Extended Technology-Acceptance Model to Make Smart Construction Systems Successful

Abstract

Research and development (R&D) of smart construction systems has been constrained by the contentious relationship between system developers and potential industry users. System developers are critical of practitioners’ reluctance to embrace new technologies, while practitioners tend to view developers’ systems as disruptive. In explaining acceptance or non-acceptance of smart construction systems, the well-established technology-acceptance model (TAM) is a powerful instrument. However, the model fails to capture changes in user acceptance over time. In this study, an extended TAM that can reflect the changes in attitude is modeled from and substantiated by a two-year longitudinal action research study conducted in parallel with the codevelopment of a smart system for prefabrication housing construction. It is discovered that users’ attitudes toward a smart construction system are not invariable, nor toward the “perceived usefulness” and “perceived ease of use.” Developers should continuously enhance usefulness and user-friendliness of a system to facilitate its adoption. A particularly noteworthy finding is that external isomorphic pressures, including normative, coercive, mimetic, or a combination thereof, can affect users’ attitudes toward a smart construction system, and, in turn, influence the uptake of the system. Managers tactically can create such pressures to enhance technology acceptance within their organizations. These findings, in combination with the extended TAM, offer the foundations for development of a general theory on technology infusion in the construction industry.