Acceptance of Ebook Reading Among Higher Education Students in A Developing Country: The Modified Diffusion Innovation Theory
Acceptance of Ebook Reading Among Higher Education Students in A Developing Country: The Modified Diffusion Innovation Theory
Acceptance of Ebook Reading Among Higher Education Students in A Developing Country: The Modified Diffusion Innovation Theory
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Wasim Qazi
Department of Education and Learning Sciences,
IQRA University,
Karachi, 75300, Pakistan
Email: [email protected]
Abstract: This study explores the students’ intention towards the e-book
adoption in Pakistan by using the modified diffusion innovation theory. Student
attitude, awareness, perceived innovation characteristics (PIC) are taken as
independent variables; actual usage is taken as a dependent variable, whereas
intention plays the role of the mediator in the relationship. The data is collected
through five-point Likert questionnaire from 620 university students. The
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), partial least square structure equation
modelling (PLS-SEM) has been applied. The results show that compatibility,
complexity, observability, trialability, attitude and awareness has a significant
positive effect on behavioural intention, whereas, relative advantage has an
insignificant effect on behavioural intention. Moreover, behavioural intention
creates a significant positive effect on actual usage. This study will be useful in
understanding the factors associated with the adoption of e-book reading. This
work will help the managers to understand the role of PIC in adoption of new
product or technology.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Qazi, W., Raza, S.A. and
Shah, N. (2018) ‘Acceptance of e-book reading among higher education
students in a developing country: the modified diffusion innovation theory’,
Int. J. Business Information Systems, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp.222–245.
Syed Ali Raza is associated with IQRA University as an Asst. Professor and
Deputy Director, Research and Publications. His areas of interest include
financial economics, energy economics, tourism economics, corporate finance
and behavioural sciences. He has published numerous papers in international
refereed journals including Tourism Management, Energy Policy, Economic
Modelling, Social Indicators Research, Quality and Quantity, International
Migration, Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, Journal of
Business Economics and Management, Journal of Transnational Management,
Transition Studies Review, Global Business Review and Journal of Chinese
Economic and Foreign Trade Studies.
1 Introduction
Information technology has been changing the individual lifestyle and their technology
adoption. The innovation in information technology gives the opportunity to produce the
unique products (Waheed et al., 2015). The technological advancement creates a
significant impact on the lives of the peoples, now they are not satisfied with the
traditional means of learning and obtaining knowledge (Xiao et al., 2014). E-book
technology has changed the consumer reading experiences and reading patterns. E-book
makes the reading process convenient and ubiquitous (Folb et al., 2011). In 2000, the first
e-book ‘Riding the Bullet’ by Stephen King becomes the first mass-market e-book, and
give expansion to the e-book industry (Lee et al., 2002). The e-book development
changes the relationship between the publishers and the readers (D’Ambra et al., 2013);
furthermore, it also changes the nature of publishing and behaviours of the readers
(Bhattacharjee et al., 2011).
The e-book adoption also increases the demand for e-readers such as Apple iPad,
Amazon Kindle, etc. (Jung et al., 2012). According to the companies Apple, Amazon and
Barnes and Noble they sell thousands of e-books every year (Rao, 2012). E-book sales
grew 200% in 2010 compare to 2011 which is 169.4% and the sale of printed book
decline by 24.8% (Jung et al., 2012). By 2025, 75% of the books will be in the digital
format (Rao, 2012). Moreover, the demand for e-book will increase because of the
penetration of smartphone in Asia Pacific and the availability of e-readers in the North
America (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2010).
Electronic books (e-books) are the books in the digital form that can be accessed on
computers, handheld devices, i.e., personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablets,
smartphones, e-readers (Lam et al., 2009, Rao, 2012, Reitz, 2014). E-reading has become
one of the leading media because of the faster broadband services and relatively smaller
224 W. Qazi et al.
computer devices (Brown, 2001). The electronic books (e-book) demand has been
increasing drastically, which slow down the printed book sales. E-book is preferred over
textbooks because of the flexibility, accessibility, searchability sustainability, visual
appeals (Shelburne, 2009; Woody et al., 2010).
