Applying the TAM to Consumers’ Usage Attitude of STM: The Mediating Effect of Perceived Easy of Use and Usefulness and The Moderating Effect of Perceived Personalization

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of STM’s characteristics(system quality, information quality) and consumers’ characteristics (innovativeness, subjective financial knowledge) on the usage attitude toward STM through perceived ease of use(PEOU) and perceived usefulness(PU). TAM was chosen as the key theoretical framework. In particular, this study paid attention to examine the mediating effect of PEOU, PU and the moderating effect of perceived personalization in the relationship. Research design, data, and methodology: The study conducted an online survey. Data was collected from STM users who have used STM within the last 6 months in South Korea. A total of 197 responses were used for analysis. Regression analyses with bootstrapping were conducted to test hypotheses using PROCESS macro. Results: The study found PEOU and PU to mediate the relationship between system quality, information quality, consumers’ innovativeness and consumers’ usage attitude toward STM. Also, consumer’s subjective financial knowledge mediated the relationship between PU and usage attitude toward STM. In addition, perceived personalization had a moderating effect for the relationship between PEOU and usage attitude toward STM, as higher levels of perceived personalization strengthened the relationship. Implications: First, this study presented a theoretical basis to explain the consumer use behavior of STM. Second, the research area related to TBSS was expanded to the financial service area, and it was empirically presented that consumer characteristics related to the service context affect usage behavior. Third, psychological mechanisms and limiting conditions that can explain consumers’ attitudes to using STM were identified. Finally, this study expanded the scope of application of TAM to STM.