Technology acceptance research: Meta-analysis

Abstract

Rapid digitalisation has resulted in a literature about technology acceptance that is ever increasing in size, naturally creating debates about the developments in the field and their implications. Given the size of the literature and the range of factors, theories and applications considered, this article reviewed the relevant literature using a meta-analytical approach. The objective of this review was twofold: (a) to provide a comprehensive analysis of the factors contributing to technology acceptance and investigate their effects, depending on theoretical underpinnings, and (b) to explore the conditions explaining the variance in the effects of predictors time-, application- and journal-wise. This review analysed data from 693 papers. A total of 21 independent predictors having differential effects on attitude, intention and use behaviour were found. The effects of the predictors were different depending on the theoretical frameworks they were related to. The analysis of the consistency of the role of the predictors suggested that there was no longitudinal change in their effect sizes. However, a significant variance was found when comparing predictors across research applications and the journals in which the papers were published. The analysis of publication bias demonstrated a tendency to publish studies with significant results, although no evidence was found of p-value manipulation.