Despite the advantages the usage of e-book has some obstacles attached to it which
includes incompatibility, navigation issues, digital right management issues (DRM), on
screen reading problems and internet service issues (Gibbons, 2001; Chu, 2003;
Shelburne, 2009; Chong et al., 2009). All these factors hinder the use of e-book
extensively (Chong, et al., 2009). One of the utmost barriers in the acceptance and use of
e-book is customer apathy (Lam et al., 2009) which means customers are not comfortable
with the idea of the reading through e-book, however, they admit the benefits of using the
e-book technology, but still like some features of the paper books (Worlock, 2009).
Previously, many studies examined the factors affecting the adoption of e-book in the
context of higher education (Simon, 2002; Wilson, 2003; Hernon et al., 2007; Nelson,
2008; Lam et al., 2009), in the context of library (Tedd, 2005; Just, 2007; Renner, 2007),
medical contexts (Morton et al., 2007), e-book as learning aids (Larson, 2010; Halliday,
et al., 2010; Smeets and Bus, 2012), the role of user preference on e-book (Chang and
Tung, 2008), the ease and difficulty in using an e-book (Rao, 2001; Sottong, 2008)
barriers in acceptance of e-book (Gibbons, 2001; van der Velde and Ernst, 2009),
e-book in place of printed books (Bredding, 2000; Rojeski, 2012). Some empirical
studies also investigate the role of cloud computing applications on e-book (Lu et al.,
2005). Despite the concerns on the usage of e-book (Kang et al., 2009) very few studies
have been conducted which analyse the factor which affect the e-book adoption (Vernon,
2006; Aharony, 2014).
As e-book is an innovative product several factors affect its adoption, which includes
individual innovation characteristics (Moore and Benbasat 1991), individual innovation
adoption, self-efficacy level (Thomson et al., 2005; Eiamkanchanalai and Assarut, 2012;
Duane et al., 2014), attitude (Cviko et al., 2012; Aldunate and Nussbaum 2013) and
awareness (Jung et al., 2012). All the above factors play a vital role in the adoption of the
technology.
E-book is considered as a novel product for the young students (Terpend et al., 2014)
and higher education universities are spending a substantial amount to promote e-book
usage among students and teachers (Muir and Hawes 2013). For the acceptance of novel
products intention plays an important role and according to Venkatesh et al. (2003)
behavioural intention is the significant factor in the technology usage. To explore the
student’s acceptance towards e-book most of the studies have been conducted in the
developed countries (Walton, 2013; Aharony, 2014) and no study in the context of
Pakistan has been conducted to examine the factors that affect student’s intention to
adopt e-book in higher education.
According to the global formation report the technology acceptance in Pakistan is
quite fluctuating. In 2012–2013 it was in a position of 102nd then in 2013–2014 it
reached up to 111th position, however, in 2014–2015 the ranking got improved and
currently has 97th position. Since, the acceptance of technology is quite uncertain in
Pakistan this research is conducted to figure out whether the technical innovative
products like e-book is accepted in this country or not. Hence, this study is carried out to
examine the adoption of e-book technology among university students.
Acceptance of e-book reading among higher education students 225
The present paper is arranged in five sections. Section 2 presents the literature review.
Section 3 discusses the methodology, Section 4 presents the empirical results, Section 5
presents the discussion on the results and Section 6 shows the conclusion and
recommendations.
2 Literature review
DIT discusses the five Perceived characteristics of innovation (PIC) namely relative
advantage, compatibility, complexity, and trialability and observability as a key predictor
which affects the individual attitude towards the adoption of innovation (Rogers 1983).
IDT theory argues that the potential users accept or reject the innovation on the basis of
their beliefs regarding innovation (Agarwal, 2000).
Therefore, we use the modified version of the Roger’s innovation theory by using the
all the five DIT characteristics and added the role of attitude and awareness of e-book
reading to increase the effectiveness of the study.
2.2.2 Compatibility
According to Rogers (1995) compatibility is a user’s belief that how the innovation fits
with their current needs, values and past experiences. The more compatible the
innovation is with the user needs and values, the more is the changes of its adoption
(Tornatzky and Klein, 1982; Shih and Fang, 2004; Antón et al., 2013; Chung, 2014).
Previous studies show that the compatibility has a direct effect on the behavioural
intention (Wu and Wang, 2005; Chang and Tung, 2008). The e-book reading gives the
same personalise feeling as reading through normal books, the option to add bookmarks
and comments make it compatible and easy to use for the users. The proposed hypothesis
for compatibility is:
H2 The compatibility of e-book reading has a significant effect on behavioural
intention.
