Technology Acceptance Model in U.S. Extension: CRM Adoption

QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF TAM

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Andrea Simpson

EIT

“You can look in the analytics and see exactly what topics people are clicking on, how many people are opening your emails, how many times they ’re opening your emails”

Caroline Sanders

SMC, PR

“It has given me the opportunity to engage those contacts in a more personal manner. ”

Summary of Findings

This study explores the adoption and evaluation of CRM technologies by CES

professionals, the majority of whom play significant leadership roles within their respective

institutions. The study delves into the perspectives of CES professionals through a thorough

review of data from recent surveys and semi-structured interviews. The key findings have

potentially significant implications for the CES. RQ1 explores the perceived benefits of CRM

technologies; participants identified various benefits associated with CRM systems, including

contact and data management, strategic marketing and communications, and reporting and

evaluation, emerging as the most frequently reported. The perception of these benefits highlights

a high level of value that CES professionals observe in the use, or potential use, of CRM

systems, and increases the presence of perceived usefulness throughout other question responses.

However, CES professionals encounter or perceive multiple barriers to adopting CRM systems.

The primary barriers include cost and resource considerations, training and support requirements,

and concerns about perceived usefulness and employee resistance. Data security and data privacy

were also significant concerns, reinforcing the notion that CRM technologies require

multifaceted considerations to be successfully implemented and achieve appropriate adoption.

The TAM was selected as the theoretical framework for this research to analyze the

extent and influence of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness on the adoption of CRM

technologies. The statistical analysis revealed a moderate positive correlation between perceived

ease of use and reported success, emphasizing the importance of user-friendly interfaces in

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