Examining the moderating effect of individual-level cultural values on users’ acceptance of E-learning in developing countries: a structural equation modeling of an extended technology acceptance model

In this study, we examine the effects of individual-level culture on the adoption and acceptance of e-learning tools by students in Lebanon using a theoretical framework based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). To overcome possible limitations of using TAM in developing countries, we extend TAM to include subjective norms (SN) and quality of work life constructs as additional constructs and a number of cultural variables as moderators. The four cultural dimensions of masculinity/femininity (MF), individualism/collectivism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance were measured at the individual level to enable them to be integrated into the extended TAM as moderators and a research model was developed based on previous literature. To test the hypothesised model, data were collected from 569 undergraduate and postgraduate students using e-learning tools in Lebanon via questionnaire. The collected data were analysed using the structural equation modelling technique in conjunction with multi-group analysis. As hypothesised, the results of the study revealed perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), SN and quality of work life to be significant determinants of students’ behavioural intention (BI) towards e-learning. The empirical results also demonstrated that the relationship between SN and BI was particularly sensitive to differences in individual-cultural values, with significant moderating effects observed for all four of the cultural dimensions studied. Some moderating effects of culture were also found for both PU and PEOU, however, contrary to expectations the effect of quality of work life was not found to be moderated by MF as some previous authors have predicted. The implications of these results to both theory and practice are explored in the paper

Policy Issues of e-Commerce Technology Diffusion in Southeast Nigeria: The Case of Small Scale Agribusiness

The benefits brought about by the emergence of e-commerce, e-business and other Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) applications have not been fully explored in the developing economies of the world. The less developed economies are still struggling to catch up with ICT application as opposed to its heavy deployment in the developed economies. Empirical evidence suggests that ICTs and other related technologies are increasingly emerging in the communities of the developing economies such as Nigeria. Rural actors engaged in the Agricultural industries (Agribusiness) feel that the implementation of ICTs can influence the development of new business processes and the way existing processes are organised. In the Southeast of Nigeria, which is a typical example of a less developed community, the impact of e-business technologies has yet to be determined. This paper identifies two classical traditional agribusiness supply chains and hence reports on the impact of e-commerce technology diffusion along the equilibrium of the supply chains, focusing on the elimination of intermediary actors from the chain. It provides an assessment of the Governments’ policies and strategies on e-commerce adoption for the sustainability of small-scale agricultural businesses. The paper examines the politics surrounding ICT implementations by actors engaged in the agribusiness sector. This research has motivated The South East State Government, in collaboration with the Federal Government, to give closer attention to their earlier policy of making Nigeria an ICT-enabled country

Diverse virtual social networks: Implications for remote software testing teams

This paper evaluates offshore outsourcing in the IT testing industry and determines what conditions determine its success. There is particular focus on the influence of diversity in teams on group relationships. Two studies are described: the first, investigated the perceptions of professional software testers on the critical factors of offshore outsourcing; and the second study looked at the ability for diverse teams to form close working relationships through virtual networks. We find that overt diversity factors inhibit interaction across nationality boundaries. The limitations of virtual networks for fostering personal communications is apparent in preventing group members from overcoming the initial aversion to mix with out-group members, which could be achieved with closer and more personal communications between members with different diversity factors in normal face to face communications. Where software testing teams are outsourced globaly, and must rely on virtual communications, there seems potential for significant difficulties in developing close working relationships, which on the one hand, can be negative for group cohesion, but one the other hand, can be positive for encouraging imparitality

eWOM & Referrals in Social Network Services

If a few decades ago the development of the Internet was instrumental in the interconnection between markets, nowadays the services provided by Web 2.0, such as social network sites (SNS) are the cutting edge. A proof of this trend is the exponential growth of social network users. The main objective of this work is to explore the mechanisms that promote the transmission and reception (WOM and referrals) of online opinions, in the context of the SNS, by buyers of travel services. The research includes some research lines: technology acceptance model (TAM), Social Identification Theory and Word-of-Mouth communication in virtual environment (eWOM). Based on these theories an explicative model has been proposed applying SEM analysis to a sample of SNS users’ of tourist service buyers. The results support the majority of the hypotheses and some relevant practical and theoretical implications have been pointed out for tourist managers

Internet addiction in students: prevalence and risk factors

The last decade has witnessed a large increase in research on the newly emerging mental health problem of Internet addiction. Rather than looking at Internet addiction per se, this study focused on particular activities on the Internet that might be potentially addictive and linked them to personality traits that might predispose individuals to Internet addiction. The aims of this study were (i) to assess the prevalence of clinically significant levels of Internet addiction, and to (ii) discern the interplay between personality traits and specific Internet uses in increasing the risk for Internet addiction. This cross-sectional online survey used data from 2,257 students of an English university. Results indicated that 3.2% of the students were classified as being addicted to the Internet. The included personality traits and uses of online activities explained 21.5% of the variance in Internet addiction. A combination of online shopping and neuroticism decreased the risk for Internet addiction, whereas a combination of online gaming and openness to experience increased it. In addition to this, frequent usage of online shopping and social online activities, high neuroticism and low agreeableness significantly increased the chances of being addicted to the Internet. Findings and their implications are discussed

