Toward A Situational Technology Acceptance Model: Combining the Situational Theory of Problem

131 Pages·2017·2.46 MB·English

UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff SSoouutthh CCaarroolliinnaa
SScchhoollaarr CCoommmmoonnss
Theses and Dissertations
2016
TToowwaarrdd AA SSiittuuaattiioonnaall TTeecchhnnoollooggyy AAcccceeppttaannccee MMooddeell:: CCoommbbiinniinngg
tthhee SSiittuuaattiioonnaall TThheeoorryy ooff PPrroobblleemm SSoollvviinngg aanndd TTeecchhnnoollooggyy
AAcccceeppttaannccee MMooddeell ttoo PPrroommoottee MMoobbiillee DDoonnaattiioonnss ffoorr NNoonnpprroofifitt
OOrrggaanniizzaattiioonnss
Yue Zheng
University of South Carolina
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd
Part of the Mass Communication Commons
RReeccoommmmeennddeedd CCiittaattiioonn
Zheng, Y.(2016). Toward A Situational Technology Acceptance Model: Combining the Situational Theory
of Problem Solving and Technology Acceptance Model to Promote Mobile Donations for Nonprofit
Organizations. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3797
This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in
Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please
contact [email protected].
Toward A Situational Technology Acceptance Model: Combining the Situational
Theory of Problem Solving and Technology Acceptance Model to Promote Mobile
Donations for Nonprofit Organizations

by

Yue Zheng

Bachelor of Arts
Renmin University of China, 2008

Master of Science
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, 2012

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in

Mass Communications

College of Information and Communications

University of South Carolina

2016

Accepted by:

Brooke W. McKeever, Major Professor

Andrea H. Tanner, Committee Member

S. Mo Jang, Committee Member

Daniela B. Friedman, Committee Member

Lacy Ford, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies
© Copyright by Yue Zheng, 2016
All Rights Reserved.

ii
DEDICATION
To my parents, who consistently support my career in academia.

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A dissertation cannot be finished by entirely one person. I take this opportunity to
acknowledge those who have made efforts on my doctoral accomplishment.
I would like to express my deep appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Brooke W.
McKeever, for her patient and careful guidance all the way from inspiring my interest in
nonprofit communication, mentoring my internship and job application, through to
completion of this degree. I would also like to thank Dr. Andrea H. Tanner, who
incorporated me into her health communication research, cheered me up countless times
when I was frustrated, and never doubted that I could achieve this goal; thank Dr. S. Mo
Jang, who used his statistics talent to help my data analysis; and thank Dr. Daniela B.
Friedman, who embedded the knowledge of public health into my communication study
and reviewed my research point to point.
I would also like to thank School of Journalism and Mass Communications to
fund my research and thank the faculty and staff who have contributed to my growth of
research, teaching, and job searching, including Dr. Shannon Bowen, Dr. August Grant,
Dr. Ran Wei, Dr. Carol Pardun, Dr. Kathy Forde, Dr. Sei-hill Kim, Dr. Kenneth
Campbell, Dr. Robert McKeever, Dr. Erik Collins, Dr. Keith Kenney, Ms. Lisa Sisk, and
Ms. Sandra Hughes.
Last but not least, I am grateful to my family, cohorts, and friends for their strong
support. A special thanks to my roommates, Dr. Wan Chi Leung and Miss Wenjia Wang,
who went through this special journey and shared a lot of memorable moments with me.
iv
ABSTRACT
Using a nationwide survey of 994 respondents in February 2016, this study
combines the situational theory of problem solving and technology acceptance model to
refine the conceptual understandings of people’s motivations to make a mobile donation
benefiting health-related nonprofit organizations. Findings provide empirical support for
the combined model and an emerging situational technology acceptance model. Mobile
phone users’ intentions to make a mobile donation are mostly influenced by their
attitudes toward using technology and subjective norms. Practical implications are also
discussed for nonprofit practitioners to better segment publics, design strategic messages,
and disseminate communication campaigns to improve future fundraising.

v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION………………………………………………………………………….. .iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………….. .iv

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….. ..v

LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………… .ix

LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………….. ..x

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………………... .xi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………. ..1

1.1 Text Messaging and Mobile Donation……………………………………… ..1

1.2 Health-Related Nonprofit Organizations…………………………………… ..5

1.3 Situational Theory of Problem Solving (STOPS)…………………………... ..7

1.4 Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)…………………………………….. ..9

1.5 Significance…………………………………………………………………. 10

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………….. 12

2.1 Situational Theory of Publics (STP)…………... ………………………....... 12

2.2 Situational Theory of Problem Solving (STOPS)……………………........... 20

vi
2.3 Situational Theory and Philanthropy, Nonprofits, and Voluntary
Sectors…………………………………………………………………………. 28

2.4 Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)……………………………………. 32

2.5 Technology Acceptance Model and Mobile Communications……………. 36

2.6 Proposed Situational Technology Acceptance Model …………………….. 42

CHAPTER 3: METHODS…………………………………………………………….. 45

3.1 Survey Procedure…………………………………………………………... 46

3.2 Survey Measures…………………………………………………………… 49

3.3 Data Collection and Analysis……………………………………………… 54

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS………………………………………………………………. 55

4.1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents……………………………... 55

4.2 Donors’ Demographics and Mobile Donation Experiences……………….. 56

4.3 Non-donors’ Demographics and Donation Intentions………………….….. 57

4.4 Use and Preference of Media Channels……………………………………. 58

4.5 Hypothesis Testing…………………………………………………………. 59

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION………………………………………………………….. 75

5.1 Mobile Donation Market…………………………………………………... 76

5.2 Theoretical and Methodological Contributions……………………………. 79

vii
5.3 Practical Implications……………………………………………………… 85

5.4 Limitations and Future Research…………………………………………... 93

5.5 Conclusions………………………………………………………………… 95

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………….. ..97

APPENDIX A: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE………………………….………….. .109
viii
LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents………………………………. 62

Table 4.2 Demographics Characteristics of Donors…………………………………… 63

Table 4.3 Demographic Characteristics of Non-donors……………………………….. 65

Table 4.4 Means, Standard Deviations, Reliabilities, and Standardized Factor
Loadings……………………………………………………………………….. 67

Table 4.5 Covariance Matrix among Latent Variables………………………………… 70

Table 4.6 Correlation Matrix among Latent Variables………………………………… 70

Table 4.7 Hypotheses Testing of Situational Technology Acceptance Model…..…...... 72

Table 4.8 Covariance Matrix among Independent Variables………………………….. 73

ix