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Article
Information Development
27(1) 32–45
Thesuitability of the Unified Theory ªTheAuthor(s) 2011
Reprints and permission:
of Acceptance and Use of Technology sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0266666910385375
(UTAUT)modelinopenaccess idv.sagepub.com
adoption studies
Frankwell W. Dulle
Sokoine University of Agriculture
M.K. Minishi-Majanja
University of South Africa
Abstract
Technology acceptance models or theories are commonly used in studies aiming at predicting and explaining
theindividual behaviours towardstheacceptanceandusageofnewtechnologies.Thispaperreportspartofthe
findings from a doctoral research project which focused at analysing the acceptance and usage of open access
within public universities in Tanzania. The study was guided by the Unified Theory of Technology Acceptance
and Usage (UTAUT) model). The survey questionnaire targeted 544 respondents selected through stratified
random sampling from a population of 1088 university researchers at six public universities in Tanzania.
Aresponse rate of 73 percent was achieved and the binary logistic regression statistics of the Statistical Pack-
age for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. The study findings suggest support for the application
of the UTAUT model in studying the adoption of open access in a research environment. Among the findings,
attitude, awareness, effort expectancy and performance expectancy were established as the key determinants
for the researchers’ behavioural intentions of open access usage. Similarly, age, awareness, behavioural inten-
tion, facilitating conditions and social influence were found to significantly affect researchers’ actual usage of
openaccess. These factors should therefore be taken into account in the planning and implementation of open
access projects. A further validation of the open access research model in similar research institutions in
Tanzania and elsewhere is recommended.
Keywords
open access publishing, public universities, scholarly communication, technology acceptance models, Unified
Theory of Technology Acceptance and Usage, UTAUT, Tanzania
TheUTAUTmodelhasprovedsuitableinguidinganunderstandingofthefactorsthat
contribute to the acceptance and usage of open access by researchers in Tanzania.
Introduction [an] intermediary between theory and empirical data
Atheory emanates from a systematic and formalized but such a difference is regarded not fundamental’’.
expression of previous empirical generalizations and Based on such observations, a theory can be
experimental testing. This is contrary to a model,
which need not necessarily be derived from empirical
generalizations and testing (Burch, 2003). According Corresponding author:
Frankwell W. Dulle, Senior Librarian, Sokoine University of
to Burch (2003:280), ‘‘some authors distinguish the- Agriculture, PO Box 3022, Morogoro, Tanzania
ories and models by assigning the latter a role as Email: nzengamshe@yahoo.com
Dulle and Minishi-Majanja: The suitability of the UTAUT model in open access adoption studies 33
considered to be emanating from a model that has (Venkatesh et al., 2003; Schaper and Pervan, 2007;
undergone repeated tests and validation to support Wu, Tao and Yang, 2007). As a result of its accept-
empirical generalizations. Nevertheless, the terms ability, the UTAUTmodelhasbeenappliedinseveral
models and theories are in most cases used inter- studies investigating the general acceptance and usage
changeably as a result of being closely related. The- of information and communication technologies
ories or models are considered to play a critical role (ICTs) in different work environments (see for exam-
in the research process including planning, data col- ple, Anderson and Schwager, 2004; Louho, Kallioja
lection and explanation of the emerging findings. and Oittinen, 2006; Kripanont, 2007; Schaper and
Supporting this view, Neuman (2006:77) observes Pervan, 2007; Al-Qeisi, 2009; Birth and Irvine,
that ‘‘researchers who proceed without a theory or 2009; Tibenderana and Ogao, 2009; Suhendra, Her-
model, rarely conduct top-quality research and fre- mana and Sugiharto, 2009; and Zhou, Lu, and Wang,
quently find themselves in quandary’’ in reporting 2010). It should however be noted that the UTAUT
their research findings. It is thus not surprising that model has rarely been applied in open access (OA)
manyscholarsinvestmuchoftheirtimeindeveloping related studies, especially in a developing country
and validating a variety of models and theories for environment like Tanzania.
