Abstract
Though technology such as the Internet, e-government, mobile banking, mobile government, and mobile commerce arrived late in Saudi Arabia, the government has encouraged users to accept and use them. However, the acceptance and use of the technology have not moved as fast as it was expected due to various reasons. After reviewing and summarizing various literary sources concerning the acceptance and use of various technologies, this paper groups relevant sources into various groups such as Internet and e-government acceptance, Internet and m-government adoption, and Internet and e-government use. It also discusses how novel and unique Saudi Arabia’s works are.
Keywords: Acceptance and Use of Technology; E-government; Internet; M-banking; M-Commerce; M-government; and Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT).
Evaluating the Acceptance and Use of Technology in the Saudi Arabian Context
Introduction
According to Venkatesh, Thong and Xu (2012), in the modern era of Information Technology (IT), primarily in the organizational context, the study of acceptance and use of IT is very important. To analyse this issue, a Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was formulated by reviewing and synthesizing eight theories/models of technology use including Motivation Model (MM), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), Model of PC Utilization (MPCU), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT), and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to predict the Behavioural Intention (BI) and use technology mediated by critical factors and contingencies (Venkatesh et al., 2003).
UTAUT has played an important role and has been entirely or partly applied, extended, and integrated into different technologies such as collaborative technology and health information systems (Chang et al., 2007). Adding new constructs has served to widen the domain of the endogenous theoretical mechanisms formed in UTAUT. Furthermore, exogenous predictors of the UTAUT variables (Neufeld et al., 2007; Yi et al., 2006) have been included to utilize UTAUT in different contexts. In fact, although these broad applications, replications, and integrations/extensions have brought about the understanding of theoretical boundary extensions and technology adoption, there is still a need to investigate and theorize noteworthy factors systematically instead of employing only a subset of the constructs, especially by dropping the moderators (Al-Gahtani et al., 2007; Armida, 2008; Venkatesh, Thong and Xu, 2012).
LR Analysis
Table 1: Internet Adoption, Acceptance, Usage, and Diffusion in the Saudi Arabia Context
Internet Acceptance (Abbasi, Chandio, Soomro, & Shah, 2011); (Abbasi, Irani, & Chandio, 2010);
Internet Usage (Adaileh, 2012); (Al Nashmi, Cleary, Molleda, & McAdams, 2010); (Al-Asmari, 2005); (Al-Ghaith, Sanzogni, & Sandhu, 2010); (Al-Hawari, Al–Yamani, & Izwawa, 2008); (Al-Jetaily, Al-Megbel, Al-Mojaly, 2003); (Al-Kahtani, Ryan, & Jefferson, 2006); (Al-Zoman & Al-Zoman, 2002); (Alshankity & Alshawi, 2008); (Foster, Wynn, Rouhana, Polis, & Trussell, 2005); (Hattingh, Matthee, & Lotriet, 2011); (Hattingh, Matthee, & Lotriet, 2012); (Oshan, 2007); (Simsim, 2011); (Wyne, & Hashim Nainar, 2002); (AlGhamdi & Almohedib, 2011); (Almahroos, 2012); (Breslow & Allagui, 2011); (Chaurasia, Asma, & Ahmed, 2011); (Ghashghai & Lewis, 2003); (Sait, Al-Tawil, Ali, S., & Ali, H 2003); (Sait & Al-Tawil, 2007); (Sait, Al-Tawil, Khan, & Faheemuddin, 2009); (Sait, Al-Tawil, & Sanaullah, 2003); (Shen & Shakir, 2009);
Internet Adoption (Al-Shohaib, Al-Kandari, & Abdulrahim, 2009); (Alrashid, 2012); (Shalhoub, 2006); (Al-Shohaib, 2005); (Al-Shohaib, Frederick, Al-Kandari, & Dorsher, 2010); (Alsalloum, 2005); (Almobarraz, 2007); (Chaurasia, Asma, & Ahmed, 2011);
Internet Diffusion (Arnum & Conti, 1998); (Loch, Straub, & Kamel, 2003); (Al-Shohaib, 2005); (Beilock & Dimitrova, 2003); (Mathrani & Alipour, 2010);
