The acceptance of solar water pump technology among rural farmers of northern Pakistan: A structural equation model

Abstract The situation of electricity is deteriorating in Pakistan and load shedding prevails in all parts of the country which not only affect the general life but also leads to lower agricultural productivity in rural areas. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors that influence the acceptance of solar water pump (SWP) technology. For this purpose, a SWP technology acceptance model was proposed based on technology acceptance model (TAM) and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. Six variables were used to assess the model which includes; perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, facilitating conditions (FC), cost tolerance (CT), awareness and attitude towards SWP usage. Data were collected from 450 rural farmers employing structured questionnaire through face to face interviews. The questions were orally translated to farmers due to lack of education. The method of structural equation modeling was used to test and confirm the hypothesized model. Results indicated that out of eight hypotheses, seven were supported while one was not supported. Moreover, the results show that better predictors of SWP technology usage were gender, age, education awareness, CT, FC, ease of use and usefulness. The study is valuable as it applied TAM to study the factors influencing the acceptance of SWP technology for the first time in the context of Pakistan.

[1]  Eric Molin,et al.  Car Drivers’ Stated Choices for Hydrogen Cars: Evidence from a Small-Scale Experiment , 2007 .

[2]  Fred D. Davis.  A technology acceptance model for empirically testing new end-user information systems : theory and results , 1985 .

[3]  Janet Stephenson,et al.  Social Acceptance of Renewable Electricity Developments in New Zealand , 2010 .

[4]  A. Boomsma.  On the robustness of LISREL (maximum likelihood estimation) against small sample size and non-normality. , 1984 .

[5]  H. Heijden.  A revision of the Technology Acceptance Model to explain website revisits , 2000 .

[6]  Ke Chen,et al.  Gerontechnology acceptance by elderly Hong Kong Chinese: a senior technology acceptance model (STAM) , 2014, Ergonomics.

[7]  Fred D. Davis.  Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology , 1989, MIS Q..

[8]  Donatella Persico,et al.  Adapting the Technology Acceptance Model to evaluate the innovative potential of e-learning systems , 2014, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[9]  M. Nagaraju Naik,et al.  Review of solar photovoltaic water pumping system technology for irrigation and community drinking water supplies , 2015 .

[10]  Cees J H Midden,et al.  The Role of Trust in the Affective Evaluation of Novel Risks: The Case of CO2 Storage , 2009, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[11]  Eli P. Cox,et al.  The Optimal Number of Response Alternatives for a Scale: A Review , 1980 .

[12]  B. Brohmann,et al.  Factors influencing the societal acceptance of new, renewable and energy efficiency technologies : Meta-analysis of recent European projects , 2007 .

[13]  Antonella Battaglini,et al.  Perception of risks in renewable energy projects: The case of concentrated solar power in North Africa , 2012 .

[14]  Chung-Feng Liu,et al.  An investigation of the effect of nurses’ technology readiness on the acceptance of mobile electronic medical record systems , 2013, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making.

[15]  Junzhe Tan,et al.  An overview of energy status and development in Pakistan , 2015 .

[16]  L. Cronbach.  Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests , 1951 .

[17]  Mamunur Rashid,et al.  Small-scale households renewable energy usage intention: Theoretical development and empirical settings , 2014 .

[18]  B. Byrne.  A Primer of Lisrel: Basic Applications and Programming for Confirmatory Factor Analytic Models , 1989 .

[19]  Emre Sezgin,et al.  A cross-sectional investigation of acceptance of health information technology: A nationwide survey of community pharmacists in Turkey. , 2016, Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP.

[20]  A. Hamidat,et al.  Small-scale irrigation with photovoltaic water pumping system in Sahara regions , 2003 .

[21]  S. Pickle,et al.  Green marketing, renewables, and free riders: increasing customer demand for a public good , 1997 .

[22]  George M. Giaglis,et al.  Exploring early usage patterns of mobile data services , 2005, International Conference on Mobile Business (ICMB'05).

[23]  M. Burke,et al.  Solar-powered drip irrigation enhances food security in the Sudano–Sahel , 2010, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[24]  Matthew K. O. Lee,et al.  Acceptance of Internet-based learning medium: the role of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation , 2005, Inf. Manag..

[25]  Shuk Ying Ho,et al.  The attraction of personalized service for users in mobile commerce: an empirical study , 2002, SECO.

[26]  Rolph E. Anderson,et al.  Multivariate Data Analysis (7th ed. , 2009 .

[27]  Bülent Eker,et al.  SOLAR POWERED WATER PUMPING SYSTEMS , 2005 .

[28]  Martina Ziefle,et al.  Understanding age differences in PDA acceptance and performance , 2007, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[29]  John Thøgersen,et al.  Responsible Technology Acceptance: Model Development and Application to Consumer Acceptance of Smart Grid Technology , 2014 .

[30]  Stephen M. Johnson,et al.  The affect heuristic in judgments of risks and benefits , 2000 .

[31]  S. Bush.  Acceptance and suitability of renewable energy technologies in Lao PDR , 2006 .

[32]  Roberto Zilles,et al.  Variable-speed drives in photovoltaic pumping systems for irrigation in Brazil , 2016 .