application in different research environments. Tech- OAis scholarly communication achieved through
nology acceptance and use models and theories are openaccessrefereedelectronic journals (golden road)
commonly used in many studies that investigate hin- and self-archiving in open access repositories (green
drances to the acceptance and usage of technologies road) (Mann et al., 2008). The basic concept of OA
for the purpose of promoting innovations adoption is the online availability of scientific literature to
(Kripanont, 2007). According to Louho, Kallioja and readers at no charge and without any legal barrier
Oittinen (2006: 15), ‘‘technology acceptance is about (Chan and Costa, 2005; Bailey, 2006; Mann et al.,
how people accept and adopt some technology to 2008). This study used the UTAUT model in studying
use’’. factors contributing to the acceptance and usage of
Anumberofmodels/theories designed to facilitate open access. In this context, open access publication
the understanding of factors impacting the acceptance is regarded as a technology that provides scientists
anduseoftechnologieshavebeendocumented.Some withatooltoreachtheirgoalsofdistributingresearch
of the well known technology acceptance models and results and documenting their copyrights as well as
theories include: Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA); accessing scholarly content from other scholars
Motivational Model (MM); Theory of Planned Beha- (Mannetal., 2008). The findings reported in this arti-
viour (TPB); Decomposed Theory of Planned Beha- cle are part of the doctoral study titled ‘An analysis of
viour (DTPB); Technology Acceptance Model open access scholarly communication in Tanzanian
(TAM); Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2); public universities’. The objectives of the main study
Combined TAM and TPB (C-TAM-TPB); Model of were to:
PC Utilization (MPCU); Social Cognitive Theory
(SCT); Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) and; the 1. investigate the general awareness and open
Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technol- access usage
ogy (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al, 2003; Kripanont, 2. find out factors affecting adoption of open access
2007;Wu,TaoandYang,2007;Ghobakhloo,Zulkifli 3. determine researchers’ and policy makers’ per-
and Aziz, 2010; Jayasingh and Eze, 2010). Due to the ceptions on open access
existence of several competing technology accep- 4. formulate and validate a research model of tech-
tance theories and models as noted above, researchers nology acceptance regarding the acceptance and
analyse and compare them in order to identify the usage of open access
mostpromisingonesinrespectoftheabilitytopredict 5. suggest strategies to resolve the hindrances to
and explain individual behaviour towards the accep- open access adoption.
tance and usage of technology. Thus it has been
acknowledged by various studies that the UTAUT This article emanates from the findings for the
model contributes to better understanding about the fourth objective with respect to the formulation and
drivers of behaviour of acceptance and use of new validation a research model of acceptance and use
technologies than other similar theories and models of open access. This article attempts to exhibit the
34 Information Development 27(1)
Attitude
Performance expectancy Behavioural Use behaviour
intention
Effort expectancy
Social Influence
Internet self-efficacy
Facilitating conditions
Age Awareness Experience Gender Position
Figure 1. Open access research model based on UTAUT.
suitability of the UTAUT model in studying factors gender, voluntariness and experience) as having spe-
contributing to the acceptance and usage of open cific moderating roles to indirectly and directly deter-
access. mine technology usage behaviour. According to
Serenko, Turel and Yol (2006), moderators are vari-
Theresearch model ables that affect the strength or direction of relation-
The Unified Theory of Technology Acceptance and ships between independent and dependent variables.
Use (UTAUT) model was adopted in the process of The theoretical basis for the UTAUT model con-
formulating the research framework for this study. structs and moderators is well documented by several
ThismodelwasdevelopedbyVenkateshandhisteam studies (Venkatesh et al., 2003; Kripanont, 2007;
based upon the conceptual and empirical similarities Schaper and Pervan, 2007).
among eight competing technology acceptance mod- The researchers formulated an open access
els (Venkatesh et al., 2003; Kripanont, 2007). The research model comprised of six constructs and five
eight technology acceptance and usage models that moderators, as illustrated in Figure 1, for guidance
were used in formulating the UTAUT model include: of this study. The original UTAUT model was modi-
TR, TAM, MM, TPB, C-TAM-TPB, MPCU, IDT, fied by adding two constructs (attitude and Internet
and SCT (Venkatesh et al., 2003; Kripanont, 2007; self-efficacy) and two moderators (awareness and
Schaper and Pervan, 2007). position). The effects of these additional constructs
The choice of the UTAUT model for the current on the adoption of new technology including open
study was motivated by its comprehensiveness and access have been established by other studies, as
highexplanatory powerascomparedtoothertechnol- reported by Kripanont (2007), Mann et al. (2008) and
ogy acceptance and use theories (Venkatesh et al., TibenderanaandOgao(2009).Thusforthisstudy,the
2003;Kripanont,2007;Hessetal.,2007;Schaperand key determinants of the researchers’ behavioural
Pervan, 2007; Tibenderana and Ogao, 2009). The intention and usage of open access in Tanzanian pub-
UTAUT model is comprised of two direct determi- lic universities were conceptualized as attitude, effort
nants of usage behaviour (intention and facilitating expectancy, Internet self-efficacy, performance
conditions) and three indirect determinants of tech- expectancy, social influence, and facilitating condi-
nology usage (effort expectancy, performance expec- tions. Furthermore, age, awareness, gender, experi-
tancy, and social influence) (Venkatesh et al., 2003). ence and position were conceived to have various
In addition to the core constructs, the UTAUT model moderating effects on main constructs towards the
developers also identified four moderators (age, acceptance and usage of open access. Voluntariness
Dulle and Minishi-Majanja: The suitability of the UTAUT model in open access adoption studies 35
was dropped as a moderator in this respect because it 2006). The current study also conceptualized Internet
is only relevant when technology usage is mandatory self-efficacy to affect individuals’ decisions towards
(Venkatesh et al., 2003; Tibenderana and Ogao, behavioural intention and usage of open access by
2009), which is not the case in the current study. researchers.
