Acceptability Evaluation of a Developed Thermal Infrared Device for Fire Risk Management: Using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Model

Abstract

A novel thermal infrared device was developed to measure wire temperature in application to fire risk management. Findings show that the device is as effective as the conventional thermocouple thermometer. The technology adoption of the device was also assessed using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. From the assessment, it was found out that user age has a negative effect on the UTAUT constructs on performance expectancy (PE), the effort expectancy (EE), and facilitating condition (FC). Moreover, the user gender was found to have an adverse effect on PE. Furthermore, the construct which has the highest positive effect on the user behavioral intention (BI) is social influence (SI) with a value of 0.552. All the factors have values greater than or equal to 0.7 thresholds for Cronbach's alpha, 0.5 for composite reliability, and 0.5 for average variances.