Investigating Broadband Diffusion in the Household: Towards Content Validity and Pre-Test of the Survey Instrument

Studies on broadband diffusion are just beginning to emerge and exploratory in nature. Progress has been made to develop conceptual models to understand diffusion and adoption of broadband from the consumer perspective. However in order to test the conceptual model of broadband diffusion, a reliable survey instrument is yet to be developed and validated. Therefore, the aim of this research in progress paper is to perform content validity and pre-test a survey instrument. The objectives of this paper are: first, to ‘ identify’ constructs and their respective items that adequately cover relevant dimensions of factors that affects consumers in the domain of broadband diffusion; second, to ‘determine’ whether the identified constructs and respective items sufficiently cover relevant dimensions of the factors affecting consumers in the domain of broadband diffusion; and third, to conduct a ‘ pre-test’ on resulting survey instruments in order to obtain feedback for improvements before finalising the questionnaire. Initial items for each construct were identified from both technology adoption literature and exploratory studies on broadband adoption. Validation of the identified items was then performed employing variations of a quantitative approach to content validity. The findings obtained from content validation are then presented and discussed thereafter. Finally, the paper is concluded by emphasising the limitations of content validation and setting the future research direction towards investigating broadband diffusion in the household context

Investigating consumer adoption, usage and impact of broadband: UK households

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Despite a large investment, the majority of countries especially the UK demonstrate a slow adoption of broadband. In order to enhance the adoption and use of broadband this research examines the factors influencing the decisions of household consumers. This research aims to address the two main areas of concern: first, to investigate consumer-level factors affecting the adoption of broadband in UK households; and second, to understand the usage of broadband and its impact upon household consumers in the UK. This research adopted a quantitative approach that was executed in the following steps. First, it developed a conceptual model by selecting and justifying relevant constructs from appropriate theories and models related to technology adoption, usage and impact. Second, it operationalised the constructs by developing and validating the research instrument by employing the content validity, reliability and construct validity approach. Finally, it empirically validated and refined the conceptual model by employing a survey research approach. The findings suggested that all the constructs included in the conceptual model, except knowledge, significantly influence the consumers when adopting broadband in a UK household. The significant constructs include relative advantage, utilitarian outcomes, hedonic outcomes, primary influence, facilitating conditions resources and self-efficacy. The rate and variety of Internet usage is significantly higher for broadband consumers than narrowband ones. It was also found that significantly more numbers of broadband consumers perceived changes in time allocation patterns on various daily life activities than narrowband ones. This research contributes towards theory, practice and policy. The contribution of this research towards theory is that it integrates and determines the appropriate information systems (IS) literature in order to enhance knowledge of technology adoption from the consumers' perspectives. An added contribution to theory is the development and validation of a research instrument that future studies can utilise to examine broadband and other similar technologies in household context. Considering the slow adoption of broadband, this research also provides implications for policy makers and the providers of broadband in order to encourage and promote homogenous adoption and usage

Investigating consumer adoption, usage and impact of broadband : UK households

Despite a large investment, the majority of countries especially the UK demonstrate a slow adoption of broadband. In order to enhance the adoption and use of broadband this research examines the factors influencing the decisions of household consumers. This research aims to address the two main areas of concern: first, to investigate consumer-level factors affecting the adoption of broadband in UK households; and second, to understand the usage of broadband and its impact upon household consumers in the UK. This research adopted a quantitative approach that was executed in the following steps. First, it developed a conceptual model by selecting and justifying relevant constructs from appropriate theories and models related to technology adoption, usage and impact. Second, it operationalised the constructs by developing and validating the research instrument by employing the content validity, reliability and construct validity approach. Finally, it empirically validated and refined the conceptual model by employing a survey research approach. The findings suggested that all the constructs included in the conceptual model, except knowledge, significantly influence the consumers when adopting broadband in a UK household. The significant constructs include relative advantage, utilitarian outcomes, hedonic outcomes, primary influence, facilitating conditions resources and self-efficacy. The rate and variety of Internet usage is significantly higher for broadband consumers than narrowband ones. It was also found that significantly more numbers of broadband consumers perceived changes in time allocation patterns on various daily life activities than narrowband ones. This research contributes towards theory, practice and policy. The contribution of this research towards theory is that it integrates and determines the appropriate information systems (IS) literature in order to enhance knowledge of technology adoption from the consumers' perspectives. An added contribution to theory is the development and validation of a research instrument that future studies can utilise to examine broadband and other similar technologies in household context. Considering the slow adoption of broadband, this research also provides implications for policy makers and the providers of broadband in order to encourage and promote homogenous adoption and usage.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo