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Activity Number:
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519
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Type:
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Contributed
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Date/Time:
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Thursday, August 7, 2008 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
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Sponsor:
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Business and Economics Statistics Section
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| Abstract - #301296 |
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Title:
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An Investigation of Virtual Worlds Adoption: A Research Framework and Empirical Study
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Author(s):
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Guangying Hua*+ and Dominique Haughton
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Companies:
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Bentley College and Bentley College
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Address:
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175 Forest Street, Waltham, MA, 02452,
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Keywords:
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Structural Equation Modeling ; Survey research ; Virtual Worlds ; Technology Acceptance Model ; Diffusion of innovation
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Abstract:
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A virtual world is an Internet-based simulated environment which intends for its users to inhabit and interact via avatars. As a new information technology innovation, it has developed so fast with the economic success for organizations and individuals. Very limited research has been done to investigate the virtual world so far. This paper presents a research framework to investigate the acceptance of the virtual world from individual users' perspectives. In order to cater to the special features of the virtual world, a framework based on the technology acceptance model and diffusion of innovation is presented from a synthesis of the extant literature. An empirical study is employed to test each hypothesis. The results show useful implications.
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