Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use for Websites Used by Students in Higher Education

Abstract

A unified framework for researching technology acceptance, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), was previously proposed and validated. The aim of this article is to explore the application UTAUT to websites used by students in higher education. Both prescribed websites and user-selected sites were studied using a non-experimental research design and questionnaire-based measures. The results support direct and moderated effects of technology-acceptance variables on acceptance outcomes in the research model, supporting UTAUT. As predicted, the research model—based on UTAUT—was more successful in explaining the acceptance of a prescribed library site than that of a prescribed virtual learning environment. The model was also successfully applied to user-selected websites. User-selected sites were especially intrinsically motivating. The effect of intrinsic motivation on performance expectancy, mediated by effort expectancy, was confirmed. The results demonstrate the broad scope of applicability of UTAUT and motivate its recommended wider use.