This article takes a fresh approach to technology adoption, using a detailed comparison between adoption decision-making on a variety of eID technologies to illuminate the theoretical question of how technology’s characteristics influence the antecedent factors of behavioural intention to use. Selecting four characteristics whose relevance is suggested but not really tested by the existing literature, namely the hedonic or utilitarian ways the technology is used, the familiarity of the technology for the user, the level of state intervention in the implementation or regulation of the technology use and the potential privacy intrusion the technology represents, we investigate whether diversity in these characteristics accounts for variation in the technology-adoption model. The model developed and used in this research is an integration of selected elements from TAM and DOI which enables a precise analysis of the technology adoption process. Using hypothesized scenarios in a survey among 3,947 people from 4 EU27 countries, this study provides empirical evidence –through SEM-PLS analysis- of individual decision-making processes, demonstrating that the variables measured in TAM-based models should be taken into account along with the characteristics of the individual technology considered