Acceptance of e-book reading among higher education students 227
2.2.3 Complexity
It is the user feeling related to the level of difficulty in learning, operating and
understanding the innovation (Rogers, 1983). The innovation that is less complex and
user friendly are easily accepted by the users (Chung, 2014). Some studies show that the
significant negative relationship exists between the complexity and the intention to use.
(Shih, 2007; Lee, 2006) In other words, the more complex the technology is, the less
intention the user have to use the technology (Lin, 2006). The e-book reading interface is
easy to understand and user friendly which influence the users to adopt this technology.
The hypothesis used for complexity is:
H3 The complexity of e-book reading has a significant effect on behavioural intention.
2.2.4 Trial-ability
Trialability is the possibility of trying the innovation before its actual use by the
individual. It increases the changes of the adoption of the innovation (Rogers, 1983). The
innovation which can be tried or tested by the users increases the users’ attitude to adopt
it (Chung, 2014). The users prefer to try an innovation to increase their comfort level
(Waheed et al., 2015). Previous studies show that the positive association exists between
the trialability and the intention of users towards the technology (Lee, 2006; Yang, 2007).
We use the following hypothesis:
H4 The trialability of e-book reading has a significant effect on behavioural intention.
2.2.5 Observability
Rogers (1983) explains observability as the extent to which the innovation results are
visible to others. The innovation visibility encourages the individual to discuss it with
their friends and neighbours and creates positive intention to adopt the technology
(Duan et al., 2010). Several studies reported that the positive relationship exists between
the observability and the intention to use (Lee, 2006; Yang, 2007). Chung (2014) found
that the facility of observing mobile commerce increases its adoption among the users.
The hypothesis used is:
Rogers (2003) proposed that the innovation that has the greater relative advantage,
compatibility, trialability, and observability and less complexity are rapidly adopted by
the individual compare to the other innovations. These PIC identified by Rogers are
considered as important predictors that explains the innovation adoption (Hsu et al.,
2007).
H5 The observability of e-book reading has a significant effect on behavioural
intention.
2.2.6 Attitude
According to Venkatesh et al. (2003) attitude is the individual reaction towards the usage
of the system. The successfulness of the technology is highly dependent on the users’
attitude towards it (Waheed et al., 2015). In past studies several models have been used to
investigate the role of attitude as a mediator between intentions and beliefs (Fishbein and
Ajzen, 1975; Davis et al., 1989; Taylor and Todd, 1995). Many studies show that the
228 W. Qazi et al.
users’ attitude plays a vital role in the adoption of the new technology or innovation
(Cviko et al., 2012; Aldunate and Nussbaum, 2013). The hypothesis used to represent the
attitude variable is:
H6 Attitude has a significant effect on behavioural intention.
2.2.7 Awareness
The adoption of the innovation starts with its awareness (Rogers, 1995). Innovation
awareness is the key variable for the technology adoption (Jung et al., 2012). Lack of
awareness has a negative association with the adoption process (Feldstein and Glasgow
2008; Solomons and Spross, 2011). In the context of e-book, Gunter (2005) conducted
survey on the awareness of e-book in UK and reported that respondents are aware of e-
book. On the contrary, the survey conducted by Abdullah and Gibb (2006) on e-book
awareness and usage in British academic library indicates that the e-book awareness and
its usage both are low among the students. The hypothesis used for awareness is:
H7 Awareness has a significant effect on behavioural intention.
2.2.9 Adoption
Adoption is the individual willingness to accept or reject the technology or innovation
(Straub, 2009). There are numerous factors that change the individual decision to use
technology (Venkatesh et al., 2003). According to Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) the
acceptance of technology can be determined by the intention of the individual. Lee et al.
(2011) reported that the DIT characteristics have a significant effect on the individual’s
intention to use systems. The DIT characteristics have a direct effect on innovation
adoption (Rogers, 2003). According to Rogers (1995) even if the innovation seems to be
useful cannot be adopted by the individual due to the influence of the contextual factors.
Therefore, it is extremely important to understand those factors which create obstacles in
user willingness towards e-book.
Acceptance of e-book reading among higher education students 229
3 Methodology
The conceptual model of our study is illustrated in Figure 1. The model demonstrates the
effect of the Rogers perceived innovation characteristics (PIC) that are relative
advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, observability, multi-dimensional
attitude and awareness on the actual usage of e-book whereas, intention plays a role of a
mediator in this framework.
