Study of the Effective Factors on Technology Acceptance of Social Cataloging Apps by Postgraduate Students of Isfahan University Based on the UTAUT2 model

Social cataloging applications are a new technology which its adoption can affect the scientific, research, applied and commercial fields in many ways. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the factors affecting the acceptance of the mentioned technology by graduate students as a research group, based on the secondary model of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2).

This research is an applicable one, which has been done by mediating role-modeling method. The research sample consisted of 184 students in the fields of English language and literature, information science and computer engineering- the trends of Information Technology at the University of Isfahan. Three fields of English, cataloging and technology were selected. The data collection tool was the questionnaire of Venkatesh about acceptance of technology which was used after customizing and determining validity and reliability. Hypotheses and questions were designed based on the relationships in the conceptual model of the research. The conceptual model of the research was the UTAUT2 model plus three variables of added profession, technology readiness and language. The research hypotheses were analyzed using block regression model, probit regression model and path model.

The findings showed that among the seven factors in the main model, performance expectancy and hedonic motivation had the most positive and significant effect on behavioral intention. After that, the social effect, price value and effort expectancy, by turn had a more to less effective effect on behavioral intention. Age moderated the relationship between price value and hedonic motivation on behavioral intention. Profession moderated the relationship between effort expectancy and behavioral intention, and experience moderated the relationship between behavioral intention and use behavior. Behavioral intention showed a very strong positive and significant relationship on use behavior. It should be noted that the three modifiers of language, technology readiness, and gender had no effect on model's relationships.

It seems that for graduate students, what is most important in using social cataloging applications is their usefulness and enjoyment. The older the students, the more they value the cost of running the software. An easy understanding of the use of this technology in students who specialize in cataloging is more predictive of behavioral intention in using such software.