Page - 65 - in Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics - Knowledge Base for Practitioners

Both TAM and UTAUT aim at predicting technology usage by looking at the factors that will influence technology acceptance. Both theories focus on two questions to explain technology acceptance and resulting technology use: Is the technology useful for me? And: Is the technology easy to use? UTAUT adds two further questions to this list: Does my social environment want me to use the technology? And: Do I have the necessary technical and organizational infrastructure to use the technology? Now let’s have a more detailed look on TAM and UTAUT. 1.1. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) User acceptance is often a pivotal factor in the success or failure of a new information system [3]. The goal of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is to understand better why users accept or reject a given technology, and how user acceptance can be improved through technology design. TAM was developed by Fred D. Davis in the late 1980s [4, 5]. The Technology Acceptance Model is based on principles from Fishbein and Ajzen’s Theory of Reasoned Action [6]. TAM hypothesizes that two particular beliefs, Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use, are of primary relevance for technology acceptance [7]. Perceived Usefulness is the expectation of a user that the system will be useful for the job. Perceive Ease of Use is the expectation that the system is user friendly and easy to use. Perceived usefulness is influenced by Perceived Ease of Use, as users will find easy-to-use systems more useful [3]. Both beliefs are determinants for Attitude towards Using. This Attitude towards Using is then a determinant of the Behavioral Intention to Use, which can be interpreted as technology acceptance [8]. The actual system usage is then determined by this Behavioral Intention to Use. In a review of TAM usage in health care, Holden found that TAM was able to predict 30 - 70 % of variance of Behavioral Intention to Use, which can be considered reasonably high. Table 1 summarizes the basic definition of the concept used in TAM. Figure 1 shows the TAM model. Table 1. Definitions of the variables used in TAM [8]. Perceived Usefulness An individual’s perception that using an IT system will enhance job performance. Perceived Ease of Use An individual’s perception that using an IT system will be free of effort. Attitude toward Using An individual’s evaluative judgment of the target behavior on some dimension (e.g., good/bad, harmful/beneficial, pleasant/unpleasant). Behavioral Intention An individual’s motivation or willingness to exert effort to perform the target behavior. Use One specific behavior of interest performed by individuals with regard to some information technology (IT) system. E.Ammenwerth /TechnologyAcceptanceModels inHealth Informatics: TAMandUTAUT 65