Determinants of behavioral intentions to use an E-Pharmacy service: Insights from TAM theory and the moderating influence of technological literacy.

BACKGROUND: The growing significance of E-Pharmacy services in healthcare necessitates investigating the factors influencing users' behavioral intentions on these platforms. Comprehending these variables is imperative to maximize service provision, elevate customer satisfaction, and ultimately elevate healthcare accessibility and results. OBJECTIVE(S): The main goal of this study is to explore the factors that shape consumers' inclination to use E-Pharmacy services, focusing on the framework provided by the Technology Acceptance Model. Additionally, we aimed to investigate how technological literacy plays a moderating role in this context, specifically within the South African setting. METHODS: Using a sample of 480 South African clients, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) were used to investigate the factors influencing behavioral intention to use E-Pharmacy services. RESULTS: The findings underscore perceived usefulness, trust, performance expectancy, and social Influence as fundamental drivers influencing users' intentions to adopt E-Pharmacy systems. Additionally, the study shows that consumers' intention to use E-Pharmacy services is significantly and favorably affected by their desire to utilize such services. This suggests that individuals are more likely to act on positive intentions when they are interested in using E-Pharmacy platforms. Intriguingly, technological literacy has emerged as a moderating factor in the relationship between the intention to use and the actual behavior of utilizing E-Pharmacy platforms. This demonstrates the importance of consumers' technical knowledge and skills in bridging the intention-behavior gap and highlights the necessity of adapting treatments and instructional strategies to account for various levels of technological literacy. CONCLUSION: This study provides valuable insights into the complex relationships between factors influencing the acceptance of E-Pharmacy services in South Africa. This knowledge can have practical implications for lawmakers, developers of E-Pharmacy platforms, and healthcare professionals who aim to enhance user acceptance and utilization.

Usability and performance expectancy govern spine surgeons' use of a clinical decision support system for shared decision-making on the choice of treatment of common lumbar degenerative disorders.

Study design: Quantitative survey study is the study design. Objectives: The study aims to develop a model for the factors that drive or impede the use of an artificial intelligence clinical decision support system (CDSS) called PROPOSE, which supports shared decision-making on the choice of treatment of ordinary spinal disorders. Methods: A total of 62 spine surgeons were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their behavioral intention to use the CDSS after being introduced to PROPOSE. The model behind the questionnaire was the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. Data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Results: The degree of ease of use associated with the new technology (effort expectancy/usability) and the degree to which an individual believes that using a new technology will help them attain gains in job performance (performance expectancy) were the most important factors. Social influence and trust in the CDSS were other factors in the path model. r2 for the model was 0.63, indicating that almost two-thirds of the variance in the model was explained. The only significant effect in the multigroup analyses of path differences between two subgroups was for PROPOSE use and social influence (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Shared decision-making is essential to meet patient expectations in spine surgery. A trustworthy CDSS with ease of use and satisfactory predictive ability promoted by the leadership will stand the best chance of acceptance and bridging the communication gap between the surgeon and the patient.

A Correlational Study of Two U.S. State Extension Professionals' Behavioral Intentions to Improve Sustainable Food Chains through Precision Farming Practices.

Precision farming provides one of the most important solutions for managing agricultural production to advance global food security. Extending professionals' competencies to promote precision farming practices can increase the adoption rate, ultimately impacting food security. Many studies have addressed barriers to the adoption of precision farming technologies from the farmers' perspective. However, few are available data on the perspectives of extension professionals. Agricultural extension professionals play an important role in innovative agricultural technology adoption. Thus, this study applied four constructs from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to investigate behavioral intentions to promote precision farming among extension professionals from two extension systems. In total, 102 (N = 102) agricultural extension professionals were surveyed. The results indicated that performance expectancy and social influence were individually significant predictors of extension professional behavioral intentions to promote precision farming technologies. There were no significant differences between the professionals of two extension systems. Gender, age, and years of service did not affect extension professionals' intention to promote precision agriculture technologies. The data suggested the need for training programs to develop advanced competencies to promote agricultural innovation. This study contributes to the future professional development programs for extension professionals on communicating innovations to address food security and sustainability issues.

Performance expectancy of E-learning on higher institutions of education under uncertain conditions: Indonesia context.

