Online spiritual meets (OSMs) and user behavior – A divine application of technology during COVID-19

Abstract

The use of ICTs for teaching and learning saw an incremental increase during COVID-19. Religious institutions had to rely on ICTs to continue their congregations under strict lockdown and social distancing norms. Sant Nirankari Mission (SNM), a spiritual organization, having branches worldwide, used ICT platforms for online spiritual meets (OSMs). To examine how the ICTs influenced and advanced one of SNM's core functions, viz. spiritual congregations during the pandemic, a quantitative study grounded on the Unified Technology Acceptance and Use Technology Model (UTAUT) was conducted. The study sought to examine whether perceptions of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions influence devotees' adoption intentions, use, and recommendation intentions of OSMs. Spiritual inclinations of users (devotees) and their attitude toward the technology were included in the model. Individual differences like age, gender, and voluntariness were hypothesized to act as moderators to influence the strength of relationships amongst these constructs. The study's results revealed that only facilitating conditions determined the intentions to use OSMs. Spiritual inclinations determined the use and recommendation intentions of users. Performance expectancy and effort expectancy influenced users' attitudes towards technology, which in turn influenced the use of OSMs by devotees. We suggest continuing the research into the phenomenon of OSMs and considering the influence of user networks and task-technology fit. Institutions are suggested to communicate the benefits and usage guidelines and make religious/spiritual case for the adoption of ICT.