Models to Examine the Adoption of e-Government Services - Literature review Example

The developing countries have now started embracing technology to offer e-government services to the citizens but it has not been adapted globally at the same rate. The factors responsible for the low penetration of technology is developing nations could vary across nations and regions. However, to make the services fruitful and to enhance adoption by consumers, various researchers have formulated and developed theoretical frameworks to understand and explain the process of technology adoption.

Agarwal (2000) defines technology adoption as the use, or acceptance of new technology, or new products. In Information Technology and Information system (IT/IS) research, numerous theories have been used to study users' adoption of new technologies. Various models were developed including the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)(Davis, 1989), Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)(Ajzen et al., 1980), Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991), and recently, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003) which have all identified factors that affect an individual’s intention to use or the actual use of information technology.3.2 Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA)The theory of reasoned action (TRA) (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, Ajzen et al., 1980) is a well-accepted model that has been used successfully to explain behavior across a wide variety of settings (Chau, 1996, Chen et al.

, 2002, Davis et al., 1989, Venkatesh, 1999). According to TRA, an individual’s behavior is best predicted by his/her behavioral intention which, in turn, is determined by the person’s attitudes and subjective norm (social influence) (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). This implies that individuals consider the implications of their actions before they decided to engage or actually engage in any given behavior. This theory focuses on behavior intentions rather than on attitudes that influence behavior (Al-Quesi, n.d.).

However, an individual may not always consider the implications of his actions. This too may differ across individuals and across situations. According to TRA an individual’s intention to perform behavior encompasses two factors – attitudes the performance of behavior and subjective norms. Behavioral intention refers to the strength of one’s intention to perform a specified behavior (Davis et al., 1989).