Background: The increasing reliance on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in personalized marketing has reshaped consumer interactions in the digital era. With technological advancements, there is a growing need to explore how AI-driven personalization influences consumer behavior, particularly in satisfaction, loyalty, and ethical considerations. Purpose: This thesis investigates the impact of AI-driven personalized marketing on consumer perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. It aims to understand how trust and ethical considerations such as data privacy and algorithmic bias influence consumer responses and engagement with personalized marketing. Method: Employing a quantitative approach, this study integrates quantitative analysis from surveys conducted on 100 participants. This method provides a comprehensive understanding of the implications of AI-driven personalization. Statistical tools like SPSS were used for data analysis, ensuring rigorous examination of the collected data. Conclusion: The findings reveal a nuanced response to personalized marketing. While AI-driven personalization can enhance consumer engagement and satisfaction, transparency and ethical considerations are critical in securing consumer trust and loyalty. The study underscores the importance of ethical marketing practices and the need for continuous adaptation to technological advancements to align with consumer expectations and ethical standards. This research contributes to academic discussions on personalized marketing and offers strategic insights for integrating technological advancements with consumer-centric approaches in marketing practices.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Technology Degree in Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2014. / This study aimed to explore user factors that may influence attitude and behaviour where technology acceptance is concerned. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Framework was used as a tool to map this degree of acceptance in relation to the design of the current Encyclopaedia of South African Arts, Culture and Heritage (ESAACH). ESAACH is an encyclopaedia intended to address the dearth of reference material in South African arts, culture and heritage studies (ESAACH.org.za). The encyclopaedia is divided into broader areas of research such as: verbal arts, performing arts, visual arts, and heritage. It was originally established as a tool to provide support for education in arts, culture and heritage. There has been an increase in interest in the ESAACH online resource platform. This has resulted in the need to capture user perceptions and attitudes on the site in order to provide guidelines on the improvement of the site and to make usage of the encyclopaedia easier and less frustrating. The researcher investigates English Language Proficiency, Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness and Computer Self-Efficacy as factors that influence an online user’s attitude towards intention to use and acceptance of an online encyclopaedia. There have been concerns expressed by website designers that because users may not be fully acquainted or familiar with using the Internet in general when accessing information, they anticipate some resistance or reluctance to make full use of available online content. The study included the administration of an online survey to a sample of 149 students from the Arts and Design and Library Information Studies departments whereby their demographics, antecedents and precedent constructs of the TAM were tested for co-relationships of user’s intention regarding usage and acceptance of the website. The TAM model was used as a tool to determine: whether a positive confidence in the students’ English language proficiency would affect intention to use the encyclopaedia and to predict whether positive Computer Self-Efficacy is an indicator for a positive effect regarding Ease of Use and/or Perceived Usefulness. Results confirmed that users perceived Computer Self-Efficacy as a positive contributor to the usefulness of the ESAACH online encyclopaedia. Although no significant relationship between English Language Proficiency and Perceived Ease of Use was demonstrated, the need for a design which caters for sensitivity to the language of users was identified.

女性網際網路使用者不斷增加的趨勢帶動下，針對女性提供服務的網站近年來頻頻出現。然而，網際網路使用者對於此一以性別區隔為訴求的網站所抱持的態度和定位為何？現階段女性網站經營者必須謹慎衡量哪些關鍵因素以吸引使用者前往？本研究希望藉由研究的進行與結果的發現，找出影響網際網路使用者瀏覽女性網站的因素，並驗證使用者認知和實際使用間的因果關係。 在以科技接受模型為研究架構之基礎進行研究後的結果顯示，女性網站之3C3O網站特性和使用者的網站認知間存有因果關係：網站設計的編排（context）、網站內容的豐富性（content）、網站發言或討論空間的經營（community），以及網站資訊的有條不紊（orderliness）等對於使用者的認知都會造成不同程度的影響；然而，大膽顛覆的用字遣詞（originality）以及技術層面的客製化服務（outreach），對於使用者的認知則沒有明顯的助益。 另一方面，科技接受模型原本所假設的認知─態度間的因果關係，在女性網站的實驗情境中亦有所變動。認知易用性（perceived easy of use）對網站態度產生的影響漸趨薄弱而不重要，相反地，認知有用性（perceived usefulness）和認知娛樂性（perceived playfulness）對態度產生的影響則漸顯重要，尤其是認知娛樂性的因素對於女性網站的使用更扮演了相當重要的角色。然而，當大部分的網際網路使用者將女性網站所提供的內容服務定位為休閒娛樂提供者的角色時，網站經營者亦需反思消費者對此服務的定位是否適切。 / The cyberspace has shown a growing number of female sites. It is of interest to understand the user perceptions on these gender-specific service appearances and the attitudes toward using them. This research attempts to identify the factors that influence users’ willingness to reuse a female site, and the relationship between user acceptance and actual usage. A survey of 390 respondents who have experience with and 310 respondents who have no experience with female sites in Taiwan was conducted. The results showed that the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) proposed by Moon & Kim is applicable, with some relationships altered. Moreover, the site characteristics such as the arrangement of CONTEXT, the richness of CONTENT, the atmosphere of COMMUNITY, and the ORDERLINESS of information are the four key factors that affect users’ perceptions of the site. The ORIGINALITY of design and the OUTREACH of service, however, present no significant benefit to form positive perceptions of female site users.

