Adapting the Technology Acceptance Model for Food Odering Apps in Malaysia: An Exploration of Consumer Behavior and External Influences

This study examines the adoption of mobile applications by Malaysian consumers, particularly in the catering industry. The rapid growth in the use of mobile applications in Malaysia was driven by government policies restricting movement during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the proliferation of Internet services. Davis introduced the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explain the factors influencing technology adoption. This study assesses the applicability of the TAM to the specific context of Malaysia and its consumers. Through in-depth interviews, we investigated the mobile application usage behaviour of 12 Malaysian consumers. The focus was on understanding the factors that influence the acceptance of these apps. Three salient questions and the corresponding responses from the participants were analysed in this study.The transcribed interviews data will be analysed using thematic analysis. The results show that there are differences in the determinants of technology acceptance compared to traditional TAM. Further investigation also showed that the two key elements of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness were only appropriate for consumer intention. On the other hand, this study focuses on the actual consumption behaviour of Malaysian consumers. Therefore, this study proposes to discuss the convenience and difficulty factors which have not been discussed in the TAM.