Content area
Abstract
It is important to understand the process of technology diffusion among end users for effectively implementing adoption and coping with frequent changes in the environment. Previous studies indicate that information and communication technology (ICT) adoption is affected by innovation influence such as usefulness, ease of use and self-efficacy. However, most of these studies bypassed imitation influence such as subjective norms, word-of-mouth, and advertising, specifically, interactive innovation having critical mass in technology acceptance research. Thus, this study investigates imitation influence in individual adoption of mobile communication technology, more specifically mobile phones, using Mahajan's diffusion model. The purpose of this study includes: (1) to investigate imitation influence using Mahajan's diffusion model in individual ICT (e.g., mobile phone, personal digital assistant) adoption; and (2) to empirically examine the causal relationships between initial acceptance and the intention to use, and between satisfaction and the intention to continuance using a holistic approach.
The results of this study show that there is an imitation influence including word-of-mouth and subjective norms, from the prior adopters to potential adopters, and mass advertising through TV or newspaper commercials in the ICT diffusion process. In addition, this imitation influence also stimulates innovation influence. Finally, this study provides a set of guidelines to mobile communication equipment manufacturers and ICT vendors in developing effective strategies for technology diffusion.
