User attitudes toward dedicated e‐book readers for reading: The effects of convenience, compatibility and media richness

Abstract

Purpose

Due to the rapid pace of development and innovation in information technology, the dedicated electronic book (e‐book) reader has become a new trend in reading. However, at present there is only a limited understanding of what factors drive user attitudes/willingness to use this new device for reading. Hence, this paper aims to explore what factors drive users to use dedicated e‐book readers for reading.

Design/methodology/approach

The study proposes a causal model that explores how convenience, compatibility, and media richness affect users' attitudes towards the dedicated e‐book readers for reading.

Findings

The results of this study suggest that convenience, compatibility, and media richness all significantly contribute to dedicated e‐book reader acceptance.

Research limitations/implications

The study extends previous theories: the Technology Acceptance Model, Innovation Diffusion Theory, media richness theory and convenience. This helps one to better understand what factors affect usage of the dedicated e‐book readers, an important topic for current and future research.

Practical implications

The findings outline and describe how the dominant factors affect users' attitudes towards adoption of the dedicated e‐book readers for reading. By considering factors such as ease‐of‐use, usefulness, convenience, compatibility, media richness, etc., in the stage of product development, practitioners can provide dedicated e‐book readers that customers will readily accept.

Originality/value

These findings will enable development of a more robust understanding of attitudes toward dedicated e‐book readers and will be helpful to developers researching e‐book hardware and software as well as to researchers interested in testing related theories.

Citation

Lai, J. and Chang, C. (2011), "User attitudes toward dedicated e‐book readers for reading: The effects of convenience, compatibility and media richness", Online Information Review, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 558-580. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684521111161936