This SpringerBrief discusses the origins, emergence, evolution, and future of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). TAM, simple yet powerful, has been extensively validated, standing as a leading scientific paradigm and a reliable model for explaining, predicting, and improving user acceptance across a spectrum of technological deployments. Over more than three decades since the introduction of TAM, numerous extensions have emerged, incorporating additional variables and collectively referred to as “TAM++”. However, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use remain the basic beliefs of the core TAM model.
The introductory chapter “Once upon a TAM” focuses on the challenging search for a user acceptance crystal ball, showing that it is indeed possible to consistently predict, explain, and improve user acceptance. “Evolution of TAM” traces the model's growth and adaptability, exploring the proliferation of selected TAM-related behavioural intention models, several integrated theoretical approaches, the quest for other behavioural intention antecedents, and TAM’s versatile applications in various contexts. “Revolution of TAM” presents an in-depth systematic review, encompassing a meta-analysis of selected TAM reviews and meta-analyses, and a narrative review of representative primary studies, providing a thorough and extensive understanding of the TAM universe. The epilogue “What will the Future of TAM be Like?” provides insights into its dynamic future. This SpringerBrief concludes with seven actionable principles, serving as a strategic guide for those aiming to customize the TAM++ body of knowledge for application-oriented studies within a particular context. This comprehensive overview of TAM is a valuable source of information for researchers, practitioners, and all interested readers, especially those new to the field.
Fred D. Davis holds the Bobby G. Stevenson Chair in Information Technology and is a Professor at the Rawls College of Business, Texas Tech University, USA. He received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served on the business school faculties at the Universities of Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, and Arkansas. His research interests include user acceptance of information technology, technology supported decision making, skill acquisition, and NeuroIS. He has been a co-organizer of the Gmunden Retreat on NeuroIS since 2009. His research has been published in MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Management Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of MIS, Journal of the AIS, Information Systems Journal, Computers in Human Behavior, and other journals.
Andrina Granić holds a tenured position as a Professor in Computer Science at the Faculty of Science, University of Split, Croatia. She received her PhD from the University of Zagreb, Croatia. Her research interests include human-computer interaction, interaction design, technology-enhanced learning, and acceptance of technology. Her research has been published in Technology in Society, Universal Access in the Information Society, Computers & Education, Education and Information Technologies, British Journal of Educational Technology, and other journals. She holds positions on several editorial boards, actively engages in various national and international projects, serves as the Croatian representative in IFIP TC13 on Human-Computer Interaction, and is a member of the IEEE Computer Society.
