TAM or Just Plain Habit: A Look at Experienced Online Shoppers

According to the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), behavioral intentions to use a new IT are primarily the product of a rational analysis of its desirable perceived outcomes, namely perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU). But what happens with the continued use of an IT among experienced users? Does habit also kick in as a major factor or is continued use only the product of its desirable outcomes? This study examines this question in the context of experienced online shoppers. The data show that, as hypothesized, online shoppers’ intentions to continue using a website that they last bought at depend not only on PU and PEOU but also on habit. In fact, habit alone can explain a large proportion of the variance of continued use of a website. Moreover, the explained variance indicates that habit may also be a major predictor of PU and PEOU among experienced shoppers. Implications are discussed. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITB9983 IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING This chapter appears in the book, Advanced Topics in End User Computing, Volume 3, edited by M. Adam Mahmood. Copyright © 2004, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.