Reflecting Upon the Empirical Findings: Validating the Conceptual Model

The previous chapters (Chapters 6 and 7) presented the findings obtained from the survey conducted to examine the adoption, usage, and impact of broadband in UK households. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss and reflect upon the findings from a theoretical perspective using those presented in Chapter 2. It also discusses the empirical issues that have been reported from the survey findings in the previous chapter. This chapter is structured as follows. A summary of the hypotheses test is provided and discussed in the next section. This is followed by a discussion and reflection upon the conceptual model of broadband adoption developed within this research. The usage of broadband and its effects on consumers’ time allocation patterns on various daily life activities are then discussed and illustrated. Finally, the summary and conclusions of the chapter are provided in the ultimate section. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.irm-press.com ITB14978 IRM PRESS This chapter appears in the book, Consumer Adoption and Usage of Broadband by Yogesh K. Dwivedi © 2008, IGI Global Reflecting Upon the Empirical Findings 173 Copyright © 2008, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Research.Hypotheses.. Although the explanation and discussion on each hypothesis included in this study are provided in the following sections, this section summarises the numbers of hypotheses proposed in Chapter 2 and states whether they are supported by the data or not. Table 8.1 illustrates that a total of 14 research hypotheses were tested to examine whether the independent variables significantly explained the dependent variables. Of the 14 research hypotheses, only one (H11) was not supported by the data. The fact that the remaining 13 research hypotheses were supported by the data means that all but one independent variable significantly explained consumers’ intention to adopt broadband. Further discussions on the 14 research hypotheses are provided in the following sections. In order to examine the demographic differences between broadband and narrowband consumers, a total of five research hypotheses were tested. These five research hypotheses relating to the differences between the broadband and narrowband consumers were supported by the data (Table 8.1) and further discussions are provided in the following section. To examine the usage related differences between broadband adopters and nonadopters, three research hypotheses (H19a, H19b, H19c) were tested and all the data supported each of the three hypotheses (Table 8.1). Further discussions on the three usage-related research hypotheses are provided in the following sections.