當今行動裝置愈來愈普及，人們在接收和處理資訊、消費、娛樂以及種種生活便利服務的需求不減反增，衍生出的行動加值性服務也愈來愈多元，造就了行動商務的蓬勃發展。由於台灣行動電話持有率與全民上網普及率均在全球市場上名列前矛，然而消費者對行動商務的接受度普遍仍不高，因此本研究目的在找出影響台灣地區使用者採用行動商務的因素，並探索這些因素之間如何相互影響，最後如何影響使用者的採用意願。 本研究將以Sally& Indrit所提出的概念性整合性行動商務採用模型為基礎，加以修正後利用結構方程式進行假說驗證，並以不同類型的行動商務服務如功利型與享樂型作為調節變數，探討使用者在使用不同類型的服務時，影響其採用該服務的因素會對其採用態度有何種程度的影響，試圖解釋台灣地區使用者的採用行動商務之行為。 本研究結果發現： (1)使用者愈認為該行動商務的服務是有用的、有娛樂性的、使用過程是安全的和能維護隱私的，以及價格愈合理，使用者採用該行動商務服務的態度即愈正向。 (2)價格因素除了直接影響採用態度之外，還會對採用意願有直接影響。 (3)當使用者覺得該服務容易使用時，同時也較會認為該服務是有用的。 (4)當使用者認為該行動商務之服務為有用時，同時則認為該服務的娛樂性是較低的。 (5)使用者先前的使用知識與經驗及其所能掌控該服務的能力愈高，會增加其認知易用性，進而透過認知有用性的提升，其採用態度愈正向。 (6)使用者認為該服務有用與否及是否具有娛樂性，易受同儕或廠商的行銷活動影響，進而影響其採用態度，外部影響力與廠商的行銷活動對採用態度有間接的影響。 (7)使用者在使用功利型服務時，相較於使用享樂型的服務時，其對服務的認知有用性這項因素對其採用該服務的態度會有較大的影響。 (8)使用者所認知的易用性這項因素在使用者採用享樂型服務時更顯重要。 / With the higher availability of mobile devices, people’s needs in receiving information, consuming, pursuing entertainment, and other convenient services in life have augmented, resulting in the increase the variety of mobile services and attributing to the prosperity of mobile commerce. Both the possession rate of mobile phones and the penetration rate of the access to the Internet in Taiwan occupied the leading positions in global market, yet the consumers’ acceptance for mobile commerce is comparatively low. Thus, the purpose of the research is to discover possible factors that influence users’ adoption of mobile commerce in Taiwan, and to explore how these factors affect one another and further make impact on the users’ intention to use. This research, based on the conceptual framework for the acceptance of mobile commerce proposed by Sally & Indrit (2007), underwent the revision of the model and validated the hypotheses, including using different kinds of mobile services such as utilitarian and hedonic types as moderators to explore how these factors can influence the users’ attitude toward use differently when adopting different types of mobile services. The research intends to explicate the users’ adoption behavior of mobile commerce in Taiwan. The research induces the following findings: (1)The higher degree the users perceive that the mobile services are useful, joyful, secure, and that the price of the services is reasonable, the more positive the users’ attitude toward adoption for mobile services is. (2)The factor of price not merely influences the users’ attitude toward use, but also influences their intention to use. (3)When the users find the mobile services easy to use, they tend to feel that the services are useful. (4)When the users find the mobile services very useful, they tend to perceive less enjoyment of the services. (5)When the users possess more prior knowledge, experience, and behavior control for the mobile services, they tend to perceive higher degree of ease of use, which results in higher perceived usefulness, and their attitude toward use for mobile services will be more positive. (6)Peer influence and promotion from the enterprises can easily affect the users’ perception of usefulness and enjoyment for mobile services, which further influences their attitude toward use. External influence and promotion from the enterprises will make indirect impact on users’ attitude toward use. (7)The users’ perceived enjoyment makes greater influence to their attitude toward use when using utilitarian services than hedonic services. (8)The users’ perceived ease of use makes greater influence to their attitude toward use when using hedonic services than utilitarian services.