Internet Ownership (Oghia, 2011);
Internet Effects (Albirini, 2008); (Sait, Al-Tawil, Ali, S., & Ali, H 2003); (Sait, Al-Tawil, Khan, & Faheemuddin, 2009);
Internet Pricing (Al-Heizan, 2002);
Broadband Adoption (Dwivedi, 2008); (Gerami, 2010); (Weerakkody, 2008); (Dwivedi & Weerakkody, 2007); (Dwivedi & Weerakkody, 2006);
Broadband Diffusion (Yates, Gulati, & Weiss, 2011); (Gulati & Yates, 2012); (Gulati & Yates, 2010); (Williams et al., 2007);
Other Groups (Al Lily, 2011); (Al-Saggaf & Begg, 2004); (Hermida, 2002); (Elgohary, 2008); (Alterman, 2000); (Alqudsi-ghabra, Al-Bannai, & Al-Bahrani, 2011); (Anderson, 2007); (Zittrain & Edelman, 2002)
Table 1 provided above contains high quality sources including dissertations done by students from recognized institutions, journals, and conferences. While some of the sources are grouped under ‘other groups,’ they are very important in the topic as they provide an understanding of various aspects of Internet technology including its innovation, implementation, pricing, and technologies used in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia, for example, the discussed Internet filtration in Saudi Arabia (Zittrain & Edelman, 2002). While broadband is used to connect to the Internet, it was grouped separately as it represents a different technology.
Table 2: E-government Adoption, Acceptance, Usage, and Diffusion in the Saudi Arabia Context
E-government Acceptance (Alshehri, Drew, Alhussain, & Alghamdi, 2012); (Alzahrani, 2011); (Alzahrani, Stahl, & Prior, 2012); (Baakeel, 2012); (Basri, 2012)
E-government Usage (Abanumy & Mayhew, 2005); (Basri, 2012); (Imran & Gregor, 2007)
E-government Adoption (Al-Shehry, Fairweather, Prior, Rogerson, 2006); (Al-Sobhi, 2011); (Al-Sobhi, Kamal, & Weerakkody, 2009); (Al-Sobhi, Weerakkody, & Al-Busaidy, 2010); (Al-Sobhi, Weerakkody, & El-Haddadeh, 2011); (Al-Sobhi, Weerakkody, & El-Haddadeh, 2012); (Al-Sobhi, Weerakkody, & Kamal, 2010); (Alanezi, Mahmood, & Basri, 2011); (Alateyah, Crowder & Wills, 2012); (Alateyah, Crowder, & Wills, 2012); (Aldhabaan, 2012); (Alghamdi, Goodwin, & Rampersad, 2011); (Alghamdi, Alhussain, Drew, & Alshehri, 2012); (Al-Shehry, 2009); (Alshehri & Drew, 2010); (Alshehri, Drew, & Alfarraj, 2012); (Alshehri, Drew, Alhussain, & Alghamdi, 2012); (Alsowoyegh, 2012); (Altameem, 2007); (Rana, Dwivedi, & Williams, 2012);
E-government Diffusion (Al-Sobhi & Weerakkody, 2010); (Al-Sobhi, Kamal, & Weerakkody, 2009); (Al-Sobhi, Weerakkody, & Al-Busaidy, 2010); (Rorissa, Potnis, & Demissie, 2010); (AlGhamdi, Drew, & Alkhalaf, 2011);
E-government Development (Al-Mushayt, Perwej, & Haq, 2012);
E-government Security (Alfawaz, May, & Mohannak, 2008); (Alsaghier, Ford, Nguyen, & Hexel, 2009);
E-government Challenges (Sahraoui, Gharaibeh, & Al-Jboori, 2006);
E-government Implementation (Alharbi, 2006); (Drew, 2011); (Gulati & Yates, 2011);
E-government Assimilation (Pudjianto & Hangjung, 2009);
Biotechnology Acceptance in E-government (Alhussain & Drew, 2009);
Biotechnology Adoption in E-government (Alhussain & Drew, 2010);
Other Groups (Al-Fakhri, Cropf, Kelly, & Higgs, 2008); (Abanumy, Al-Badi, & Mayhew, 2005); (Abdallah & Khalil, 2009); (Alanezi, Mahmood, & Basri, 2012); (Alfarraj, Drew, & AlGhamdi, 2011); (Almalki, Duan, & Frommholz, 2012); (Alryalat, Dwivedi, Williams, Rana, & Lal, 2012); (Alsaffar, Sun, & Kabeil, 2009); (Alshawi & Alalwany, 2009); (Bawazir, 2006); (Chanchary & Islam, 2011); (Sahraoui, 2005); (Halpern, Rozaidi, & Ki, 2012); (Katchanovski & La Porte, 2009); (Pankowska, 2008);
Table 2 provided above groups sources for e-government into various categories. In addition to e-government acceptance, adoption, usage, and diffusion, some sources discuss the security issues in the e-government implementation, challenges that e-government faces, acceptance and adoption of biometric technology in e-government, and development of secure and user-friendly e-government systems.
