ABSTRACT
A newly launched product or service always needs a diffusion time before it is well accepted by the entire target market. One of the important goals of product designers is to shorten this diffusion time and make the product more easily accepted by the target users. Previous studies identified several factors that affect acceptance of technologies. “Perceived usefulness” and “ease of use” are found by Davis (1986) as the main factors for acceptance of a product. Compeau and Higgins (1995) studied the effects of “self-efficacy” on adoption of computers. Taylor and Todd (1995) considered “peer influence” as an important social factor for technology acceptance. Zhao (2008a) makes a compelling argument that peers, organizations, and early adopters have a significant effect on the diffusion and acceptance of technology.
