Recommendation sources on the intention to use e‐books in academic digital libraries
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471011093534 |
| Date | 16 November 2010 |
| Published date | 16 November 2010 |
| Pages | 844-857 |
| Author | Chiun‐Sin Lin,Gwo‐Hshiung Tzeng,Yang‐Chieh Chin,Chiao‐Chen Chang |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Recommendation sources on the
intention to use e-books in
academic digital libraries
Chiun-Sin Lin
Department of Business and Entrepreneurial Management, Kainan University,
Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC
Gwo-Hshiung Tzeng
Department of Business and Entrepreneurial Management, National Chiao
Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, ROC
Yang-Chieh Chin
Department of Management Science, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu,
Taiwan, ROC, and
Chiao-Chen Chang
Department of International Business, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien,
Taiwan, ROC
Abstract
Purpose – Few library studies have investigated recommendation classifications for e-book
(electronic book) usage, while none have directly compared what recommendation sources
(word-of-mouth, advertising, and expert recommendation) might influence e-book usage intentions.
To fill this gap in the literature, the main purposes of this study are to: examine how users perceive the
influence of recommendations on the intention to use e-books for academic purposes; and to measure
the level of the perception of trust and perceived risk when users receive e-book recommendations
from peers, advertisers, and experts.
Design/methodology/approach – Data for this study were collected from 382 academic digital
library users between the ages of 18 and 25. A multiple regression analysis was then conducted to
identify the key causal relationships.
Findings – The comparison of three recommendation sources (word-of-mouth, advertising, and
expert recommendations) revealed that word-of-mouth (WOM) played a more important role than
other recommendations in determining the intention to use e-books in an academic digital library. In
addition, enhancing the perceived trust and reducing the risk towards the use of e-books can mediate
the relationship between recommendation sources and the behavioural intentions to use e-books.
Research limitations/implications – This study assessed self-reported behavioural intention as
part of its survey and, as a result, could have introduced unintentional inaccuracies.
Practical implications – Librarians should emphasise e-book advantages (e.g. easy searching, easily
accessible index) to get positive recommendation if users follow all of the recommendations of the source.
They canalso create onlinediscussion forumsto provide usage intentiondiscussions,which can influence
users’ perceptions of trust and risk and increase the willingness of potential users to read e-books.
Originality/value – Little has been written on the intentions of using e-books. Therefore, this
conceptual model is novel. This model is also useful in explaining how recommendations stimulate the
intentions of using e-books by enhancing the perceived trust and reducing the perceived risk; these
findings may generally be applicable to librarians, current users, and potential users.
Keywords Books, Academiclibraries, Taiwan, User studies, Electronic books
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
EL
28,6
844
Received 25 August 2008
Revised 23 October 2009
Accepted 27 October 2009
The Electronic Library
Vol. 28 No. 6, 2010
pp. 844-857
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/02640471011093534
To continue reading
Request your trial