Examining a technology acceptance model of internet usage by academics within Thai business schools

Information Technology has been a significant research area for some time, but its nature has changed considerably since the Internet became prominent just over a decade ago. Many researchers have studied and proposed theories and models of technology acceptance in order to predict and explain user behaviour with technology to account for rapid change in both technologies and their environments. Each theory or model has been proposed with different sets of determinants and moderators and most of them have been developed in the U.S. It is therefore questioned whether the theories and models of technology acceptance that have been developed, modified, and extended in the U.S. can be used in other countries, especially in Thailand. It is also questioned whether there might be other determinants and moderators that also play important roles in this specific environment. This thesis (1) reviewed literature in respect of nine prominent theories and models, (2) reviewed previous literature about IT acceptance and usage within four contexts of study, (3) investigated the extent to which academics use and intend to use the Internet in their work, (4) investigated how to motivate academics to make full use of the Internet in their work, (5) investigated to what extent using the Internet helps in improving academics’ professional practice, professional development and quality of working life, (6) formulated a research model of technology acceptance regarding Internet usage by Thai academics, and (7) generated and validated the research model that best describes Thai academics’ Internet usage behaviour and behaviour intention. These last two objectives represent the main focus of the thesis. Questionnaire survey method was used to collect primary data from 927 academics within Business Schools in 20 Public Universities in Thailand. The survey yielded 455 usable questionnaires, with a response rate of 49%. Statistical analysis methods and Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS version 6.0 were used to analyse data. The research model was formulated with five core determinants of usage and up to nine moderators of key relationships. It was then tested and modified, the final modified model evidenced by goodness of fit of the model to the data, explained 31.6% (Square Multiple Correlation) of the variance in usage behaviour in teaching , 42.6% in usage behaviour in other tasks, 55.7% in behaviour intention in teaching and 59.8% in behaviour intention in other tasks. From the findings, three core determinants: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and self-efficacy significantly determined usage behaviour in teaching. Two core determinants: perceived usefulness and self-efficacy significantly determined usage behaviour in other tasks. Finally, usage behaviour significantly influenced behaviour intention. In addition three moderators: age, e-university plan and level of reading and writing, impacted the influence of key determinants toward usage behaviour. Only two moderators: age and research university plan, impacted the influence of usage behaviour toward behaviour intention. The rest including gender, education level, academic position, experience and Thai language usage did not impact the influence of the key determinants toward usage behaviour and did not impact the influence of usage behaviour toward behaviour intention. Consequently, the final modified research model which is called the “Internet Acceptance Model” or “IAM” has the power to explain and predict user behaviour in a Thai Business Schools environment. A thorough understanding of the model may help practitioners to analyse the reasons for resistance toward the technology and also help them to take efficient measures to improve user acceptance and usage of the technology.