What Drives Fitness Apps Usage? An Empirical Evaluation

Part 3: Creating Value through ApplicationsInternational audienceThe increased health problems associated with lack of physical activity is of great concern around the world. Mobile phone based fitness applications appear to be a cost effective promising solution for this problem. The aim of this study is to develop a research model that can broaden understanding of the factors that influence the user acceptance of mobile fitness apps. Drawing from Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), we conceptualize the antecedents and moderating factors of fitness app use. We validate our model using field survey. Implications for research and practice are discussed

An Empirical Assessment of a Modified Technology Acceptance Model

The technology acceptance model (TAM) is one of the most influential research models in studies of the determinants of information systems/information technology (IS/IT) acceptance. In TAM, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are hypothesized and empirically supported as fundamental determinants of user acceptance of a given IS/IT. A review of the IS and psychology literature, however, suggests that perceived usefulness can be of two distinct types: near-term usefulness and long-term usefulness. This paper reviews the concept of perceived usefulness and modifies TAM to include the two types of perceived usefulness. Data collected from nearly 285 administrative/clerical staff in a large organization were tested against the modified model using the structural equation modeling approach. The results of the study showed that, even though perceived near-term usefulness had the most significant influence on the behavioral intention to use a technology, perceived long-term usefulness also exerted a positive, though lesser, impact. No significant, direct relationship was found between ease of use and behavioral intention to use a technology. Implications of the findings and future research areas are discussed

Editors' introduction to the issue: Electronic commerce research and applications, volume 9, issue 5, September - October 2010

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A Flexible K-12 Weather Data Collection and Education Program

The Nebraska Earth Science Education Network (NESEN) is an organization within the University of Nebraska-Lincoln whose objectives are to: 1) promote and enhance K-12 earth science education in Nebraska, 2) improve teacher knowledge and understanding so that students become better informed about the complexities of environmental and natural resources issues and 3) enhance the transfer of earth science information to the K-12 teaching community (Gosselin, Mohlman, Mesarch & Meyer, 1996; Gosselin et al., 1999). To achieve this last objective NESEN developed the Students and Teachers Exchanging Data, Information and Ideas (STEDII) program with the help of support from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Energy’s National Institute for Global and Environmental Change (NIGEC). The initial focus of STEDII was to use the collection of weather data as a mechanism to promote the sharing of data and information between eight schools involved in an electronic communication project funded by NASA (Gosselin et al., 1999). The topic of weather was chosen because students experience weather everyday, weather is relevant to students\u27 lives in an agricultural based state (Williams, 1992), weather is quite variable in Nebraska (NebraskaLand, 1996) and weather is part of most school systems\u27 curriculum. The STEDII project has provided students and teachers with basic weather instrumentation, instruction on how to use these instruments, lessons on weather topics and a website by which schools can share data by submitting and retrieving measurements from a centralized data base