Factors Influencing the Adoption of Internet: An Inquiry into the Perceptions of University Academics in Bangladesh

摘要

Bangladesh, though has the potentials of using Internet in developing her education, business and services, is faced with a number of constraints in adopting the technology. Although a number of those constraints have influence on adoption of Internet technology by university academics, the latter being the most influential and advanced part of Bangladesh's citizenry in terms of human capital, have the potential of first adopting the technology and disseminating the ideas and practices relating to the technology to other sectors of the country's population. Looking at the status and mode of Internet use by university academics in Bangladesh, the study explores the effects of different factors influencing the adoption of Internet. Rogers model of Innovation Diffusion has been utilized as theoretical framework to measure the effects of the factors that account for adoption of Internet, assuming Internet as an innovation. A multiple regression analysis is carried out to determine the attributes that affect the intention to adopt Internet, where adoption intention is considered as explained variable. Five attributes of innovation, relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability, are considered as explanatory variables. Of them only relative advantage, compatibility and complexity appear significant with the overall regression explaining 73% of willingness to adopt Internet