Performance expectancy is the expected impact of a technology's functional advantage even in uncertain conditions. This study suggests that the learning collaboration quality, information quality, and course content support impact the actual use of e-learning and satisfaction perceived by the user, resulting in performance expectancy that meets stakeholder expectations. This study outlines the theoretical model for defining student success in e-learning systems through a theory of online collaborative learning. The research examines the empirical data gathered from 109 postgraduate doctoral students' participated in the postgraduate universities in Indonesia. The research attempts to focus specifically on how the actual use of e-learning and satisfaction perceived by users mediates the influence of learning collaboration quality, information quality, and course content support on performance expectancy to enhance the sustainability and performance of e-learning in Indonesian universities. The study shows that the learning collaboration quality, information quality, and course content support have no impact on performance expectancy, while each of the constructs indirectly impacts the performance expectancy through the actual use of e-learning. Conversely, the learning collaboration quality and course content support have not indirectly influenced toward performance expectancy by satisfaction perceived by the user as mediator except the information quality.

The effect of service robot occupational gender stereotypes on customers' willingness to use them.

Customers have obvious occupational gender stereotypes for service employees. In recent years, intelligent service robots have been widely used in the hospitality industry and have also been given gender characteristics to attract customers to use them. However, whether and when the usage of gendered service robots is effective remains to be explored. This research focuses on customers' occupational gender stereotypes and the gender of service robots, examining the influences of their consistency on customers' willingness to use service robots through three scenario studies. The findings suggest that: (1) The consistency between occupational gender stereotypes and service robot gender positively affects customers' willingness to use service robots. (2) Performance expectancy and trust are two psychological mechanisms underlying the above effect. (3) In the context of service failures, the consistency backfires and brings negative effects on willingness to use. This research extends the literature on customers' acceptance of anthropomorphized robots from the perspective of gender stereotypes and identifies the mechanisms behind the stereotype consistency effect. For practical implications, hotels should design and deploy gendered robots consistent with corresponding occupational gender stereotypes.

Social media use in higher education: Building a structural equation model for student satisfaction and performance.

Social media utilization at the student-level has become more prevalent contemporary higher education. Hence, this study is aimed at developing a specific model, along with the behavioral intention to use, to explore educational quality, actual social media use, and task-technology fit that affects student satisfaction and performance impact through examining the synergies of constructivism, user acceptance and usage of information technology, and technology acceptance. To test, a survey was administered to 430 students across five Malaysian universities. Through structural equation modeling, findings indicate that to improve student satisfaction and student performance through embedded social media, students need to have opportunities to collaborate on learning, have easy access to social media, perceive such use to be easy, and have aligned expectation on performance and effort. Interestingly, the actual social media use, was the only variable in the model that did not predict student satisfaction, despite its role in predicting student performance. The study highlights that constructivist learning, as well as task-technology fit over social media, enhances the students' learning experience and enables knowledge sharing and dissemination. The effect of using social media on student satisfaction and academic performance highlights that all students think that it is adequate for their instructors to improve their usage of social media tools. Therefore, we advocate learners and students employing social media for academic purposes with the help of lecturers at higher teaching organizations and institutions.

Promoting Healthcare Workers' Adoption Intention of Artificial-Intelligence-Assisted Diagnosis and Treatment: The Chain Mediation of Social Influence and Human-Computer Trust.

Artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted diagnosis and treatment could expand the medical scenarios and augment work efficiency and accuracy. However, factors influencing healthcare workers' adoption intention of AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment are not well-understood. This study conducted a cross-sectional study of 343 dental healthcare workers from tertiary hospitals and secondary hospitals in Anhui Province. The obtained data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that performance expectancy and effort expectancy were both positively related to healthcare workers' adoption intention of AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment. Social influence and human-computer trust, respectively, mediated the relationship between expectancy (performance expectancy and effort expectancy) and healthcare workers' adoption intention of AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment. Furthermore, social influence and human-computer trust played a chain mediation role between expectancy and healthcare workers' adoption intention of AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment. Our study provided novel insights into the path mechanism of healthcare workers' adoption intention of AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment.

