The Effects of Mental Model on the Variables in the Technology Acceptance Model

Abstract

Since Smartphones emerged in the market around 2000, the smartphone market has expanded exponentially. Although they are very versatile, smartphones have less overall capabilities in general than their PC counterparts, which make applications difficult to have a usable interface. A usable user interface is critical to any application and plays an important role when users create the mental model of an application. A comprehensive IS literature review found that little empirical research on the mental model of smartphone users has been documented. Specifically, there has been little understanding and evidence about the impact of the mental model of users on their behavioral beliefs and attitude in a smartphone application context. Thus, the main research goals of this study are; 1) to suggest a theoretical model integrating mental model as an antecedent of two user behavioral beliefs and attitude in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and 2) to empirically validate the new model by examining the relationships among the variables in the model. A survey was conducted to collect data. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the data. The results showed that there is an indirect effect of the mental model of users on the intention to use smartphone applications through the variables, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and attitude.