Perceived characteristics
of innovation
Relative advantage
Behavioural Actual use
Compatibility intention
Complexity
Trialability
Observability
Attitude Awareness
Throughout the data collection process, all respondents are requested to participate
voluntary and assurance was given that their information will be kept confidential. The
impact of independent variables (PIC, attitude, awareness, intention) is analysed on
dependent variable (actual usage of e-book) through this questionnaire. The basic
regression models of the study are:
yn = a + bxn + 1n, (1)
In equation (1) y represents a dependent variable (intention) and a denotes the intercept
term. X represents explanatory variables (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity,
trialability, observability, awareness, attitude) while b represents the regression
coefficient.
In equation (2) y represents a dependent variable (actual usage) and a denotes the
intercept term. X represents the independent variable (intention) while b represents the
regression coefficient.
The basic functional form of the above equations is:
Intention = f (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability,
(3)
observability, awareness, attitude)
The following regression models are used for the purpose of the study:
BI = α 0 + β1 RA + β 2 CPT + β 3CPX + β 4TR
(5)
+ β5OB + β 6 ATT + β 7 AWR + εt
AU = α o + β1 BI + εt (6)
In equation (5) BI is the behavioural intention, RA is the relative advantage, CPT is the
compatibility, CPX is the complexity, TR is the trialability, OB is the observability, ATT
is the attitude, AWR represents the awareness, and εt is the error term.
In equation (6) AU shows the actual usage where BI represents the behavioural
intention and εt is the error term.
3.2 Demographics
The sample represented the responses of the students from different universities and in
total 671 questionnaires was filled and returned. After deletion of outliers and erroneous
responses 620 responses were found useable. The details of demographic profiles are
presented in Table 1. As seen from demographic characteristics the 77% respondents
were the students of private universities, 22% were the students of public universities and
1% was student of semi-private universities. In terms of gender, the 51% of respondents
were male, while 49% were female hence equally distributed. The majority of the
respondents were undergraduates (53%) whereas, 37% were graduates and 10% were
postgraduate. The respondent age group category showed that 78% were falling in the
age bracket of 18–25 whereas 17% were in the age bracket of 26–30 and the rest 5%
were in the age bracket of 31–35. The field of study shows that 53% respondents were
Acceptance of e-book reading among higher education students 231
studying business studies, 17% were studying engineering, 13% were studying computer
science, and the rest 15% were studying medical and other study program.
Table 1 Profile of respondents (N = 620)
4 Data analysis
Correlation matrix
Constructs
BI ATT AU AWR CPT CPX OB RA TR
BI 0.772
ATT 0.668 0.851
AU 0.622 0.486 0.846
AWR 0.527 0.600 0.459 0.747
CPT 0.510 0.575 0.344 0.395 0.813
CPX –0.502 –0.537 –0.343 –0.461 –0.649 0.827
OB 0.419 0.391 0.285 0.394 0.205 –0.320 0.729
RA 0.447 0.507 0.341 0.459 0.690 –0.647 0.238 0.730
TR –0.312 –0.422 –0.299 –0.451 –0.307 0.517 –0.459 –0.403 0.716
Notes: BI = behavioural intention; ATT = attitude; AU = actual usage;
AWR = awareness; CPT = compatibility; CPX = complexity; OB = observability;
RA = relative advantage; TR = trialability. The diagonal elements (italics)
represent the square root of AVE
The structural model is depicted in Figure 1 whereas the path of the structural model is
presented in Figure 2 and Table 6. Each path corresponds to a hypothesis. The hypothesis
is tested on the basis of sign, size, and statistical significance of the co-efficient between
each LV and dependent variable. The higher the co-efficient value, the stronger is the
impact of the LV of the dependent variable. The hypotheses are considered on the
significance level of 0.1. Result shows that 8 out of 7 paths are significant. Moreover, the
path co-efficient linking relative advantage to behavioural intention is positive but
insignificant and does not support the (H1). The path linking compatibility, trailability,
observability, attitude, awareness to behavioural intention is positive and significant,
hence supported the H2, H4, H5, H6 respectively. The path linking complexity to
behavioural intention is negative and significant (H3). The path co-efficient linking
behavioural intention to actual usage is positive and significant (H8).
