Social Influence and Instant Messaging Adoption

This study empirically investigated the influence of technology acceptance model factors, social influence factors and demographic factors on instant messaging adoption in the workplace. The research model addresses the need articulated by researchers to include social influence factors in the study of new technology adoption. An interesting finding is that in a factor analysis of the data, subjective norm and perceived critical mass loaded on one factor suggesting that in the workplace the distinction between the influence of subjective norm and critical mass may be blurred. Social Influence (subjective norm and perceived critical mass combined) was found to be a more important factor in determining IM adoption than perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Gender and age did not impact the adoption of IM in the study. The implications of the finding for research and practice are presented.