A Conceptual and Operational Definition of Personal Innovativeness in the Domain of Information Technology

TLDR

The acceptance of new information technologies by users remains a key issue, and several models have been developed to explain how they are adopted. The paper proposes a new construct—personal innovativeness in the domain of information technology—that illuminates relationships in technology acceptance models and offers an operational measure with desirable psychometric properties, hypothesizing it moderates antecedents and consequences of individual perceptions. The construct was developed and validated using the World‑Wide Web as the innovation context. The study discusses implications for theory and practice.

Abstract

The acceptance of new information technologies by their intended users persists as an important issue for researchers and practitioners of information systems. Several models have been developed in the literature to facilitate understanding of the process by which new information technologies are adopted. This paper proposes a new construct that further illuminates the relationships explicit in the technology acceptance models and describes an operational measure for this construct that possesses desirable psychometric properties. The construct, personal innovativeness in the domain of information technology, is hypothesized to exhibit moderating effects on the antecedents as well as the consequences of individual perceptions about a new information technology. The construct was developed and validated in the context of the innovation represented by the World-Wide Web. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.