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The recent technology infusion has caused participation in various virtual events, and with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), the increase in the number of such events is much more visible. With the introduction of lockdown, and people not knowing what to do, virtual events have provided good distractions. They have also paved the way for medical care to be accessible for all and made working from home possible with efficiency. (Shah et al., 2020)
There are many definitions of virtual events, but it here it is explained as a platform that allows a person to get an experience of an event without gathering in person, but online. “Virtual events are not the same as virtual worlds; they are not web conferencing, but are a result of the new virtual event platforms and software tools that have become available” (Pearlman & Gates, 2010). Virtual events are dependent on information technology.
With a growing number of marketers using virtual events, there has been an increase in the number of start-ups and platforms specifically designed to meet the end-to-end needs of an event organiser. There are lower entry barriers for companies that want to venture into the field of online event management and promotion (Hall, 2020).
Due to the onset of Internet technologies, audiences can now use technology to get entertained anywhere and everywhere. It has created a world that connects us and disconnects us from reality together (Hirshberg, 2013).
However, virtual events are still nascent with a vast potential to grow much more prominent in the post-pandemic world. This will also allow live events to convert themselves to a hybrid event, allowing people to stream/attend an event from all across the world.
Understanding the issues relating to acceptance and use of virtual events will assist inappropriate planning and support to encompass technological, social, and individual factors in a country such as India. However, the lack of theoretical or conceptual frameworks in technology and events has made it difficult for event experts to measure these factors' impact on online events successfully. With the advent of virtual events technology, it has become essential to understand the way technology is being adopted and merged with industry and society.
Adoption and diffusion of technology have been studied in great detail lately by researchers in the information systems areas such as e-learning (Masrom, 2007), mobile banking, wireless internet (Lu, et al., 2003), e-commerce (Pavlou, 2003), online banking (Pikkarainen, et al., 2004), course management software (Marchewka & Kostiwa, 2007), social media (Salim, 2012), health care (Holden & Karsh, 2010), et al., and, it is imperative to study the same in the area of virtual events.
Technology acceptance can be studied at two levels: the organisational level and the individual level. Understanding the actual usage of technology is addressed in various models introduced and tested (e.g., the technology acceptance model or TAM; the theory of planned behavior or TPB) over the last three decades. To understand the acceptance and use of Information Technology (IT), (Davis, 1989; Venkatesh et al., 2003) synthesized various models into the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). UTAUT is a unique combination of concepts and frameworks to include - Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Ajzen & Fishbein, Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior, 1980), Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1985), Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) (Bandura, 1986), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989), Motivational Model (MM) (Vallerand, 1997), and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOI) (Rogers, 2002).