Table 3: Mobile Banking Adoption, Acceptance, Usage, and Diffusion in the Saudi Arabia Context
M-banking Adoption (Al-Ashban & Burney, 2001); (Al-Jabri & Sohail, 2012); (Abdullah, 2009).
Other Groups (Alber, 2011)
Table 3 provided above divides articles talking about mobile banking adoption in one group and those talking about other aspects of mobile banking in other groups. While the table does not have the groups of Internet acceptance, usage, and diffusion, the articles presented provide important information regarding mobile banking.
Table 4: M-Commerce Adoption, Acceptance, Usage, and Diffusion in the Saudi Arabia Context
M-Commerce Adoption (Al Hosni, Ali, & Ashrafi, 2010)
Other Groups (Alotaibi, 2010)
Table 4 provided above contains articles that generally talk about mobile commerce. Al Hosni, Ali, & Ashrafi (2010) discuss m-commerce adoption in the Middle East and Alotaibi (2010) develops a proposal on mobile advertising.
Table 5: M-Government Adoption, Acceptance, Usage, and Diffusion in the Saudi Arabia Context
M-government Security (Alhussain & Drew, 2010)
M-government Implementation (Abanumy & Mayhew, 2005); (Alsenaidy & Ahmad, 2012)
Biometrics in M-government (Alhussain & Drew, 2012); (Alhussain, Drew, & Von Hellens, 2010)
Other Groups (Al-Khalifa, 2011); (Al-Solbi & Mayhew, 2005)
Table 5 provided above shows groupings of sources with regard to mobile government security, implementation, and use of biometric technology. Al-Khalifa (2011), grouped under ‘other groups,’ discusses the development of mobile government websites, and Al-Solbi & Mayhew (2005) discuss e-readiness in Saudi Arabia.
Discussion
Novelty and Uniqueness of Saudi Arabia’s Works
Models
Saudi works use standard acceptable models such as Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to analyse collected data and come up with reliable and implementable results. Most of the models focus on Structural Equation Modelling, Regression and Cronbach Alpha, and Partial Least Squares for analysis in order to take care of the diversity that exists among sample studies and policy makers.
According to Alatawi et al. (2012), when investigating the factors that influence the adoption of knowledge management systems in the public sector of Saudi Arabia, the UTAUT model was used to represent the technological context of the TEO framework. AbuShanab and Pearson (2007) used the regression analysis to validate the UTAUT model while investigating the factors that affect the adoption of e-banking services in Jordan. Their results indicated that UTAUT is a good candidate for doing research and analysis on the adoption of future technologies.
AlAwadhi and Morris (2008) modified the UTAUT model to include time saving, money saving, and effort benefits. They identified influence moderators such as experience with the Internet and gender while studying the factors that determine the use and adoption of e-government services in Kuwait. The results of their study indicated that peer influence, effort expectancy, and performance expectancy greatly influence the adoption of e-government in Kuwait. Al-Gahtani et al. (2007) utilized the UTAUT model to analyse the intention of use and usage behaviour with reference to information technology and found that the perceptions and beliefs of users influence their decision to adopt information technology.
Methodology
The studies utilize both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data and regression and various analysis tools to analyse data. The researchers designed their questionnaires to suit their hypothesis in order to develop appropriate results. They used both online and offline questionnaires to get information from target audience. While some works utilized small sample sizes, they admitted the small sample sizes as limitation and recommended the use of large sample sizes in the future in order to come up with more reliable results. However, most works used appropriate sample sizes and, therefore, delivered reliable and appropriate results. The works followed appropriate steps to determine sample sizes; they determined the size of population, accuracy of the results, acceptable risks, and the level of distribution of the attributes in question; they also estimated the rate of response. These made them decide on the size of the sample that would produce results that would represent the entire population.
