QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF TAM
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The TAM was first introduced by Fred Davis in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was
based on earlier research in the fields of both psychology and the social sciences (Davis, 1989).
The TAM derived from the theory of reasoned action (TRA), which suggests that an individual’s
attitude toward engaging in or perform a behavior is determined by their attitude toward the
behavior and the subjective norms that surround it (Hill et al., 1977). To build upon the TRA
model, Davis created the original version of the TAM for his doctoral dissertation. In that, Davis
suggests that an individual’s intention to use technology is influenced by two primary principles:
perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness (Davis, 1989). The former refers to the degree of
difficulty that an individual perceives when using a particular technology, and the latter refers to
the user’s belief that the technology would improve performance or productivity.
Askool and Nakata (2011) applied the TAM to explore a conceptual model for the
acceptance of social CRM systems through a scoping study. This research notes that social CRM
has emerged as a new way of integrating social networking into more traditional CRM systems
and looks at factors that may influence businesses and customers’ adop tion of social CRM in the
banking industry in Saudi Arabia (Askool & Nakata, 2011). The model being proposed examines
the TAM by incorporating some enhancements, including factors identified in social networking
and business relationships literature that influence social CRM adoption. A scoping study was
conducted on the banking sector of Saudi Arabia and included a comprehensive literature review
and discussions with CRM managers and experts in Saudi banks. A template analysis was
applied to analyze the data, and the findings suggest that CRM implementation improves the
ability to better handle customers’ preferences and deliver improved services , including
enhancements to marketing and sales functionalities. The proposed model suggests that customer
familiarity, organizational caring behavior, and transparency through sharing information to
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