The UTAUT Model
A number of theoretical models have been proposed to facilitate the understanding of factors impacting the acceptance of information technologies (Davis 1989, Chau 1996; Venkatesh and Davis 2000). Among these studies, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is one of the most influential and robust in explaining information technology (IT) adoption behaviour. The key purpose of TAM was to provide a basis for discovering the impact of external variables on internal beliefs, attitudes, and intentions. The TAM assumes that beliefs about usefulness and ease of use are always the primary determinants of information technologies adoption among the users. According to TAM, these two determinants serve as the basis for attitudes toward using a particular system, which in turn determines the intention to use, and then generates the actual usage behaviour. Perceived usefulness is defined as the extent to which a person believes that using a system would enhance his or her job performance. Perceived ease of use refers to the extent to which a person believes that using a system would be free of mental efforts (Davis 1989).