Developing a Broadband Adoption Model in the UK Context

Abstract

This research examines the factors affecting the consumer adoption of broadband in the United Kingdom. A conceptual model of broadband adoption was developed by selecting and justifying a number of relevant constructs from the technology adoption literature. The model was then empirically tested by employing survey data that was randomly collected from 358 UK broadband consumers. The findings suggest that, with the exception of one construct that was included in the conceptual model (namely, knowledge), all of the con structs significantly influence consumers when adopting broadband in a UK household. The significant constructs include relative advantage, utilitarian outcomes, hedonic outcomes, primary influence, facilitating conditions resources, and self-efficacy. Furthermore, when considering the behavioral intention and facilitating conditions resources constructs together, they significantly explain UK broad band adoption behavior. The theoretical contri bution of this research is that it determines and integrates the appropriate constructs from the technology adoption literature in order to enhance the knowledge of technology adoption from the consumer’s perspective. This research has implications for policy makers and broadband providers since the results of this study can be exploited by the aforementioned stakeholders in order to encourage and promote the adoption and usage of broadband among the general population.