Role of innovativeness and self-efficacy in tourism m-learning

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to explore the opportunity offered through mobile learning (m-learning) to tourism education in the developing country context. To achieve this aim, the antecedent impact of self-efficacy and the moderator role of innovativeness on the attitude and intention to adopt m-learning have been investigated using the technology acceptance model (TAM).Design/methodology/approachA survey of 176 participants from three prominent tourism education institutes in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has been conducted. Partial least squares-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) has been used to analyze the data.FindingsWhile the findings confirmed the antecedent effect of self-efficacy on the intention to adopt m-learning, the moderating effect of innovativeness was not found to be as significant for the attitude-intention link.Research limitations/implicationsData have been collected only from one country and from current tourism students. Future studies on several developing countries with different potential users would bring more in-depth insights.Practical implicationsTourism education institutes need to focus on students’ self-efficacy to build a positive attitude and behavioral intention toward m-learning when launching mobile-based education services.Originality/valueThe study provides theoretical underpinnings enabling tourism educators to better understand tourism students’ behavioral intention to use m-learning, in particular in the developing country context. By applying TAM to tourism education to examine the effects of students’ self-efficacy and innovativeness, a better explanation of the adoption of m-learning in tourism education is provided.