Information Instruments for Creating Awareness in IT Innovations: An Exploratory Study of Organizational Adoption Intentions of ValuNet

Awareness of an innovation is a necessary prerequisite for its diffusion. Numerous information instruments could be employed as avenues of awareness creation by bodies that seek to promote the adoption of an innovation. A study of information awareness instruments is important because pre-adoption attitudes towards an innovation are formed primarily from the indirect experience offered (information conveyed) through such instruments. This exploratory study strives to examine the effectiveness of various information instruments in raising the awareness of ValuNet, a B2B inter-organizational EDI system being marketed by Tradelink for import and export firms in Hong Kong. The study also investigates whether awareness creation through information instruments perceived to be of value to organizations, could result in greater intentions to adopt the innovation. The findings of this study indicate that interpersonal-cosmopolite instruments such as direct mailing, promotional materials, and seminars by Tradelink ...