Searching for New Answers: The Application of Task-Technology Fit to E-Textbook Usage

Abstract

Students have been slow to adopt e-textbooks even though they are often less expensive than traditional textbooks. Prior e-textbook research has focused on adoption behavior, with little research to date on how students perceive e-textbooks fitting their needs. This work builds upon Task-Technology Fit (TTF) and Consumer Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) theory to present a student-perspective model of e-textbook usage. By contextualizing TTF and UTAUT2 to e-textbooks, the research fills a gap in the literature and provides guidance to researchers and practitioners. The goal of the research is to understand how students perceive their task of learning to fit with e-textbook technology, and how that fit influences e-textbook usage and expected performance in their classes. To achieve this goal, the research develops a model to test the relationship between perceived TTF of e-textbooks and UTAUT2-defined user characteristics that encourage adoption behaviors, thus facilitating student learning. The findings show that four factors impact a student’s perceived TTF: substitution, habit, hedonic motivation, and facilitating conditions. Furthermore, perceived TTF positively correlates with students’ e-textbook usage and expected performance in classes when using e-textbooks. While price value exhibits a measurable effect on e-textbook utilization, it is a minor factor.