Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, usually abbreviated UTAUT, is a technology-acceptance model formulated by Viswanath Venkatesh and colleagues in a paper that set out to explain why users choose to adopt and continue using an information system. The theory built its model by reviewing and consolidating constructs drawn from eight earlier theories researchers had used to explain technology-usage behavior, including the theory of reasoned action, the technology acceptance model, the theory of planned behavior, the diffusion of innovations theory and social cognitive theory. UTAUT holds that four core constructs shape a user's behavior: performance expectancy, the degree to which a person believes a system will help them do their job or task better; effort expectancy, the perceived ease of using the system; social influence, the degree to which a person perceives that others who matter to them believe they should use it; and facilitating conditions, the degree to which a person believes organizational and technical support exists for using it. The first three constructs directly shape a person's intention to use the system, which in turn shapes actual use behavior, while facilitating conditions act directly on use behavior itself, and gender, age, experience and voluntariness of use are proposed to moderate how strongly each construct operates. In education, UTAUT and its later consumer-context extension, UTAUT2, have been widely applied to study why teachers and students adopt or resist classroom technologies and e-learning platforms.