Extending the Technology Acceptance Model : a Field Study of Broker Workstations

This paper presents a field study of the Technology Acceptance Model. We extended thismodel to predict the acceptance of a multifinctional, broker workstation with a windowedinterface. Brokers and sales assistants in the private client group of a major investmentbank use this workstation as an integral part of their jobs. The extended model explains asignificant percentage of the variance in usage, but the variables that are most salient in themodel differ between brokers and sales assistants. There is evidence that low performingbrokers use the workstation more than higher performing brokers; the results also suggestthat more training may be needed for sophisticated workstations for professionals than forclerical personnel learning to use transactions processing systems. We believe it isimportant to predict and understand the acceptance of technology like the workstation inthis study if firms are to obtain a return from investing in information technology