•Usability of online learning platforms is an important issue in times of COVID-19.•Digital divide of consumption platform does not have any effect on the usability.•Usability approach by HCI and IS ...communities are related and produce similar result.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a physical shutdown of all types of educational institutes worldwide due to which the education delivery has now shifted to an “online only” exclusivity model. In this perspective, perceived usability of the online learning platforms that are currently being used is an important aspect, especially due to the absence of any physical classes. In this work Microsoft Teams is used as the reference platform for which the perceived usability is evaluated. For the evaluation purpose a dual strategy is followed by using the System Usability Scale (SUS), which is a Human Computer Interaction (HCI) based approach, and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which is an Information Systems (IS) based approach. Although both these instruments are popular in their respective domains, yet they have not been considered simultaneously in one work for the purpose of usability evaluation. By doing so, this work attempts to streamline and unify the process of usability evaluation. Results that are obtained from a large-scale survey of university students show the similarity and equivalency between the two methodologies, with the Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) construct of TAM having greater similarity with SUS. Moreover, this work also considers the digital-divide aspect (mobile vs. web environment) that is prevalent particularly in developing countries like India, and whether it has any effect on the perceived usability. Results show that the consumption platform does not have any effect on the usability aspect.
The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) is a little over a decade old and has been used extensively in information systems (IS) and other fields, as the large number of ...citations to the original paper that introduced the theory evidences. In this paper, we review and synthesize the IS literature on UTAUT from September 2003 until December 2014, perform a theoretical analysis of UTAUT and its extensions, and chart an agenda for research going forward. Based on Weber's (2012) framework of theory evaluation, we examined UTAUT and its extensions along two sets of quality dimensions; namely, the parts of a theory and the theory as a whole. While our review identifies many merits to UTAUT, we also found that the progress related to this theory has hampered further theoretical development in research into technology acceptance and use. To chart an agenda for research that will enable significant future work, we analyze the theoretical contributions of UTAUT using Whetten's (2009) notion of cross-context theorizing. Our analysis reveals several limitations that lead us to propose a multi-level framework that can serve as the theoretical foundation for future research. Specifically, this framework integrates the notion of research context and cross-context theorizing with the theory evaluation framework to: 1) synthesize the existing UTAUT extensions across both the dimensions and the levels of the research context and 2) highlight promising research directions. We conclude with recommendations for future UTAUT-related research using the proposed framework.
Recognition the needs and acceptance of individuals is the beginning stage of any businesses and this understanding would be helpful to find the way of future development, thus academicians are ...interested to realize the factors that drive users’ acceptance or rejection of technologies. A number of models and frameworks have been developed to explain user adoption of new technologies and these models introduce factors that can affect the user acceptance. In this paper, an overview of theories and models regarding user acceptance of technology has been provided. The existing review will emphasize literature that tries to show how developers and researchers presage the level of admission any information technology will attain.
Developing countries around the globe are striving continuously to provide free access to health care services. Telemedicine services represent a significantly increasing form of an adequate health ...care delivery mechanism in developing countries.
This research study was aimed at investigating the factors influencing the acceptance of telemedicine services among the rural population of Pakistan. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used as a theoretical framework for this research, with the inclusion of several other antecedents.
A face-to-face survey method was used to collect research data from 275 participants. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS) method.
The findings suggest that usage intention of telemedicine services is a function of perceived ease of use, technological anxiety, social influence, perceived ease of usefulness, trust, facilitating conditions, perceived risk, and resistance to technology.
This research study confirms the applicability of TAM with the inclusion of additional variables to model the adoption of telemedicine services in developing countries. The study offers valuable information for policymakers and health service providers for understanding the facilitators and inhibitors influencing the large scale implementation of telemedicine services. The research findings regarding factors including perceived risk, trust, facilitating conditions and resistance to change can aid in the design and adequate provision of telemedicine services in developing countries.
•We investigate factors influencing usage intention of rural patients towards Telemedicine services.•We propose a research model based on Technology Acceptance Model with inclusion of additional constructs.•PEOU, PU, social influence, and facilitating conditions positively influence behavioral intentions towards telemedicine.•Technological anxiety and perceived risk negatively influence behavioral intentions towards telemedicine services.
With the development of multiple effective vaccines, reducing the global morbidity and mortality of COVID-19 will depend on the distribution and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination. Estimates of ...global vaccine acceptance among pregnant women and mothers of young children are yet unknown. An understanding of the challenges and correlates to vaccine acceptance will aid the acceleration of vaccine administration within these populations. Acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination among pregnant women and mothers of children younger than 18-years-old, as well as potential predictors, were assessed through an online survey, administered by Pregistry between October 28 and November 18, 2020. 17,871 total survey responses from 16 countries were obtained. Given a 90% COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, 52.0% of pregnant women (n = 2747/5282) and 73.4% of non-pregnant women (n = 9214/12,562) indicated an intention to receive the vaccine. 69.2% of women (n = 11,800/17,054), both pregnant and non-pregnant, indicated an intention to vaccinate their children. Vaccine acceptance was generally highest in India, the Philippines, and all sampled countries in Latin America; it was lowest in Russia, the United States and Australia. The strongest predictors of vaccine acceptance included confidence in vaccine safety or effectiveness, worrying about COVID-19, belief in the importance of vaccines to their own country, compliance to mask guidelines, trust of public health agencies/health science, as well as attitudes towards routine vaccines. COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and its predictors among women vary globally. Vaccination campaigns for women and children should be specific for each country in order to attain the largest impact.
