The influence of external variables on the executives' use of the internet

Purpose The primary purpose of this paper is to test and augment the original technology acceptance model (TAM) with three external variables: computer attitude, computer self‐efficacy and personality to study the use of the internet of the business executives not addressed previously. Design/methodology/approach The study is based upon survey approach to collect the primary data from 105 business executives selected randomly. The study tests and augments the proposed model by using structural equation modeling techniques and explained 42 percent of the variance as shared by the three variables. The final model has shown the influence of computer attitude and self‐efficacy on the TAM component. Finally, perceived usefulness (PU) directly affects the executives' use of the internet. Findings The results show that computer attitude has a significant effect on perceived ease of use (PEOU). Whereas, computer self‐efficacy has significant but negative effect on PU and has a positive and significant effect on PEOU. Research limitations/implications The study has its own limitations and suggests that with the inclusion of some more variablesR2could be enhanced and would be further improved by controlling the response biasness due to the self‐reported items. The study also lacks direction in assessing the problems faced by the executives at the inter‐organizational level. Practical implications The study has practical significance as at the inter‐organizational level these external variables are under the direct control of the top management and by capitalizing on them through structured training program improved self‐efficacy and by adding variety to the task of executives, the management could further expedite the use of the internet. Originality/value This preliminary work adds value to the existing knowledge and supports the previous work that PU belief segments have relationship to predict the behavior intentions to use the technology. The study concludes that business executives consider ease of use as a fundamental belief that helps them to achieve the usefulness component of the technology.