Exploring the Antecedents of Electronic Service Acceptance: Evidence from Internet Securities Trading

Services through the web channel are becoming increasingly popular in the financial sector. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has implemented Internet trading as a new electronic service delivery channel, but the acceptance by securities investors has not yet been measured to assess the value of the implemented system. The two beliefs of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, have been used to investigate variables that motivate users to accept the new technology system. However, the antecedents of perceived usefulness and their impact have not been fully explained in the context of Internet securities trading which is one of the most information intensive and risk prone sectors. The purpose of this study is to examine whether investment in Internet securities trading technology has resulted in acceptance among Thai investors, in terms of creating effective ease of use, usefulness and trust. The survey results from securities investors show five antecedents which have a positive impact on perceived usefulness: perceived ease of use, information quality, accessibility, trust, and flow-control of the securities trading process. Respondents see the highest benefit in the flow-control of the securities trading processes via the Internet channel. Investors prefer to have the freedom to make their own decision when trading securities. Also trust has much influence on perceived usefulness. In addition, the accessibility benefit did not contribute much to increase perceived usefulness. Securities investors have a negative perception of the low speed of the Internet trading network system. The findings indicate that perceived usefulness has major influences on attitude toward usage of Internet securities trading service. Attitude toward usage has the strongest impact on intention to use whereas trust makes only small contribution to intention to use. Moreover, non-user investors have a lower intention to use and less trust in the Internet securities trading system. Apparently, the other channels, usually interpersonal interactions with the brokerage firms, remain most important in building trust. The study results suggest that electronic service providers should be concerned about increasing the integrity, reliability, efficiency of the network system, and their ability to manage the system more efficiently in order to entice them to make online transactions.