Entrepreneurs' creativity, information technology adoption, and continuance intention: Mediation effects of perceived usefulness and ease of use and the moderation effect of entrepreneurial orientation

Heliyon. 2024 Feb 2;10(3):e25479. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25479. eCollection 2024 Feb 15.

Abstract

Despite the potential of information technology (IT) to enhance business efficiency and productivity, many entrepreneurs still refuse to adopt it. Their low adoption rate of IT is often attributed to a lack of awareness of its potential benefits. Extending the technology acceptance model, this study aimed to investigate the effect of creativity mediated by perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) on the intention to adopt and continue using IT. Additionally, the study explores how entrepreneurial orientation (EO) functions as a contextual factor in the relationship between creativity, PU, and PEOU. In contrast to extant studies, EO is a better-suited variable for our study as it is more extensive. Data were collected through questionnaires distributed to individual entrepreneurial taxpayers registered in tax offices in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The study employed not only a quasi-experimental method with coarsened exact matching to reduce the degree of model dependence, inefficiency, and bias but also a causal mediation analysis to explore the proposed relationships. The study focused on the adoption of DJP Online, an e-tax service provided by the Directorate General of Taxes as the Indonesian tax authority, and the e-marketplace. In contrast with the factors identified in extant studies, we explain that the variance in PU is attributed to a greater extent to creativity. Similarly, we find that creativity explains a larger portion of the variance in PEOU than that found in extant studies. Our findings thoroughly explain how creativity influences entrepreneurs' willingness to adopt and continue using new technologies. Other studies could employ a more diverse and representative sample to extend these findings.

Keywords: Creativity; Entrepreneur; Entrepreneurial orientation; Information technology; Technology acceptance model.