Beyond Adoption: Barriers to an Online Assignment Submission System Continued Use

Abstract

Understanding the factors that affect continued use or discontinuance of an information system beyond initial adoption is one of the most challenging issues in information systems research. This paper combines information economics, the technology acceptance model (TAM), and diffusion of innovation theory, and analyzes barriers with respect to the continued use of information systems. The suggested model examines data collected from 284 former users enrolled in a blended distance learning university, who apparently abandoned an online assignment submission system. The findings indicate that behavioral intention to use the system was mainly influenced by its perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, its real value, and general attitude towards new technologies. Social and institutional influence was quite low, but the major barrier to continuance was incompatibility with the assignment preparation process performed by the students, as well as the assignment checking process performed by the tutors, which discouraged continued use.