The effect of power and gender on technology acceptance

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the joint effect of power and gender on individuals’ perceptions and evaluations of information systems (IS), and their behavioral intentions of technology acceptance. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a 2 (powerful vs powerless) × 2 (female vs male) between-subject experimental design. A total of 128 subjects participated in the experiment. Findings – The results suggest that there is a significant gender difference in terms of technology acceptance in the high-power condition. Further, such a gender difference is attenuated in the low-power condition. Specifically, when primed with the feeling of powerful, male users (vs female users) have higher computer self-efficacy and rate the IS as easier to use and more enjoyable. However, when the feeling of powerless was elicited, the effect of gender on technology acceptance disappeared. Originality/value – The gender effect on technology acceptance has been widely studied. The current research extends the literature by considering the moderating effect of power on such a gender effect.