[33]  M. Abu-Aligah,et al.  Design of Photovoltaic Water Pumping System and Compare it with Diesel Powered Pump , 2011 .

[34]  James H. Steiger,et al.  Understanding the limitations of global fit assessment in structural equation modeling , 2007 .

[35]  Lynn J. Frewer,et al.  Socio-psychological determinants of public acceptance of technologies: A review , 2012, Public understanding of science.

[36]  Robert Foster,et al.  Solar Water Pumping Advances and Comparative Economics , 2014 .

[37]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  A Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model: Four Longitudinal Field Studies , 2000, Management Science.

[38]  Jaehyun Park,et al.  Developing Elements of User Experience for Mobile Phones and Services: Survey, Interview, and Observation Approaches , 2013 .

[39]  Andreas Ritter,et al.  Structural Equations With Latent Variables , 2016 .

[40]  T. Brown,et al.  Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research , 2006 .

[41]  Gordon B. Davis,et al.  User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View , 2003, MIS Q..

[42]  Kynda R. Curtis.  Economic Feasibility of Solar Photovoltaic Irrigation System Use in Great Basin Forage Production , 2010 .

[43]  Rolf Wüstenhagen,et al.  Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation: An introduction to the concept , 2007 .

[44]  Zheng Zhou,et al.  Development and validation of an instrument to measure user perceived service quality of information presenting Web portals , 2005, Inf. Manag..

[45]  Miao Liu,et al.  Against conventional wisdom: when the public, the media, and medical practice collide , 2013, BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making.

[46]  A. G. Bhave.  Potential for solar water-pumping systems in India , 1994 .

[47]  Patrick Devine-Wright,et al.  Beyond NIMBYism: towards an integrated framework for understanding public perceptions of wind energy , 2005 .

[48]  Mohammad Chuttur,et al.  Overview of the Technology Acceptance Model: Origins, Developments and Future Directions , 2009 .

[49]  R. Stott,et al.  The World Bank , 2008, Annals of tropical medicine and parasitology.

[50]  R. Sitgreaves.  Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). , 1979 .

[51]  Sumiani Yusoff,et al.  Renewable energy technology acceptance in Peninsular Malaysia , 2016 .

[52]  K. Harijan,et al.  Identifying and addressing barriers to renewable energy development in Pakistan , 2009 .

[53]  B. Tabachnick,et al.  Using Multivariate Statistics , 1983 .

[54]  Said S. Al-Gahtani,et al.  Empirical investigation of e-learning acceptance and assimilation: A structural equation model , 2016 .

[55]  James C. Anderson,et al.  STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING IN PRACTICE: A REVIEW AND RECOMMENDED TWO-STEP APPROACH , 1988 .

[56]  N. Phuangpornpitak,et al.  PV hybrid systems for rural electrification in Thailand , 2007 .

[57]  B. Augeard,et al.  Lessons learned in the development of smallholder private irrigation for high-value crops in West Africa , 2011 .

[58]  Viswanath Venkatesh,et al.  Technology Acceptance Model 3 and a Research Agenda on Interventions , 2008, Decis. Sci..

[59]  Chin-Lung Hsu,et al.  Why do people play on-line games? An extended TAM with social influences and flow experience , 2004, Inf. Manag..

[60]  J. Hair,et al.  Marketing Research Within a Changing Information Environment , 2003 .

[61]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research , 1977 .

[62]  K. Tsagarakis,et al.  Assessment of public acceptance and willingness to pay for renewable energy sources in Crete , 2010 .

[63]  Thomas Kölbel,et al.  The Role of Societal Acceptance in Renewable Energy Innovations ́ Breakthrough in the Case of Deep Geothermal Technology , 2009 .

[64]  Ting-Peng Liang,et al.  Situational Effects on the Usage Intention of Mobile Games , 2008, WEB.

[65]  S. S. Alam,et al.  An Empirical Study of Factors Affecting Electronic Commerce Adoption among SMEs in Malaysia , 2011 .

[66]  Afzaal H. Seyal,et al.  A Preliminary Investigation of Electronic Data Interchange Adoption in Bruneian Small Business Organizations , 2006, Electron. J. Inf. Syst. Dev. Ctries..

[67]  Norberto Fueyo,et al.  A method for the assessment of the visual impact caused by the large-scale deployment of renewable-energy facilities , 2010 .

[68]  Peter R. Newsted,et al.  Survey Instruments in Information Systems , 1998, MIS Q..

[69]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  Trust and TAM in Online Shopping: An Integrated Model , 2003, MIS Q..

[70]  Ing-Long Wu,et al.  An extension of Trust and TAM model with TPB in the initial adoption of on-line tax: An empirical study , 2005, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[71]  P. Bentler,et al.  Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives , 1999 .

[72]  Axel Michaelowa,et al.  CDM potential of SPV pumps in India , 2005 .

[73]  K. B. Rohit,et al.  Solar Water Pumping System , 2013 .

[74]  L. Steg,et al.  Psychological factors influencing sustainable energy technology acceptance: A review-based comprehensive framework , 2012 .

[75]  J. Hair.  Multivariate data analysis , 1972 .