Who Is (Communicatively More) Responsible Behind the Wheel? Applying the Theory of Communicative Responsibility to TAM in the Context of Using Navigation Technology

By examining how perceived usefulness and ease of use relate to the user's perception (i.e., communicative responsibility), the communicative behavior of the navigation system (i.e., the landmarks used to give directions), and the context of driving (i.e., familiarity of the driving location), this study applies the theory of communicative responsibility to the technology acceptance model to better understand why users are more likely to adopt certain navigation technologies while driving. We hypothesized that users' perceived symmetry in communicative responsibility independently and interactively (with communicative behavior of the navigation system and the driving situation) affects perceived ease of use and usefulness of the navigation system. Consequently, the perceived ease of use and usefulness may affect the user's intention to use the navigation system. This study found that usefulness was a significant predictor of behavioral intention. While driving in a less familiar location, the drivers perceived the navigation system to be more useful. When the navigation system provided location-specific landmarks, such as the name of a local store, drivers who attributed more communicative responsibility to the system were likely to find it useful.