Is Usage Predictable Using Belief-Attitude-Intention Paradigm?

Abstract

While much of the prior information system (IS) research has employed technology acceptance model (TAM) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain user’s technology acceptance behavior, most of them use self-reported use intention to develop their investigation. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the validity of behavioral intention’s prediction on actual system usage under a voluntary context. By integrating constructs of the two closely related theoretical paradigm (TAM and TPB), we propose an integrated model to investigate the relationship. In doing so, we used questionnaire to gather the system usage perceptions of students who took an online management information system (MIS) course at a large Canadian university. At the same time, we also set up the e-learning system to record students’ actual usage. Using partial least square (PLS) approach, data collected from 105 students are tested against the model showing a very good fit with 60% explanation of the behavioral intention. The relationship between the intention and actual system use however was found to be insignificant and weak. Our study questions the validity of using self-reported intention to represent system usage and provides insight into future research directions on technology acceptance behavior.