believe that the systems is too hard to use and
that the performance benefits of usage are outweighed
by the effort of using the application.
That is, in addition to usefulness, usage is theorized
to be influenced by perceived ease of use.
Perceived usefulness is defined here as "the
degree to which a person believes that using
a particular system would enhance his or her
job performance."T his follows from the definition
of the word useful: "capable of being used
advantageously."W ithina n organizationalc ontext,
people are generally reinforced for good
performance by raises, promotions, bonuses,
and other rewards (Pfeffer, 1982; Schein, 1980;
Vroom, 1964). A system high in perceived usefulness,
in turn, is one for which a user believes
in the existence of a positive use-performance
relationship.
Perceived ease of use, in contrast, refers to "the
degree to which a person believes that using
a particularsy stem would be free of effort."T his
follows from the definition of "ease": "freedom
from difficultyo r great effort."E fforti s a finite
resource that a person may allocate to the various
activities for which he or she is responsible
(Radner and Rothschild, 1975). All else being
equal, we claim, an application perceived to be
easier to use than another is more likely to be
accepted by users.