A Conceptual Model for Acceptance of Information Systems: An Organizational Semiotic Perspective

The bulk of research in IS concentrates on the study of early determination of performance with information technology (IT) design and implementations. Although current models are relatively good at predicting intention and usage they are still lacking validation in providing guidance to designers prior to the prediction of intention and usage in the design phase. Furthermore, causal antecedents of constructs are often overlooked thus limiting the current models’ ability to understand the way in which the cognitive phenomena, so important in technology acceptance decisions, are formed. The contributions of this paper are two-fold: First it refines leading technology acceptance models to include human information functions based on the literature of semiotics, and thus provide a means to understanding the way in which the individuals’ practical operations and decisions are regulated; Second, it comments on the model in the context of Saudi Arabia highlighting the relative importance of the socio-cultural influence on technology acceptance decisions and provides a first step towards guidance to designers prior to the introduction of a new technology.