Exploring determinants of early user acceptance for an audio-visual heritage archive service using the vignette method

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors, which explain the behavioural intention of the use of a new audio-visual cultural heritage archive service. An online survey in combination with a factorial survey is utilised to investigate the predictable strength of technological, individual and contextual constructs. The case used to validate this model is that of a not-yet-existing audio-visual archive service. Based on data collected from the survey (N = 1939), it is confirmed that payment and interpersonal influence the intention to adopt a new service thus partially supporting our three-dimensional model (i.e. technology, individual and context). The study contributes to the field of adoption research by studying a new service rather than an existing one. Subsequently, a vignette study is adopted. Moreover, the field of audio-visual archives is introduced in user research, which is considered novel. Pioneering on the unlocking of audio-visual archive this research seeks answers in the user needs and determinants for services upon these archives. Furthermore, the practical and scientific implications are discussed.

Keywords:

• audio-visual heritage
• early acceptance
• vignette method
• service features
• social influence
• demographics

Acknowledgements

This article is based on research that was conducted in the Archives in Motion (AiM) project, which is part of the Dutch-Flemish research program IM-Pact and is supported by grants from ICTRegie (the Dutch taskforce for ICT research and innovation). Furthermore, the authors would like to express their appreciation for the valuable input provided by Dr. Karianne Vermaas.

Notes

1. The terms scenarios and vignettes are used interchangeably due to the similarity in definition (Wason et al. 2002).