This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Technology acceptance research is a constantly developing field. The disciplines\ud
that contributed to its development are either beliefs focused or system focused.\ud
The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) combined\ud
both. The current research model proposes an extension to the UTAUT that\ud
accounts for online usage behaviour. The proposed research model is tested in\ud
two countries (UK and Jordan) to investigate the viability of the unified model\ud
of technology acceptance in different boundaries as a model of individuals’\ud
discretionary usage of Internet banking. The study also questions the roles of\ud
other determinants and moderators in this context.\ud
Results found support for the effect of the proposed extension, website quality\ud
perceptions, on usage behaviour in both countries’ models; the total effect of this\ud
extension exhibited website quality perceptions the most influential determinant\ud
of usage behaviour in both models and performance expectancy construct was\ud
second in effect. Social influence had no impact on the usage behaviour in both\ud
models, which is consistent with previous research that advocates a declining\ud
role of social influence under discretionary usage and increased experience\ud
conditions. Furthermore, the moderating role of performance expectancy\ud
previously established in TAM’s research was supported in the UTAUT model\ud
in both countries’ models. Moreover, both models reported a non-moderating\ud
effect of gender, which, is also in line with recent research findings that suggest\ud
declining gender differences under voluntary usage conditions and advanced\ud
experience. Education and income were moderators only for the UK model.\ud
Although the research findings demonstrated that both countries’ models were\ud
“configurally” similar with respect to model specifications, the models’\ud
explanatory power for usage behaviour was dissimilar: the UK’s model\ud
explanatory power exceeded that of Jordan’s model presenting an opportunity\ud
for future research.\ud
The current research contributes to knowledge in the field of technology\ud
acceptance research. It demonstrated that website quality perceptions, as a multidimensional\ud
concept, play an important role in the online usage context. It also\ud
demonstrated that the unified model of technology acceptance established in the\ud
western culture can be transferred to a non-western culture although with\ud
varying degrees of explanation power