網路科技不斷進步，服務創新與商業模式陸續推出。線上影音分享網站為目前當紅的領域，但對於網站該如何設計以及使用者為何使用影音分享網站都未有明確準則。因此本研究藉由科技接受行為相關理論的回顧，配合影音分享網站之特性，以Davis(1989)的科技接受模式為基礎，結合相關重要變數，提出概念性架構。目的為找出可能影響網站使用者的相關變數、並瞭解Web2.0影音網站使用者之使用意圖。 實驗方法採用線上問卷方式，在回收的501份問卷中，得到492份有效問卷，以結構方程模式進行研究模式分析。分析結果顯示，研究模式之適配度均達到應有標準。 研究結論章節中會說明本研究之管理意涵，並將研究結果提供給未來欲設立Web2.0影音分享網站的設計者，在網站建立初期，將有限資源投注在重要的變數上，使網站可達到最大效益。 / As the advance of Internet technology continues new business models are emerging in the market. Online video sharing website is the hottest application nowadays, but there is little study on designing the website and why the users using the website. In this research, we propose a conceptual model based on the technology acceptance model developed by Davis (1989) and this model integrating the important variables due to the extant research of relevant theory of technology acceptance and characteristics of video sharing website. The data collection was used the online survey, and we got the 492 eligible data and the analysis was used the Structural Equation Model (SEM). According to the result, the model fit was qualified. This research will give some management implication for designers who want to set up a video sharing website, this research provides the information on how to invest the limited resource on the critical variables in order to maximize the service value in the conclusion section in this paper.

Social media marketing has gained tremendous attention in recent years and has become a powerful tool for companies, entrepreneurs and marketers to approach their target customers and cultivate longtime customer relationship with increased engagement. Despite the increasing investment on social media marketing and the increasingly important roles users play today, few of previous studies, however, were focused on the user behavior or the key factors that influence user engagement with brands on social media. We chose the technology acceptance model (TAM) and uses and gratifications theory (UGT) as our theoretical foundation to investigate user behaviors on social media and the factors that influence user engagement with brands. We tested our model in two different social media platforms; Facebook and Instagram. The conclusions were based on inputs from a survey with 126 respondents with diverse background and age groups. We tested the hypotheses utilizing statistic correlation analyses. Among the five researched variables, H1 (perceived usefulness) and H5 (motivation for information) are proved to be statically significant. Despite a number of limitations, our research sheds a light on the study of user behavior on social media platforms. Understanding user behavior is useful for entrepreneurs and marketers in shaping more efficient ways to target the right audience on the right platform(s) to achieve their marketing objectives by effectively exploiting the potential of social media.

The growing popularity of smartphones in recent years has led to an increase in mobile application development and use. However, a large number of mobile applications are only used once before being removed. For companies and organizations to spend time and money on application development only to achieve low user retention rates is unsustainable. During their first interaction with a mobile application it is crucial that users find functionality and value quickly to avoid discontinuation of use. User onboarding is often implemented in mobile applications to aid in first time interaction, making onboarding processes subject of investigation for effect on user attitude towards continued use of mobile applications. The study examined mobile onboarding processes and their effect on user attitude towards continued use of applications as well as the difference between onboarding processes effect on user attitude towards continued use of applications. The study was conducted within-subjects through a survey consisting of interaction with two prototypes with different onboarding processes and a questionnaire based on the technology acceptance model in order to investigate the variables of interest. The results of the survey were analyzed to measure the effects of the onboarding processes on the factors of the technology acceptance model and to investigate the differences between the onboarding processes. The results showed that user onboarding has a positive influence on perceived usefulness, attitude towards use and intention to use. There was no significant difference between the different types of onboarding patterns effect on attitude towards continued use. The positive effects on attitude and intention to use confirmed that implementing onboarding processes in mobile applications could be beneficial for value proposition and user retention. The perceived usefulness proved to be the determining factor on attitude and intention to use.

