Applying the Technology Acceptance Model to Alternative Water Source Decision Support Tools: A Study of Florida Growers

Highlights Researchers surveyed 192 Florida growers to evaluate water usage, technology acceptance, and factors that influence their decision to adopt a proposed decision support tool (DST). A conceptual framework based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in conjunction with structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess growers’ attitudes and intentions toward accepting a decision support tool for alternative water source identification and water quality testing and treatment options. Growers in Florida exhibited high perceived usefulness and job relevance, highlighting favorable attitudes and intentions towards adopting a DST for water source identification. Some growers expressed concerns about the perceived ease of use when interacting with the DST, suggesting that usability issues or challenges navigating the tool could impact user experience. The study proposes adoption strategies such as intuitive app design features, financial incentives, and extension and outreach programs to facilitate adoption of decision support tools for growers. ABSTRACT. Decision support tools (DSTs), developed and integrated as smartphone apps, have the potential to enhance productivity, efficiency, resilience, and sustainability through greater access to information and are expected to play an increasingly critical role in addressing complex challenges facing the agriculture sector in the 21 st century. As water resources are threatened, there is a need to help growers identify and select safe alternative water sources (AWS), treatments, and technologies for crop irrigation. Furthermore, some small- and mid-size growers may benefit from the integration of DSTs, smartphone apps, and sensor technology to expedite compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule (PSR), which mandates the measurement and analysis of water quality within 8 hours of sampling. Utilizing such technology could enable growers to conduct rapid on-site water quality testing, potentially increasing the adoption of AWS and conserving valuable groundwater supplies. For agricultural DSTs, participatory design, which actively engages growers in development, is frequently overlooked, despite its role in optimizing tool efficacy and user satisfaction. Although the acceptance of agricultural technologies is largely dependent on realizing economic gains and productivity returns, individual attitudes towards technology, such as perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and other social factors (e.g., job relevance, organizational support), also affect acceptance. For that reason, this research study applied the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to assess the attitudes and perceptions influencing Florida growers' intentions to accept the DST examined in this study. The online survey platform SurveyMonkey was used for data collection and yielded 192 responses from Florida growers in May 2021. The questionnaire was designed to assess growers' perspectives and contextual factors towards the acceptance and adoption of a proposed DST. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to study observed and latent variables (constructs) of interest. The results of the SEM showed that perceived profitability, convenience, and job relevance positively influenced the perceived usefulness of the DST smartphone app. Organizational support by technology managers was found to positively impact the perceived usefulness of the smartphone app. The perceived ease of use also had a positive direct effect on the perceived usefulness of the DST by the growers. From the results, strategies such as incentives, management support, and user interface design characteristics were suggested. This research will aid agricultural technology developers in designing tools and apps, as well as developing complementary adoption strategies, to ensure growers adopt technologies more seamlessly. Keywords: Adoption strategies, Alternative water sources, Decision support tool, Florida growers, Technology acceptance model, Water and irrigation usage, Water management.