Factors that Drive New Technology Product and Service Use and Continuance
Authors:   , Liu Xiaotong 
Published: February 2025

Understanding information technology and its related products and services is increasingly important because the everyday use of technology continues to expand and broaden. Despite this need for greater understanding, the extant theories that explore the dominant factors that drive intention to use a new technology are limited. The Technology Acceptancy Model (TAM) is the most popular model in explaining traditional technology adoption. The limitations of the TAM in grasping the overall evaluation of technology or service are one of motivations for developing new models in this dissertation. The two antecedents of the TAM- perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use- only capture partial utility of a service (or product). In addition, some researchers argued that key factors used in an initial acceptance model such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are not strong predictors of future continuance intention of the service because they do not consider future switching intention in the later stage. Hence, one goal of this dissertation is to develop and test new models to predict factors that drive intention and continuance intention decisions of new technology related products or services. This research involves three studies that examine different aspects of adoption and continuance intention decisions of new technology-related products or services. Essay 1 posits and empirically tests a new model that examines service vendor quality, service outcome quality, and trust as drivers of cloud-based services by adopting the frameworks from marketing, behavior intention and information technology research. The model is referred to as the quality trust model (QTM). The quality of cloud-based services involves the quality of vendors and the quality of service outcomes; its effectiveness is mirrored by trust of the services. Data from an online survey of 355 respondents were used to test the research model. The results show that vendor quality and outcome quality influence trust, which is positively correlated with intention. However, vendor quality appears less salient than outcome quality in motivating usage of cloud-based services. We discussed the implications of the model and findings for practitioners searching for solutions in driving user participation, as well as for academics fascinated with a deeper understanding of roles of quality and trust in an individual level of decision-making behavior. Essay 2 posits and develops a model that includes the influences of reliability and flexibility on service quality, and influences of service quality on consumer perceived benefits and satisfaction, which consequently influences continuance intention of cloud services. The model explained 50% of satisfaction, which consequently explained 58% of continuance intention. We also examined the mediated effects among key drivers and validated the prominence of service quality in the IS continuance intention model. We delivered implications for academia and practice. Essay 3 unifies two theoretical frameworks a motivational model (MM) and expectation and confirmation theory (ECT) related to continuance intention and develops a new model that examines continuance intention of using smart devices. The article investigates the role of confirmation in the success of continuance intention of smart devices- the case of smartphones. We propose that confirmation is an antecedent of perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction. We also posit that confirmation directly influences continuance intention to use the devices. The paper will also propose that three specific advanced attributes - cost advantages, access to specialized resources, and quality improvement- will affect confirmation. An empirical examination of the model showed that confirmation predicts perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction, which mediates the effects of confirmation on continuance intention of smartphones. Hence, confirmation constitutes an important indirect factor influencing smartphones post adoption. Furthermore, cost advantages, access to specialized resources, and quality improvement all had significant influences on confirmation. The research contributes to the literature by confirming the important role of confirmation in smartphones adoption and by presenting that specific advanced attributes available to a user during a later phase can help enhance perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, and satisfaction. For managers of smart devices design, the study implies that building into the devices the ability to accommodate advanced attributes can elevate the possibility of persistent success.