Testing Mediation Effects of Information Communication Technology Usage on Technological, Organizational and Environmental Factors and World Heritage Sites Performance

Abstract

This study seeks to explain the mediation effect of Information Communication Technology (ICT) usage on the relationship between the technological (i.e., perceived relative advantage, perceive compatibility and perceived complexity), organizational (i.e., ICT support infrastructure and ICT support skills) and environmental (i.e., perceived competitive pressure and perceived pressure from customers) factors and world heritage sites performance. The study proposes the mediation model of ICT usage and world heritage sites in Tanzania. Methodology: The proposed order of the model is that ICT usage depends on technological, organizational and environmental factors and ICT usage may further predict world heritage sites performance. These measures capture our research questions. Respondents included decision makers off all the seven UNESCO sites of Tanzania. Data were collected from August to February 2018; 353 filled questionnaires were gathered and 238 were usable for further analysis. Final questionnaires were analyzed using SPSS and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Main Results: The findings support that world heritage sites’ decision makers may consider perceived relative advantage, perceived complexity, ICT support infrastructure, ICT support skills, perceived competitive pressure and perceived pressure from customer to be the main determinants of ICT usage toward influencing performance of the world heritage sites. Originality of the research: The paper strengthens theoretical arguments by indicating the mediation effect of ICT usage on the relationship between the determining Technological, Organizational and Environmental (TOE) factors and world heritage sites. Thus, this study adds to the literature as it has confirmed both TOE and Technological Acceptance Model (TAM) theories.