All scales

Technology Acceptance Model (core items)

TAM
stemsocial sciencespsychologyFree for research use

The original Davis (1989) 12-item scale measuring two determinants of technology acceptance: Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), six items each. The most widely-cited instrument in information-systems research. Item stems should be customised to name the specific system under study.

Items
12
Response format
7-point Likert scale
Version
1.0
Subscales
2

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Technology acceptance was measured with the 12-item Technology Acceptance Model scale (Davis, 1989), assessing Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use on a 7-point Likert scale. Subscale scores were the mean of six items each (PU α = .97, PEOU α = .91).

Reliability & validation

notes
PEOU alpha was .91 in Study 1 and .94 in Study 2; PU alpha was .97 in both studies.
Validation population
IBM employees (Study 1, N = 112) and MBA students (Study 2, N = 40) in Davis (1989)
Cronbach's α
[object Object]

Subscales

Perceived UsefulnessPerceived Ease of Use

Response anchors

Extremely unlikely · Quite unlikely · Slightly unlikely · Neither likely nor unlikely · Slightly likely · Quite likely · Extremely likely

Known limitations

Item wording must be customised — replace "[the system]" with the specific technology being evaluated. The TAM is often administered as a hypothetical acceptance instrument before use and again as actual-use evaluation after; report the administration context. Extensions such as TAM2, TAM3, and UTAUT add antecedent constructs but are not included in this core 12-item form.

Original citation

Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340.

https://doi.org/10.2307/249008

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Library entry verified January 2024. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.