Integrating the Role of UTAUT and TTF Model to Evaluate Social Media Use for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

Investigation of task-technology fit and intention to use social media tools needs to focus specifically on higher education for teaching and learning, and its impact on students' academic performance. This article aims to develop a model that would identify essential aspects that are predicted to continue to play a large role in TTF for learning in BI, which could be used to improve academic performance in higher education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics and aspects of SM and the relationship between their use in the TTF and UTAUT theory to determine how they affect research students' satisfaction and AP in HE institutions. Data for the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and task-technology fit (TTF) theories were collected using a questionnaire survey. This research hypothesizes that behavioral intention to utilize social media and task-technology fit for learning will influence social characteristics, technology characteristics, performance expectancy, and effort expectancy, all of which will improve academic performance. As a test bed for this research, a structural equation model (SEM) was constructed examining the relationships between factors that affect students' academic performance. A stratified random sample strategy was used to disseminate the main tool of data collection, a questionnaire, to 383 students. A quantitative method was used to examine the results. The obtained outcomes showed that there was a correlation among social characteristics, technological characteristics, behavioral intention to use social media, and task-technology fit for academic performance, which aided student performance and results. The study indicates that PEX and EEX also demonstrated a strong relation to task-technology fit and behavioral intent to use social media for academic purposes, both of which positively impacted academic performance. As a result, the study found that behavioral intention to utilize and task-technology-fit social media promote students' active learning and enable them to discuss and exchange knowledge and information more efficiently. In conclusion, we encourage students to use social media for educational purposes in their studies and teaching through lectures in HE institutions.

Determinants of Acceptance of Weight Management Applications in Overweight and Obese Individuals: Using an Extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Model.

Overweight and obesity carry a tremendous burden in terms of physiological and psychological comorbidities. There is a great variety of weight management applications to support weight reduction, but a systematical analysis of individuals' needs and requirements to adopt sustaining lifestyle changes is missing so far. This study aimed to assess the acceptance of such applications and its underlying predictors in individuals with overweight/obesity. A cross-sectional study was conducted, including 439 overweight/obese individuals. Health-related internet use and acceptance of weight management applications were examined using a modified questionnaire based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The general acceptance of weight management applications was high, with significant age differences. Compared to older individuals, younger ones showed a higher acceptance. BMI was not significantly associated with acceptance. Besides psychometric data and eHealth-related data, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence proved to be significant predictors for acceptance. The total variance explanation provided by the extended UTAUT model was 61.2%. The knowledge of the influencing factors on acceptance might be useful in developing, optimizing, and establishing weight management applications. For determining acceptance and its predictors of weight management applications, the UTAUT model is a valid approach.

Purchase intention and behavioural use of freemium mobile games during Covid-19 outbreak in Indonesia.

Purchase intention and behavioural use of UTAUT model has been used widely but still limited to be tested during the Covid-19 in Indonesia. This study presents UTAUT Model for the freemium mobile games in Indonesia during the pandemic. A survey of SEM-PLS toward 100 Indonesian mobile game players was conducted to analyze Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, and Social Influence as the antecedents of purchase intention and behavioural use for the freemium business model in Indonesia. Surprisingly, the social effect does not significantly influence the Purchase Intention, but others have shown their significant effects on purchase intention and behavioural use.

Acceptance of a flipped classroom to improve university students' learning: An empirical study on the TAM model and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT).

Higher education has given the flipped classroom a lot of attention as a result of its pedagogical success. As a result of the adoption of social media, smartphones, and computers in the classroom, new strategies for providing online courses, such as flipped classrooms, have evolved. To further understand the effects of such technology integration in teaching, the study looked at the responses of 213 undergraduate students at King Faisal University. For a semester, participants took their regular classes in a flipped classroom. The participants answered a survey made expressly for this study to find out if they would still be willing to use flipped classes following this experience. A structural equation modeling approach was used to analyze the research paradigm, which is based on the technological adoption model. The findings demonstrated that each variable category had a favorable influence on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Perceived utility and ease of use serve as mediating elements in the relationship between independent variables and attitudes toward adopting flipped classrooms. Additionally, the findings indicated that ATFC and BIFC have a positive influence on the acceptance of flipped classrooms. In terms of education and learning, the utilization of classroom instruction is positively impacted by both ATFC and BIFC. These findings show that attitudes toward blended learning and intentions to use flipped classrooms have the biggest impacts on the adoption of the concept in Saudi Arabia higher education.

