The Effects of Mental Model on Intention to Use Smartphone Applications

Abstract

A comprehensive information systems (IS) literature found that there has been little empirical evidence on application users’ mental model that affects their behavioral intention in a smartphone context. The goals of this study are; 1) to suggest a theoretical research model to explain application users’ behavioral intention in a smartphone setting using mental model, and 2) to empirically validate the model and examine the relationships among the variables in the model. A survey of students and practitioners was conducted to collect data. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data. The results showed that there is a direct effect of mental model on intention to use smartphone applications. In addition, there is also an indirect effect of mental model on intention to use applications through a mediating variable, perceived usability.