The Role of User Resistance and Social Influences on the Adoption of Smartphone: Moderating Effect of Age

Abstract

This study examines the factors affecting users' adoption of the smartphone as an innovative device. Prior studies on the acceptance of computing devices have primarily focused on the impact of the technological benefits and characteristics. Meanwhile, there is a lack of research approaching user resistance, which hinders the diffusion of an innovation. In particular, the smartphone is a highly communication-oriented device that people's attitude and evaluation critically influence its further diffusion. However, few studies have validated this link in the smartphone adoption context. Therefore, this study has attempted to build a research model that explains factors affecting user's resistance to smartphone adoption by integrating technological and social antecedents forming the resistance, and empirically analyzes the data obtained through a survey. As a result, the relative complexity and relative advantages presented in the theory of innovation diffusion had a direct impact on the user's resistance.