NORMATIVE INFLUENCE ON THE ACCEPTANCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - MEASUREMENT AND EFFECTS

This article draws from the behavioral research literature to explore the mechanisms of normative influence and to evaluate measurement tech niques that may be applied to studies of information technology (IT) a cceptance. Two widely accepted models (Fishbein and Ajzen's subjective norm and Jackson's Return Potential model of group norms) are evaluat ed as potential methods of measuring normative influence. The article also outlines the results of a field study that incorporated Jackson's technique into the Technology Acceptance Model. In the field study, w hich considered software usage in 10 intact work groups, normative inf luence explained a significant portion of the variance in usage. The r esults suggest that normative pressures may be more influential in tec hnology acceptance than demonstrated in earlier research findings. Res ults also suggest that Jackson's model may be a viable alternative to the subjective norm measure.