The commercialisation of knowledge management practices to k-based development in Malaysia

This paper studies the connection between the commercialization of knowledge management practices and its contributions toward the knowledge-based development in Malaysia. Theoretical relations in this paper were tested through an empirical study carried out among public-listed organisations in the industrial products, consumer products, and service industries in Malaysia. The findings of this paper revealed that it is important for corporations to focus on knowledge management in the development of the organisation’s corporate strategy. Empirical evidence supported the view that firms with knowledge management capabilities and understanding will utilise these capabilities to drive their quality strategy, thus performing better than those that do not. In addition, the finding serves as an initial move among private sector business toward a knowledge-based country. This paper concludes that these practices have a positive incidence not only on the performance of the firm but it also gives some initial contributions toward the development of Malaysia as a knowledge-based country

The factors that contribute to the continuous usage of broadband technologies among youth in rural areas: A case of northern region of Malaysia

Despite the benefits of broadband technology in education and healthcare services, its usage in the rural areas is still low and Malaysia is not excluded. This situation leads to raising the question of long-term usage of the technology. Presently, there are less empirical study on the continuous usage of broadband technology among the youths particularly school children in the rural areas of Malaysia. The objective of this study is to determine the contributing factors for continuous usage of broadband technology among youths in the rural areas. Therefore, a research model was proposed consisting of eight contributing factors for continuous usage of broadband technology. Moreover, the study used quantitative approach by distributing 450 questionnaires to respondents in the northern region of Malaysia. However, only 393 questionnaires were returned which represent 87.33% response rate. The data collected were analyzed using a Structural Equation Model to investigate the relationship between contributing factors. The results showed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, compatibility, facilitating condition, service quality, user behavioural intention and user satisfaction are the significant contributing factors that must be in place to ensure the continuous usage of broadband among youth in the rural areas. Hence, this study contributes to the body of knowledge in Community Informatics by providing a framework for achieving long-term use of broadband technology among youths in the rural areas, through the integration of Information System Continuance Post Acceptance and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology models. The factors identified may contribute as input to the government policy formulations and service providers to ensure continuous demand for broadband from the evidence extracted from this study. Continuous usage of broadband technology in the rural areas would have positive contributions on the academic performance, literacy among youths, bridging the digital divide in broadband usage, increase home business and national productivity

The Mediation Effect of Trusting Beliefs on the Relationship Between Expectation-Confirmation and Satisfaction with the Usage of Online Product Recommendation

Online Product Recommendations (OPRs) are increasingly available to onlinecustomers as a value-added self-service in evaluating and choosing a product.Research has highlighted several advantages that customers can gain from usingOPRs. However, the realization of these advantages depends on whether and towhat extent customers embrace and fully utilise them. The relatively low OPR USAgerate indicates that customers have not yet developed trust in OPRs’ performance.Past studies also have established that satisfaction is a valid measure of systemperformance and a consistent significant determinant of users’ continuous systemusage. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the mediation effect of trustingbeliefs on the relationship between expectation-confirmation and satisfaction. Theproposed research model is tested using data collected via an online survey from626 existing users of OPRs. The empirical results revealed that social-psychologicalbeliefs (perceived confirmation and trust) are significant contributors to customersatisfaction with OPRs. Additionally, trusting beliefs partially mediate the impactof perceived confirmation on customer satisfaction. Moreover, this study validatesthe extensions of the interpersonal trust construct to trust in OPRs and examinesthe nomological validity of trust in terms of competence, benevolence, andintegrity. The findings provide a number of theoretical and practical implications.&nbsp