The Mediating Influence of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology on the Relationship Between Internal Health Locus of Control and Mobile Health Adoption: Cross-sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Mobile health (mHealth) as an innovative form of information and communications technology can efficiently deliver high-quality health care by enhancing communication and health management, reducing costs, and increasing access to health services. An individual's internal health locus of control (HLOC) is found to be associated with the behavioral intent to adopt mHealth. However, little is known about the underlying mechanism of this association. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to test the mediation influence of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) on the relationship between internal HLOC and the behavioral intention to use mHealth. METHODS: A total of 374 responses were collected from Malaysian adult users of mHealth, using convenience and snowball sampling methods. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Data were collected for variables, including demographics, internal HLOC, and modified UTAUT constructs (ie, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence). RESULTS: The results showed that there was no direct relationship between internal HLOC and the behavioral intention to use mHealth (ß=-0.039, P=.32). The indirect relationship between internal HLOC and the intent to adopt mHealth was supported, indicating that the UTAUT constructs performance expectancy (ß=0.104, P<.001), effort expectancy (ß=0.056, P=.02), and social influence (ß=0.057, P=.002) mediated this relationship. The results showed full mediation, with total variance explained at 47.2%. CONCLUSIONS: This study developed an integrative model, where a health-related disposition (internal HLOC), mHealth-related beliefs (performance expectancy and effort expectancy), and normative pressure (social influence) were combined to explain the underlying mechanism of the behavioral intent to adopt mHealth. The results showed that the intention to adopt mHealth is mediated by the influence of UTAUT factors, while HLOC has no direct effect on adoption intention. The findings provide insights into augmenting mHealth adoption among the public by enhancing the perceived benefits of mHealth, helping design more effective and user-friendly mHealth tools, and capitalizing on social normative influence to adopt mHealth. This study utilized the constructs of the UTAUT model to determine the intention to use mHealth. Future research should focus on other health- and technology-related theories to ascertain other possible factors influencing the behavioral intent of mHealth adoption.

Mobile learning acceptance in social distancing during the COVID-19 outbreak: The mediation effect of hedonic motivation.

M-learning is a trending field in educational organizations, companies, and also for individual study. However, in some regions the ampleness of the phenomenon is not quantifiable or comparable due to the lack of an adequate framework and reliable metrics. Our research intends to make a little light by assessing the degree of m-learning adoption in students at a moment when face-to-face education moved suddenly online due to the COVID-19 outbreak's rapid and unpredictable spread. A new model relying on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was built to investigate and explain relationships between constructs. It reveals the key factors affecting technology adoption by considering hedonic motivation a mediator instead of an exogenous variable as in UTAUT2. Based on an analysis of 311 higher education learners, the way how performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions influence directly or indirectly the behavioral intention is researched. The analysis was conducted employing partial least squares structural equation modeling. The strongest relationship is between hedonic motivation and behavioral intention followed by the one between perceived effectiveness and hedonic motivation. Age, gender, and experience moderate the model's relationships. Research contributes to theory development by successfully adjusting the original UTAUT model. Results indicate that universities may offer learners an enjoyable m-learning experience by activating social support groups and inserting gameplay elements into the learning system.

Advanced Technology Use by Care Professionals.

Advanced technology is a primary solution for the shortage of care professionals and increasing demand for care, and thus acceptance of such technology is paramount. This study investigates factors that increase use of advanced technology during elderly care, focusing on current use of advanced technology, factors that influence its use, and care professionals' experiences with the use. This study uses a mixed-method design. Logfiles were used (longitudinal design) to determine current use of advanced technology, questionnaires assessed which factors increase such use, and in-depth interviews were administered to retrieve care professionals' experiences. Findings suggest that 73% of care professionals use advanced technology, such as camera monitoring, and consult clients' records electronically. Six of nine hypotheses tested in this study were supported, with correlations strongest between performance expectancy and attitudes toward use, attitudes toward use and satisfaction, and effort expectancy and performance expectancy. Suggested improvements for advanced technology include expanding client information, adding report functionality, solving log-in problems, and increasing speed. Moreover, the quickest way to increase acceptance is by improving performance expectancy. Care professionals scored performance expectancy of advanced technology lowest, though it had the strongest effect on attitudes toward the technology.

Factors influencing SMEs CloudERP adoption: A test with generalized linear model and artificial neural network.

This article present data concerning the factors influencing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) intention to use/adopt CloudERP system in Jordan. Generalized Linear Modeling (GLM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modeling techniques in R version 1.0.136 were used to analyze data obtained from 394 SMEs. Computer self-efficacy, organizational support, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, facilitating conditions, security and relative advantage have significant influence on the intention to use/adoption CloudERP systems. The survey data-set is made publicly available to amplify further inquiry.