Attitude is an individual’s overall affective reac- Facilitating conditions are defined as the degree
tion to using a system (Venkatesh et al., 2003). In this to which an individual believes that an organizational
study, the attitude of researchers towards open access and technical infrastructure exists to support the use
was conceptualized to affect both their intention and of a system (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Age and experi-
usage behaviour of open access with its effect being ence were considered to play moderating roles on
moderated by awareness. facilitating conditions towards usage of open access.
Performance expectancy relates to how individu- Facilitating conditions have been established to
als believe new technology will help them perform impact actual usage of technology rather than beha-
their job better, and most of the previous technology vioural intention (Schaper and Pervan, 2004; Gar-
acceptance studies have acknowledged the strength field, 2006). In addition to facilitating conditions
of this factor in predicting behavioural intention and Internet self-efficacy, the current study also con-
(Venkatesh et al., 2003; Louho, Kallioja and Oittinen, ceptualized behavioural intention to have a significant
2006). With respect to the current study, performance positive influence on usage of open access scholarly
expectancy, moderated by gender, was assessed to communication.
determine its effect on researchers’ adoption of open
access.
Effort expectancy is the degree of ease or diffi- Data collection and analysis procedures
culty associated with the use of the system and is said The study adopted the survey as the main method for
to significantly affect technology adoption during data gathering. Data was collected at six of the eight
early stages but becomes non-significant over periods public universities in Tanzania, namely: Ardhi Uni-
of extended and sustained usage (Venkatesh et al., versity (ARU); Muhimbili University of Health and
2003). Age, experience and gender were conceptua- Allied Sciences (MUHAS); Mzumbe University
lized to moderate effort expectancy significance on (MU); Open University of Tanzania (OUT); Sokoine
researchers’ behavioural use intention of open access. University of Agriculture (SUA); and the University
Such moderators increase the effect of effort expec- of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). The other two public uni-
tancy towards researchers’ future usage of open versities did not meet the selection criteria. The cri-
access. In other words, the impact of effort expec- teria for selecting such universities were their
tancy in shaping researchers’ usage of open access existence as higher learning institutions for at least
in future is reduced in the absence of those 10 years as well as evidence of postgraduate pro-
moderators. grammes.Theabovecriteria ensured that the selected
Social influence relates to how an individual is institutions had a comparatively well established
affected by his/her peers or other leading researchers research infrastructure, generated more research out-
and/orhis/herorganizationindecidingonopenaccess put and hence were more likely to benefit from open
usage. This factor has been established to signifi- access initiatives. The study targeted public universi-
cantly affect the adoption of technology in both vol- ties on the understanding that being publicly funded,
untary and involuntary contexts (Venkatesh et al., they are obliged by social mandate to make their
2003; Schaper and Pervan, 2004 and 2007). This research findings available widely (e.g. through open
study considered social influence moderated by age, access) to the user community (Comba and Vignoc-
experience and gender to affect researchers’ beha- chi, 2005).
vioural intention and usage of open access in scho- A self-administered questionnaire was distributed
larly communication. to 544 respondents selected through stratified random
Internet self-efficacy refers to what individuals sampling from a population of 1088 university
believe they can do with technology skills they have researchers. The sample included researchers within
already acquired (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Several the ranks of lecturers, senior lecturers, associate pro-
studies have demonstrated that technology self- fessors and full professors from the main campuses
efficacy plays a key role in the acceptance and usage of the six public universities in Tanzania. Through the
of technology (Hsu, Chiu and Ju, 2004; Ifinedo, stratified random sampling the desired representation
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