Perceived characteristics
of innovation
R2= 0.5320 R2 = 0.3910
Relative advantage 0.008
Trialability
0.182 0.406 0.154
Observability
Attitude Awareness
Acceptance of e-book reading among higher education students 235
The major objectives of the study are supported by the results. The result shows the good
measurement and structural fit and seven out of eight hypotheses were supported. The
path between the relative advantage and behavioural intention is insignificant, but
positive, p < 0.1 and β = 0.008. The results are inconsistent with the past studies
(Shih, 2007; Lee, 2006; Ooi et al., 2011). Thus, it implies that relative advantage
(usefulness) is not important when it come to the adoption of the innovation.
The second hypothesis about the effect of compatibility on behavioural intention is
also supported and shows a significant and positive association (P < 0.1, β = 0.130). The
results are consistent with the studies of Wu and Wang (2005) and Chang and Tung
(2008). This indicates that the potential benefits such as searchable readings, personalise
Acceptance of e-book reading among higher education students 237
feeling, remote access (Lam et al., 2009) increases the compatibility. High Compatibility
increases the intention of the users to use the technology (Wu and Wang, 2005).
The third hypothesis regarding the effect of complexity on behavioural intention
shows the significant, but a negative relationship (P < 0.1, β = –0.127). The studies which
supported that relationship includes Shih (2007), Lee (2006) and Lee et al. (2011). The
user friendliness should be the basic requirement of the innovation (Waheed et al., 2015)
and if the user find the technology complex it will decrease its intention to use it (Lin,
2006; Aldunate and Nussbaum, 2013).
The other innovation characteristics, i.e., trialability and observability indicates
significant and positive effect on behavioural intention (P < 0.1, β = 0.122; P < 0.1,
β = 0.186). The result is similar to the work done by Hardgrave et al. (2003) Yang (2007)
and Lee et al. (2011). Thus, it is evident that if the users are provided with the
opportunity to try the innovation this would result in creating individuals’ intention to use
it (Chung, 2014). The explanation is plausible for observability, if the users have an
opportunity to observe the use of innovation it will contribute in building its intention to
adopt it (Duan et al., 2010).
The path between the attitude and behavioural intention was significant and positive
and hence supported the hypothesis (P < 0.1, β = 0.406). The results are consistent with
the studies of Stoel and Hye Lee (2003), Cviko et al. (2012) and Aldunate and Nussbaum
(2013). This implies that if the students have a positive attitude toward the e-book it will
creates intention to use it (Letchumanan and Tarmiz, 2011).
The seventh hypothesis related to the role of awareness in creating individual
intention was confirmed. Awareness creates a significant positive effect on the individual
intention (P < 0.1, β = 0.154). Bennett and Landoni (2005) and Abdullah and Gibb
(2008) also reported that awareness of e-book plays an important role in developing
individual intention and usage, hence provide support for our result. If the individual is
well aware about the innovation it increases its adoption rate (Jung et al., 2012).
The last hypothesis is also supported and shows that behavioural intention has a
significant positive effect on the actual usage of the technology (P < 0.1, β = 0.625)
which are supported by the studies of Irani et al. (2009) and Teo (2011). This implies that
behavioural intention actually leads to the usage of the technology (Teo et al., 2008).
6 Conclusions
The Roger’s innovation theory is widely used to predict the individual intention towards
the new technology adoption, but the role of attitude and awareness in creating intention
towards innovation is discussed sparsely. This study tried to cover up this gap by
integrating DIT, attitude, awareness with behavioural intention and its ultimate effect on
actual usage. The empirical result shows the good measurement fit model, and seven out
of eight hypotheses were supported. The three innovation characteristics (compatibility,
observability, trailability), attitude, awareness affect the individual intention significantly
and positively, whereas relative advantage has a positive, but insignificant impact, while
complexity has a negative effect on individual intention. The result showed that if the
students find e-book compatible with their needs, have awareness, positive attitude, and
can try and observe it. This formed the positive intention towards the e-book which
ultimately results in actual usage.
238 W. Qazi et al.
Moreover, the reading through e-book can save both the time and effort.
Convenience, compatibility, trialability and observability create a significant impact on
the intention of the individuals and intensify their intention to adopt it. In order to
promote e-book acceptance, the users should be given the friendly interface and offer
them customised services as this will give the relative advantage to the users over
traditional reading. The e-book interface should be easy and simple as complexity is one
of the hurdles which affecting the consumer attitude to use the product.
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