QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF TAM
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et al., 2020). In this research study, adoption patterns were examined using a socio-psychological
theoretical lens to test the applicability of the TAM in predicting climate-smart agricultural
practice technology adoption among farming communities. The results of this study
demonstrated that social processes are central in influencing decisions on adoption, especially
around ease of use, usefulness, and perceived risk. The implication of this study, in the context of
the proposed research, is that the TAM can be applied through the socio-psychological tradition.
Kamrath et al. (2018) also examined the TAM through socio-psychological factors in the
agricultural industry around postharvest handling technology. The study examined the decisions
of traders within the tomato value chain, including 19 retailers, 13 village collectors, and 48
wholesalers, utilizing a survey questionnaire to test the theoretical model (Kamrath et al., 2018).
The results of this study concluded that perceived behavioral control and subjective norm were
the most important factors explaining r espondents’ behavioral intention . In attitude,
measurements of attitude were significantly influenced by perceived usefulness and perceived
ease of use.
Yang and Yoo (2004) revisited the TAM to consider affective and cognitive dimensions
of attitude and hypothesized a hierarchy of beliefs: cognitive attitude, affective attitude, and
information systems use. Concisely, this study examined the mediating role of socio-
psychological factors such as affective attitude and cognitive attitude on TAM factors such as
perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness (Yang & Yoo, 2004). The research indicates that
socio-psychological literature suggests that attitude has both affective and cognitive components.
Affective refers to how much an individual likes the object of thought, while cognitive
components refer to an individual’s specific beliefs related to the object . Data was collected from
undergraduate students ( N = 211) majoring in management information systems, and they were
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