Purpose - Recent years have seen the introduction of many new technology-based services. In this study, we look at television delivered to a mobile device in order to better understand the adoption of such services. This research focuses on the role of trial in new technology-based services’ adoption. We hypothesize that trial increases both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and that it is especially effective with women. Methodology- A field experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses of the study. A two group independent groups design was used to manipulate product trial (presence vs absence), while the others variables were measured by questionnaire. Findings - Our empirical results reveal that product trial positively impacts perceived ease of use, but not perceived usefulness. We also show that the relationship between product trial and ease of use is stronger for females that for males. Moreover, product trial, working through perceived ease of use, influences the intention to adopt the new technology. Practical Implications - In many cases where the service is provided by software, the cost of offering a trial is quite modest and management ought to therefore give it serious thought as a promotional tactic. Social implications - Our research suggests that trial can be quite efficacious especially on the female target: It could help to increase its confidence in its ability to use new technologies. Originality - Curiously, scholars have not studied the potential of trial with respect to new technology-based innovations and the contribution of the current work is to fill this gap.

The impact of trial on technology adoption: the case of mobile TV

Soscia, Isabella;Arbore, Alessandro;
2011

Abstract

Purpose - Recent years have seen the introduction of many new technology-based services. In this study, we look at television delivered to a mobile device in order to better understand the adoption of such services. This research focuses on the role of trial in new technology-based services’ adoption. We hypothesize that trial increases both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and that it is especially effective with women. Methodology- A field experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses of the study. A two group independent groups design was used to manipulate product trial (presence vs absence), while the others variables were measured by questionnaire. Findings - Our empirical results reveal that product trial positively impacts perceived ease of use, but not perceived usefulness. We also show that the relationship between product trial and ease of use is stronger for females that for males. Moreover, product trial, working through perceived ease of use, influences the intention to adopt the new technology. Practical Implications - In many cases where the service is provided by software, the cost of offering a trial is quite modest and management ought to therefore give it serious thought as a promotional tactic. Social implications - Our research suggests that trial can be quite efficacious especially on the female target: It could help to increase its confidence in its ability to use new technologies. Originality - Curiously, scholars have not studied the potential of trial with respect to new technology-based innovations and the contribution of the current work is to fill this gap.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11565/3731851
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