Dans les trente prochaines années la génération du baby boom va atteindre le troisième âge et participer au vieillissement de la société. Cette population aura un besoin massif d’aide et de soins dont il n’est pas garanti que l’on puisse les assurer. Les nouvelles technologies adressées aux personnes âgées peuvent aider à résoudre ce problème mais pour cela il est indispensable que les aînés les acceptent. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’offrir un moyen de mesurer l’acceptation de ces technologies et de prédire leur utilisation. L’analyse de la documentation scientifique a permis d’identifier un modèle ayant les qualités requises pour cela, le modèle d’acceptation technologique proposé par Davis en 1989 (Technology Acceptance Model, TAM). Ce modèle se révèle parcimonieux et bien documenté mais il n’existait qu’en langue anglaise. D’autre part, la documentation scientifique montrait que la technologie la plus répandue parmi la population âgée et dépendante était la téléalarme. Ainsi, il a été décidé de traduire en français, adapter et valider un questionnaire issu du TAM pour prédire l’utilisation de la téléalarme par les personnes âgées dépendantes. Quatre études ont donc été menées, la première a consisté en une série d’entretiens, la deuxième en un questionnaire papier, et les deux dernières en un questionnaire par téléphone. Ce travail a abouti à l’obtention d’un instrument à dix items dont les qualités psychométriques se sont révélées acceptables. Le TAM fonctionne de la manière attendue il est donc possible de prédire l’utilisation de la téléalarme. Cependant deux limites doivent nuancer ces résultats, la première est que les études réalisées sont transversales ce qui empêche de parler de validité prédictive, la seconde et la modeste variance expliquée du questionnaire en français comparativement aux résultats publiés. En conclusion, le modèle doit s’enrichir de concepts spécifique à la population âgée afin d’affiner ses prédictions. / In the next thirty years the baby boomers are going to reach the third age and participate in the ageing of the whole French society. But no one can guarantee that their massive need of assistance and care will be provided. Information and communication technologies have the potential to help the elderly but only if they accept it. The aim of this thesis is to build a tool to assess the acceptance of these technologies and to predict their use. The scientific literature analysis revealed that the technology acceptance model proposed by Davis in 1989 had all the required qualities to build this tool. This model shows itself parsimonius and well documented but only existed in English. According to the literature the most widespread technology among the dependent elderly was the warning alarm. Thus, it was decided to translate into French, to adapt and to validate a questionnaire stemming from the technology acceptance model to predict the use of the warning alarm by dependent elderly. Four studies were thus led, the first consisted in a series of qualitative interviews, the second used a paper a pencil questionnaire, and both last ones in a phone questionnaire. This work ended in a ten items instrument with acceptable psychometric properties. The technology acceptance model works as expected and thus it is possible to predict the use of the remote alarm by dependent elderly. However, two shortcomings have to qualify these results, first the studies presented are cross-sectional which prevents from testing predictive validity, second the amount of explained variance by the questionnaire in French is limited compared with the published results. Finally, the model need to incorporate elderly specific constructs in order to make more accurate predictions.

The United States is one of the last countries to transition to the 10th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) coding system. The move from the 35-year-old system, ICD-9, to ICD-10, represents a milestone in the transformation of the 21st century healthcare industry. All covered healthcare entities were mandated to use the ICD-10 system on October 1, 2015, to justify medical necessity, an essential component in determining whether a service is payable or not. Despite the promising outcomes of this shift, more than 70% of healthcare organizations identified concerns related to education efforts, including lack of best practices for the ICD-10 transition. Lack of preparation for the implementation of ICD-10 undermines the clinical, technological, operational, and financial processes of healthcare organizations. This study was an exploration of implementation strategies used to overcome barriers to transition to ICD-10. A single case study was conducted, grounded by the conceptual framework of the technology acceptance model, to learn about ways to mitigate the barriers of this new coding system. Data were gathered from the review of documents, observations, and semistructured interviews with 9 participants of a public healthcare organization in Florida. Data were coded to identify themes. Key themes that emerged from the study included (a) in-depth ICD-10 training, (b) the prevalence of ICD-10 cheat sheets, (c) lack of system readiness, and (d) perception of usefulness of job performance. The results of the study may contribute to social change by identifying successful implementation strategies to mitigate operational disruptions that will allow providers to capture more detailed health information about the severity of patients' conditions.

The adoption rate of health information technology (HIT) remains low in developing countries, where healthcare institutions experience high operating costs and loss of revenue, which are related to systems and processes inefficiency. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies leaders in Zimbabwe used to implement HIT. The conceptual framework of the study was Davis's technology acceptance model (TAM). Data were gathered through observations, review of organizational documents (i.e., policies, procedures, and guidelines), and in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 10 healthcare leaders and end-users from hospitals in Zimbabwe who had successfully implemented HIT. Transcribed interview data were coded and analyzed for emerging themes. Implementation strategies, overcoming barriers to adoption, and user acceptance emerged as the themes most healthcare leaders associated with successful HIT projects. Several subthemes also emerged, including: (a) the importance of stakeholder involvement, (b) the importance of management buy-in, and (c) the low level of IT literacy among healthcare workers. The strategies identified in this study may provide a foundation on which healthcare leaders in developing countries can successfully adopt and implement HIT. The recommendations from this study could lead to positive social change by providing leaders with knowledge and skills to use information technology strategies to deliver better healthcare at lower costs while creating employment for local communities.