Technology Acceptance Model

Abstract

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989) measures perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as predictors of a user’s intent to use computer technology, and their actual usage on the job. The measure first appeared in 1989, in an MIS Quarterly article by Fred Davis and in a coauthored article in Management Science(Davis, 1989; Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989). Extending the Theory of Reasoned Action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) to technology, Perceived usefulness (U) is defined as “the degree to which a person believes a particular system would enhance his or her job performance.” Perceived ease of use (EOU) is defined as “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free of effort.” ‘Usage intentions’ (BI) was measured through self-predicted future usage and ‘user acceptance’ was measured through self-reported current usage. Although information technology is adopted to improve employee performance, these gains are often lost or diminished by users’ unwilling to accept and use the information system. Davis wanted to understand why users rejected or accepted information technologies, to better predict, explain and increase user acceptance. The TAM model has since become one of the most established models for predicting user acceptance.