This paper is about understanding the role and importance of public responses to offshore wind power. It builds on a framework for understanding social acceptance and opposition to onshore turbines, ...and reviews the emerging research on offshore wind. While less is known about how people will respond to offshore than onshore wind, there is now an emerging body of research. From this literature, several common factors which influence responses have emerged and are discussed here: the (continued) role of visual impact; place attachment to the local area; lack of tangible benefits; relationships with developers and outsiders; and the role of the planning and decision-making systems. The paper argues that, as with onshore developments, the public should be included in decision-making about offshore wind farms, and that they have a key role which should not be underestimated. The paper concludes with some thoughts about the means to involve people and how effected communities might be effectively acknowledged, identified and engaged.
Vaccine hesitancy, which embodies the unwillingness to receive vaccines when vaccination services are available and accessible, is one of the greatest threats to global health. Although vaccine ...hesitancy has existed among a small percentage of people for centuries, its harmful effects are likely to be more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic than ever before. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy will pose substantial risks for both people who delay or refuse to be vaccinated and the wider community. It will make communities unable to reach thresholds of coverage necessary for herd immunity against COVID-19, thus unnecessarily perpetuating the pandemic and resulting in untold suffering and deaths. Vaccine hesitancy is pervasive, misinformed, contagious, and is not limited to COVID-19 vaccination. Our work shows that vaccine hesitancy is a complex and dynamic social process that reflects multiple webs of influence, meaning, and logic. People's vaccination views and practices usually comprise an ongoing engagement that is contingent on unfolding personal and social circumstances, which can potentially change over time. Therefore, as COVID-19 vaccination rolls out globally, scientists and decision-makers need to investigate the scale and determinants of vaccine hesitancy in each setting; so that tailored and targeted strategies can be developed to address it.
•This study tests an artificial intelligent device use acceptance model.•The model provides insights on consumer acceptance/rejection of AI device.•Level of anthropomorphism enhances customers’ ...effort expectancy.•Emotion determines acceptance and rejection of AI devices.•A multi-stage appraisal is necessary to understand behavioral outcomes.
This study develops and empirically tests a theoretical model of artificially intelligent (AI) device use acceptance (AIDUA) that aims to explain customers’ willingness to accept AI device use in service encounters. The proposed model incorporates three acceptance generation stages (primary appraisal, secondary appraisal, and outcome stage) and six antecedents (social influence, hedonic motivation, anthropomorphism, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and emotion). Utilizing data collected from potential customers, the proposed AIDUA model is tested. Findings suggest that customers go through a three-step acceptance generation process in determining whether to accept the use of AI devices during their service interactions. Findings indicate that social influence and hedonic motivation are positively related to performance expectancy while anthropomorphism is positively related to effort expectancy. Both performance and effort expectancy are significant antecedents of customer emotions, which determines customers’ acceptance of AI device use in service encounters. This study provides a conceptual AI device acceptance framework that can be used by other researchers to better investigate AI related topics in the service context.
Since the 1990s, suicide in recession-plagued Japan has soared, and rates of depression have both increased and received greater public attention. In a nation that has traditionally been ...uncomfortable addressing mental illness, what factors have allowed for the rising medicalization of depression and suicide? Investigating these profound changes from historical, clinical, and sociolegal perspectives, Depression in Japan explores how depression has become a national disease and entered the Japanese lexicon, how psychiatry has responded to the nation's ailing social order, and how, in a remarkable transformation, psychiatry has overcome the longstanding resistance to its intrusion in Japanese life.
Using the technology acceptance model and diffusion of innovations theory, this study evaluated the intention of consumers to use chatbots on smartphones for shopping. Chatbot is a relatively new ...technology and is expected to dominate mobile commerce and shopping applications in future. Hence, this study aimed to determine the association of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, price consciousness, perceived risk, trust, and personal innovativeness with attitude and intention to use chatbots for shopping. Respondents were asked to fill a questionnaire after using a Facebook e-commerce chatbot that was specifically created for this study. In total, 350 responses were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Results indicated that attitude toward chatbots was considerably influenced by the variables perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, price consciousness, perceived risk, and personal innovativeness. However, intention to use was directly influenced only by trust, personal innovativeness, and attitude. Mediation analysis indicated that full mediation occurs through the attitude variable for most direct relationships. Moderation analysis by using age, gender, and prior experience with mobile shopping applications indicated considerable differences between the groups in terms of the strength of certain relationships and the mean responses between the variables.
•Perceived usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment, risk, price consciousness, and personal innovativeness influence attitude.•Intention to use is directly influenced only by trust, personal innovativeness, and attitude.•Attitude fully mediates certain relationships leading to intention to use smartphone chatbots for shopping.•Age, gender, and prior experience in using mobile shopping applications moderate certain relationships in the model.