Adoption of Broadband Internet in Korea: The Role of Experience in Building Attitudes

Abstract

Although many countries are attempting to build an information infrastructure and accelerate the adoption of broadband Internet access technology, the results are not always satisfactory. The focus of earlier research on the diffusion and adoption of broadband Internet access has been primarily on the construction of a national-level infrastructure or on macro-level factors such as government policies, market competition and the density of population. This research highlights the individual-level factors affecting the adoption of broadband access, integrating various views on the adoption and diffusion of technology, including the technology acceptance model, theory of planned behaviour and diffusion of innovation model. An extended technology acceptance model incorporating the notion of perceived resources is proved to be relevant in the adoption of broadband technologies. It was found that innovation attributes, such as compatibility, visibility and result demonstrability, have an impact on constructs in the extended technology acceptance model such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived resources. These results also support the idea that congruent experiences and opportunities in adopting a new technology affect user attitudes through the three extended technology acceptance model constructs above. This research suggests that efforts should be made to expand the compatible experience base of broadband Internet in order to facilitate its adoption and use. This paper also provides an extensive review of the adoption behaviour of individuals by incorporating different views and theories.