Some Saudi researchers do not come up with results and conclusions based on qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, but analyse various literary sources done by other researchers and come up with the results and conclusions based on the reviewed literature. Regardless of the method used and depending on the level of analysis, all approaches produce reliable results.
Dissertations
Saudi works are unique indeed. They enable students to get their PhD degrees and encourage research in various fields. While some institutions might not encourage the use of students’ dissertations for academic references, their dissertations are allowed to be used as references by other students and are published. This means that the dissertations are thoroughly done and supervised in the institutions and their recommendations can be used by various stakeholders for improvement.
Contribution of the Studies
Various works done by Saudi researchers have contributed a lot to the development, implementation, acceptance, usage, adoption, and diffusion of new technologies in Saudi Arabia. By determining factors that influence the adoption and use of various technologies not only in Saudi Arabia, but also in other developing countries, the works contribute a lot to the determination of various ways of dealing with the factors in order to promote the acceptance, adoption, and use of technologies. The studies also encourage adopting and using new technologies in order to receive fast, efficient, and effective services. Using recommendations from numerous studies, various stakeholders, including IT professionals, government officials, and business managers, are able to implement technologies and follow appropriate approaches to develop and implement technologies that are accepted by users.
The works have also enabled the identification of various security issues that users face and come up with different technologies, such as the biometric technology that solves a range of security concerns regarding various technologies. In this regard, users gain confidence in the security of various issues they raised after the implementation of the biometric technology and begin to accept, adopt, and use new technologies.
The works not only discuss various aspects of new technologies, but they also consider other factors and attributes, such as intermediaries. Intermediaries are helpful in bridging the gap that exists between the government or technology implementers and users. By investigating the role of intermediaries in regard to acceptance, adoption, usage, and diffusion of technology in developing countries, the studies positively contribute to the field of technology. Users, implementers, and other stakeholders are able to realize the role of intermediaries and use them appropriately to promote acceptance and use of technologies. In addition, intermediaries identify and know some weak areas and come up with strategies that would ensure they deliver better services to the public.
How we will Contribute to the Field
Information technology is very dynamic and develops at a very fast rate. It makes people and organizations offer efficient and effective services to clients. Studying various models that help to analyse the acceptance, adoption, usage, and diffusion of new technologies in developing countries is very important and we can contribute to the field by doing extensive research and coming up with recommendations that would solve or reduce the obstacles that prevent effective adoption and use of new technologies.
There was scanning of 90 studies conducted in the context of the Middle East including Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), and UTAUT in order to examine UTAUT2 as the latest theory developed in 2012 and to extend UTAUT2 by integrating new constructs and relationships based on a review and synthesis prepared by understanding the context of consumer acceptance and use of IT which was presented in the Literature Review with a comparison between the original theory and the suggested model. There were 15 studies out of 90 which used UTAUT research model, and 9 of them were done in Saudi Arabia. This indicates that the up-to-date concept of consumer acceptance and use of technology needs to be investigated more in the Middle East.
While UTAUT has been used in many Saudi researches, UTAUT2 has not been tested in the region as its generator advised for its testing in different countries and technologies in 2012. We will test the theory on Mobile Internet, as was done in Hong Kong. In addition, we will test the theory on Mobile Government, which has not been done yet. We are also going to extend and strengthen the theory based on other theories, such as TRA, TPB, TAM, UTAUT, and UTAUT2, in order to add new constructs and relationships before comparing our model’s results with UTAUT2 to see the difference and determine its validity.
Conclusion
Many Saudi works use acceptable models such as Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to analyse collected data and come up with reliable and implementable results. UTAUT2 has not been tested in Saudi Arabia as its generator advised for its testing in different countries and technologies in 2012. We will test the theory on Mobile Internet, as was done in Hong Kong. In addition, we will test the theory on Mobile Government, which has not been done yet. We will also extend and strengthen the theory based on other theories such as TRA, TPB, TAM, UTAUT, and UTAUT2 in order to add new constructs and relationships before comparing our model’s results with UTAUT2 to see the difference and determine whether it is valid or not.
References
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