Mobile Payment Continuance Intention

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Information Management, specialization in Information TechnologiesThe disruptive development of information and communication technologies over the last two decades has revolutionized the mobile phone industry, exponentially increased the number of mobile phone users, and encouraged companies to make various services available through a mobile phone. Mobile payment is one of the fastest growing services, enabling users to perform financial transactions over a mobile phone. The exponential growth of mobile payment has affected a number of sectors including finance and technology, thus reinforcing the need for a deep understanding of the impact of the continued use of mobile payment services. With this dissertation we contribute to a better understanding of the determinants of continuance intention to use mobile payment at the individual level. For this reason, were developed four studies, one literature review, and three empirical studies. In the first study (Chapter 2) we conducted a literature review of existing studies on individual continuance intention to use an information system. In Chapter 3 we assessed the continuance intention to use m-payment employing two theoretical models, the DeLone and McLean information system success model (D&M ISSM) and the expectation-confirmation model (ECM) in an African context. The impact of task technology fit (TTF) and overall trust on ECM to explain the continuance use of mpayment is analysed in Chapter 4. In the last study, Chapter 5, we assess the impact of culture on continuance intention to use m-payment, combining the ECM and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. This dissertation provides several contributions for research and practice, contributing to the advancement of knowledge and implications for service managers, service providers, users, and researchers. The literature review applies meta-analysis and weight analysis from 115 empirical studies from continuance intention to use an information system (IS). The findings reveal that the factors with strongest influence on continuance intention to use an IS are affective commitment, attitude, satisfaction, hedonic value, and flow. Moreover, sample size, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation moderate the relationship of perceived usefulness on continuance intention. Power distance, masculinity, and indulgence moderate the relationship of satisfaction on continuance intention. From the first empirical study we examine the influence individual performance drivers on continuance intention to use m–payment in an African context. We find that the most important predictors of continuance intention to use m-payment are individual performance, use, and satisfaction. The second empirical study integrates TTF and overall trust theories and evaluates their relationships for continuance intention to use mobile payment. Findings show that use, individual performance, overall trust, and the moderation role of satisfaction are the most important constructs to explain continuance intention. The last empirical study assesses the impact of culture on m-payment continuance intention. The findings reveal that the relationships between confirmation on satisfaction and perceived usefulness, and perceived usefulness on continuance intention are moderated by uncertainty avoidance.O desenvolvimento disruptivo das tecnologias de informação e comunicação nas últimas duas décadas revolucionou a indústria da telefonia móvel, aumentando exponencialmente o número de utilizadores de telemóveis, encorajando desta forma as empresas a disponibilizar diferentes serviços através de um telemóvel. O serviço pagamento móvel é um dos serviços que se encontra em um rápido crescimento permitindo aos utilizadores efetuar transações financeiras através de um telemóvel. O crescimento exponencial do serviço de pagamento móvel tem afetado diferentes sectores, tais como finanças e tecnologia, reforçando a necessidade de uma compreensão profunda do impacto da utilização contínua dos serviços de pagamento móvel. Com o desenvolvimento desta dissertação, esperamos contribuir para uma melhor compreensão dos determinantes da intenção de continuar a usar o serviço de pagamento móvel a nível individual. De forma a concretizar este objetivo foram desenvolvidos um total de quatro estudos distintos. No primeiro estudo (Capítulo 2) realizámos uma revisão bibliográfica dos estudos existentes sobre a intenção de continuar a utilizar um sistema de informação. No capítulo três, avaliámos a intenção de continuar a utilizar o serviço de pagamento móvel, empregando dois modelos teóricos, o DeLone and McLean information system success model (D&M ISSM) e o expectation-confirmation model (ECM) num contexto africano. O impacto do task technology fit (TTF) e o overall trust no modelo ECM para explicar o uso contínuo do serviço de pagamento móvel foi analisado no capítulo quatro. No último estudo, capítulo cinco, avaliámos o impacto da cultura na intenção de continuação da utilização do serviço de pagamento móvel, combinando as dimensões culturais de Hofstede e o modelo ECM. Esta dissertação apresenta várias contribuições para a investigação e para a prática, contribuindo para o avanço do conhecimento, provocando implicações para gestores de serviços, prestadores de serviços, utilizadores e investigadores. O estudo da revisão bibliográfica aplicou meta-analysis e weight analysis a partir de 115 estudos empíricos de intenção continuar a utilizar um sistema de informação (SI). Os resultados revelam que os fatores com maior influência na intenção de continuação da utilização de um SI foram o compromisso afetivo, atitude, satisfação, valor hedónico, e flow. Além disso, o tamanho da amostra, individualismo, prevenção da incerteza, e orientação a longo prazo moderam a relação entre perceção da utilidade e intenção de continuar, distância do poder, masculinidade e indulgência moderam a relação entre satisfação e intenção de continuar. Para o primeiro estudo empírico, examinámos a influência dos fatores de desempenho individual na intenção de continuação da utilização do m-pagamento num contexto africano. Verificámos que os preditores mais importantes da intenção de continuar a utilizar o serviço de pagamento móvel são o desempenho individual, uso e a satisfação. O segundo estudo empírico integrou as teorias da TTF e da confiança geral e avaliou as suas relações para a intenção de continuação da utilização do pagamento móvel. Os resultados mostram que o uso, desempenho individual, confiança geral, o papel de moderação da satisfação são os fatores relevantes para explicar a intenção de continuar a utilizar o serviço de pagamento móvel. O último estudo empírico avalia o impacto da cultura sobre a intenção de continuação do pagamento móvel. Os resultados revelam que as relações entre confirmação, perceção de utilidade com satisfação, perceção de utilidade com intenção de continuar são moderadas pela prevenção da incerteza