A Specific Technology Acceptance Model for Mobile Services in the Cruise Sector

Abstract

In few years only mobile devices have evolved from a utility object for voice communication to smart phones capable of a variety of tasks. Research on mobile technologies has received increasing attention and technology adoption has been studied from a variety of perspectives. Researchers from different research areas have come up with various models incorporating factors and phases to predict adoption through technology acceptance that, in turn, will lead to persistent use and user satisfaction. In tourism research there is a lack of such technology acceptance models (TAM) as the focus of research lies on the evaluation and development of mobile tourism applications and on general tourist needs and behavior. With increasing popularity of mobiles devices this is an opportunity for a development of innovative mobile tourism services, depending on technology acceptance. There is much research on the evaluation and development of mobile services for the tourism sector as a whole but for the cruise sector mobile technologies and services are widely assumed to play a minor role. Currently several TAM exist which are helpful to increase understanding of the different critical success factors (CSF) on user acceptance, but they are not suitable to support the development of mobile services in a highly competitive tourism sector like the cruise sector. The paper will investigate the technology acceptance of mobile services on cruise ships. We will carry out a TAM analysis using a structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The results of an extended TAM based evaluation shows, that users can be grouped into three different clusters: enthusiastic mobile technology users, normal mobile technology users and mobile technology critics. After presenting the results of the quantitative study, important CSF for mobile services on cruise ships aligned with a generic business model are discussed. This paper about technology acceptance of cruise passengers addresses researchers, designers and decision-makers on technology adoption.