A Cross-Category Analysis of Dispositional Drivers of Technology Adoption

Abstract

We study technology adoption patterns by examining how dispositional attitudes, as individual characteristics, combine to influence adoption across a varied range of consumer and self-service technologies. Using the Technology Adoption Propensity (TAP) index, a psychometric scale that measures four dimensions of consumers’ technological predispositions, our results indicate that feeling proficient in one’s ability to learn how to use technology has the largest effect on adoption across offerings, whether relatively low-tech or high-tech. We further show that the positive effect of felt proficiency and the negative effect of a sense of vulnerability conferred by technology appear to diminish as an offering matures. Across product categories, about 11% of our sample exhibits a relatively high probability of adopting all cross-category technological offerings. This group is characterized by a high level of felt proficiency and they adopt new technologies sooner than other groups.