Issues related to technology, including diffusion, acceptance, adoption, and adaptation, have been the focus of research for different disciplines including Information Systems(IS), Psychology, and Management Science. Of all research conducted and mo...
Issues related to technology, including diffusion, acceptance, adoption, and adaptation, have been the focus of research for different disciplines including Information Systems(IS), Psychology, and Management Science. Of all research conducted and models developed to study technology related issues, the Technology Acceptance Model(TAM) stands out as most prominent, particularly in the field of IS and Information Technology(IT).
This study applied the extended TAM in order to build the concept of web-site quality and social environment as key factors affecting purchase intentions of travel products via the Internet. Research variables were abstracted from prior literature, and research model was developed integrating web-site quality and social environment.
Web-site quality refers to service/system quality, information quality, and user interface while social environment refers to subjective norm, image, visibility, word-or-mouth/site recommendation. This study examined if these factors affected the perceived web search value composed of perceived fun, perceived trust and perceived ease of use, and also if they affected purchase intentions through the perceived web search value.
This study adjusted the research model in order to improve the model fit, and also it tested two minor models dividing into upper and lower parts in order to verify the influence relation which had been proved in prior researches.
Main results from the adjusted model showed that service/system quality, visibility, subjective norm, word-of-mouth/site recommendation, and perceived usefulness of purchase directly affected purchase intentions. Moreover, perceived ease of use affected purchase intentions through perceived usefulness of purchase, which it supported the TAM premise that perceived usefulness affect perceived ease of use.
Meanwhile, each partial model showed different results. The result from the upper model forming of the relation between web-site quality and purchase intentions, showed that any of service/system quality, information quality and user interface did not affect purchase intentions. On the other hand, the result from the lower model forming of the relation between social environment and purchase intentions, visibility, subjective norm, word-of-mouth/site recommendation all affected purchase intentions significantly. Furthermore, perceived ease of use directly affected purchase intentions as well as indirectly affected purchase intentions through perceived usefulness of purchase.
Web-site quality and social environment showed influence relation with purchase intentions via Internet through moderating variable such as the perceived web search value, and this study investigated a mechanism by which the perceived web search value affected purchase intentions.
This study reexamines each variable to affect purchase intentions of travel products via Internet based on the extended TAM, and also it introduces the comprehensive conceptual frame to show the relative influence relation among variables.
This study concludes with some important implications for both theory research and implementation strategies.