Mobile ICT Acceptance in Late Adopter Countries

Despite the rapid global diffusion of the smartphone, some countries have experienced much slower uptake of the technology. The low smartphone penetration within Slovakia provides the opportunity to explore what drives smartphone use in late majority countries. Slovakia is a central European nation and part of the Eurozone. It has advanced telecommunications infrastructure and is subject to the same telecommunications regulations as other EU members. While neighbours have high smartphone penetration, Slovakia is a late majority adopter. This study uses Triandis’ theory of interpersonal behavior to investigate the question: What drives the use of smartphones in late majority countries?
By studying the differences between current and potential smartphone users, the study revisits Karahanna et al.’s research question: Do potential adopters and users of IT hold the same behavioral and normative beliefs? PLS analysis finds that habit, affect, and perceived social norms explain 66% of the intention to buy a smartphone. Surprisingly, perceived consequences, which measures the instrumental usefulness, is not significant. A comparison of users and non-users find that they differ in almost every attribute measured in the study, and that users intend to continue using a smartphone whereas non-users have more ambivalent intentions.