Acceptability of picture archiving and communication system (PACS) among hospital healthcare personnel based on a unified theory of acceptance and use of technology.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The picture archiving and communication system (PACS) is a healthcare system technology which manages medical images and integrates equipment through a network. There are some theories about the use and acceptance of technology by people to describe the behavior and attitudes of end users towards information technologies. We investigated the influential factors on users' acceptance of PACS in the military hospitals of Tehran. METHODS: In this applied analytical and cross-sectional study, 151 healthcare employees of military hospitals who had experience in using the PACS system were investigated. Participants were selected by census. The following variables were considered: performance expectancy, efforts expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and behavioral intention. Data were gathered using a questionnaire. Its validity and reliability were approved by a panel of experts and was piloted with 30 hospital healthcare staff (Cronbach's alpha =0.91). Spearman correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis were used in analyzing the data. RESULTS: Expected performance, efforts expectancy, social impact and facilitating conditions had a significant relationship with behavioral intention. The multiple regression analysis indicated that only performance expectancy can predict the user's behavioral intentions to use PACS technology. CONCLUSION: Performance and effort expectancies are quite influential in accepting the use of PACS in hospitals. All healthcare personnel should become aware that using such technology is necessary in a hospital. Knowing the influencing factors that affect the acceptance of using new technology can help in improving its use, especially in a healthcare system. This can improve the offered healthcare services' quality.

Perfiles de orientación hacia la meta y su relación con indicadores de actividad físico-deportiva / Goal Orientation Profiles and Their Relation with Indicators of Physical Activity

Resumen El presente estudio examinó la motivación hacia la actividad física empleando la teoría de la orientación hacia la meta. Un total de 786 estudiantes participaron en este estudio. Un procedimiento de análisis de cluster jerárquico permitió identificar cuatro perfiles de orientación hacia la meta. El perfil más adaptativo (alta tarea/alto ego/altas expectativas) se asoció con la obtención de los mejores resultados. Se concluye que los jóvenes con una alta motivación hacia la tarea, alto ego y expectativas de ejecución obtienen las mayores muestras de apoyo por parte de familiares e iguales para la práctica de actividad física se perciben más autoeficaces para realizar dicha actividad, se atribuyen una mejor forma física autopercibida y manifiestan una práctica más frecuente de actividad físico-deportiva.

Abstract This paper researches motivation for physical activity in the framework of the goal orientation theory. This work is based on data from 786 students. Hierarchical cluster analysis allowed identifying four goal orientation profiles. The most adaptive profile (high task, high ego, high expectancy) is associated with the best results. Students with high motivation for physical activity, ego, and performance expectancy are concluded to obtain more indications of support from their relatives and peers for physical activity practice, perceive themselves self-effective to complete this activity, claim their better self-perceived fitness, and show more frequent physical-sports activity.

Adoption of clinical decision support systems in a developing country: Antecedents and outcomes of physician's threat to perceived professional autonomy.

OBJECTIVE: The basic objective of this research is to study the antecedents and outcomes of professional autonomy which is a central construct that affects physicians' intention to adopt clinical decision support systems (CDSS). The antecedents are physicians' attitude toward knowledge sharing and interactivity perception (about CDSS) and the outcomes are performance expectancy and intention to adopt CDSS. Besides, we include (1) the antecedents of attitude toward knowledge sharing-subjective norms, social factors and OCB (helping behavior) and (2) roles of physicians' involvement in decision making, computer self-efficacy and effort expectancy in our framework. METHODS: Data from a stratified sample of 335 Malaysian physicians working in 12 public and private hospitals in Malaysia were collected to test the hypotheses using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). RESULTS: The important findings of our research are: (1) factors such as perceived threat to professional autonomy, performance expectancy, and physicians' involvement in making decision about CDSS have significant impact on physicians' intention to adopt CDSS; (2) physicians' attitude toward knowledge sharing, interactivity perception and computer self-efficacy of physicians play a crucial role in influencing their perceived threat to professional autonomy; and (3) social network, shared goals and OCB (helping behavior) impact physicians' attitude toward knowledge sharing. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence physicians' intention to adopt CDSS in a developing country. The results can help hospital managers manage CDSS implementation in an effective manner.

Use of the united theory of acceptance and use of technology model to study information communication technology- adoption in five Saudi Arabian private hospitals

We conducted a multi-institutional case study to identify the issues associated with the adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) in five private care hospitals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We conducted interviews with 37 respondents primarily comprising IT professionals. We found that there were three determinants of behavioural intentions in this case study: organisation objectives, facilitating conditions and social influence where there are no effects of performance expectancy or effort expectancy. In all five cases, none of the moderators (age, gender, experience and voluntariness) in the original united theory of acceptance and use of technology model were considered critically important by IT professionals. In the present paper, all qualitative elements such as themes, patterns and overarching in the data were analysed to reach a conclusion. In addition, the various perspectives of using ICT are discussed.