasks (Kang, Hahn, Fortin, Hyun, &
Eom, 2006). Studies on diffusion of innovations (Rogers, 2003) also indicate that prior experience with an innovation is necessary in building
how-to knowledge, which is critical in the belief formation stages. Experience gained through previous use of technology is empirically confirmed to increase user perceptions of its ease of use and usefulness
(Gefen, 2003; Karahanna, Straub, & Chervany, 1999), and users online
behavioral intentions (Yoh, Damhorst, Sapp, & Laczniak, 2003). The
causal links between general computer self-efficacy and perceptions of
usefulness and ease of use are also confirmed by Wang, Wang, Lin, and
Tang (2003) and Venkatesh and Davis (1996). The positive correlation
between prior formed beliefs about comparable e-services and posterior
formed beliefs about specific e-services is also empirically supported
(Yoh et al., 2003).
Research Hypotheses and TRAM Framework
The above explication provides strong theoretical fundamentals for the
correlations between TR and perceptions of usefulness and ease of use.
This study theorizes that general TR belief is a causal determinant of specific cognitive appraisal of usefulness and ease of use, and it proposes
the focal hypotheses H5, H6, and H7 in this paper. In order to establish
a comprehensive framework to integrate TR into TAM, H1, H2, H3, and
H4, addressed by past studies (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989;
Parasuraman, 2000), are intertwined with H5, H6, and H7. However,
first H1 through H4 must be replicated and confirmed so as to lead to the
construction of the integrated model (see Figure 1).
H1: Consumers technology readiness propensities are positively
correlated with their intentions to use a specific e-service.
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Perceived
Usefulness
Optimism
H2
H5
Innovativeness
Technology
Readiness
Discomfort
Insecurity
Use Intention
H1
H6
H4
H3
Perceived
Ease of Use
In addition to the above four hypotheses, this paper puts forth three
hypotheses to make a case for and capture the evolution of TAM into the
more comprehensive TRAM. Accordingly, H5, H6, and H7 constitute the primary contribution toward understanding peoples technology adoption.
H5: Consumers technology readiness propensities are positively correlated with their perceptions of usefulness about a specific e-service.
H6: Consumers technology readiness propensities are positively correlated with their perceptions of ease of use about a specific e-service.
H7: Consumers perceptions of usefulness and ease of use about a specific e-service together completely mediate the relationship between
their technology readiness propensities and intentions to use the specific e-service (i.e., the path of H1 is non-significant in the full model).
RESEARCH DESIGN
Measures of the Constructs
This study employed the full 36-item TRI scales (Parasuraman, 2000)
to measure the four sub-dimensions of TR (i.e., 10 items for optimism,
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These questions comprise the Technology Readiness Index (TRI), which is copyrighted by
A. Parasuraman and Rockbridge Associates, Inc., 1999. The authors have obtained the
requisite permission in this regard.
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648
1.06*** (13.53)
1.12*** (11.63)
z-value 5 7.73***
Use intention
(UI)
Perceived usefulness
(PU)
Model 2-1
0.30*** (2.59)
0.75*** (9.41)
Use intention
(UI)
1.15*** (14.22)
Perceived ease
of use (PEOU)
Dependent variable
Model 1-3
1.12*** (11.63)
z-value 5 4.67***
Use intention
(UI)
Model 2-2
0.64*** (4.79)
0.39*** (4.94)
Use intention
(UI)
Model 2-3
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Model 1-2
Model 1-1
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Table 1. Mediation Tests for Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use.
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0.73*** (6.84)
1.18*** (14.64)
0.20 (1.43)
0.67*** (8.13)
0.19*** (2.78)
0.27*** (4.30)
Trimmed model
Standardized
coefficients
0.52
0.74
0.11
0.54
0.18
0.30
Path
coefficients
0.73*** (6.89)
1.18*** (14.59)
0.73*** (10.32)
0.25*** (4.34)
0.27*** (4.37)
Standardized
coefficients
0.52
0.74
0.59
0.23
0.30
406.78(127)***
0.90
0.96
0.95
0.07
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TR PU UI
TR PEOU UI
5.23***
2.73***
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refer to the functional value (Sheth et al., 1991). Besides, other value
components may play determinant roles on consumers use behavior of
technology-based products. For example, social value may be more dominant than functional value as a motivator for young students to adopt
high-end cellular phones, which, reflecting social classes and people using
particular phones similar to their peers, may be more easily accepted
by these groups. Epistemic value may be crucial for online auctions when
these systems satisfy peoples desire for curiosity or knowledge. In sum,
future study streams converging from consumption values aspects appear
to be promising. For example, Chen and Dubinskys (2003) and Lin,
Sher, and Shihs (2005) value model have explained consumers online
consumption behaviors, and Hartman, Shim, Barber, and OBrien (2006)
have found that vicarious-innovativeness is related to both hedonic and
utilitarian Web-consumption values.
Second, management intervention (e.g., training or mandatory usage)
could be exerted to facilitate employees adopting a new system in work
settings. Under such conditions, the main effects of peoples general
beliefs about technology may be minimized, and thus the antecedent role
of technology readiness may shift to a moderating role in forming adoption
intentions. Specifically, technology readiness may have negative moderating impacts on the links between management intervention and cognitive beliefs about a particular system (i.e., perceptions of usefulness and
ease of use), and between particular cognitive beliefs and use intentions.
For instance, it could be speculated that the effects of management intervention and particular cognitive beliefs are mitigated by employees
indigenous technology readiness. In other words, training programs and
intensified cognitive beliefs might benefit only people with low technology readiness. The inclusion of technology readiness may be thus adapted
to fit issues in work settings.
Third, online stock trading is the target system of the current study,
and most of the sample respondents have experiences of the focal technology. Efficiently finding prospects (i.e., who are currently trading with
non-online methods) of the focal system to participate in the survey was
a challenge and a tradeoff, and thus the study was announced in online
investment forums, leading to most of the respondents having experiences with the focal system. However, additional research using samples
of non-users in other marketing environments is required to substantiate the generality of the findings of this study.
Furthermore, this study relies on theory-driven arguments and fieldwork insights in specifying the integrated model, and cross-sectional
data are employed to test hypotheses. Longitudinal or experimental studies are encouraged to collect temporal data so that psychological processes
can be precisely defined.
Finally, the country effect may display an absolute effect. That is,
the absolute value of each construct score may vary from country to
country. However, since the focus is the relative effects between constructs,
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