Information technology acceptance in the internal audit profession: Impact of technology features and complexity

Hyo-Jeong Kim, Michael Mannino, and Robert J. Nieschwietz
International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Vol. 10, Issue 4, pp. 214-228

Although various information technologies have been studied using the technology acceptance model (TAM), the study of acceptance of specific technology features for professional groups employing information technologies such as internal auditors (IA) has been limited. To address this gap, we extended the TAM for technology acceptance among IA professionals and tested the model using a sample of internal auditors provided by the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). System usage, perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use were tested with technology features and complexity. Through the comparison of TAM variables, we found that technology features were accepted by internal auditors in different ways. The basic features such as database queries, ratio analysis, and audit sampling were more accepted by internal auditors while the advanced features such as digital analysis, regression/ANOVA, and classification are less accepted by internal auditors. As feature complexity increases, perceived ease of use decreased so that system usage decreased. Through the path analysis between TAM variables, the results indicated that path magnitudes were significantly changed by technology features and complexity. Perceived usefulness had more influence on feature acceptance when basic features were used, and perceived ease of use had more impact on feature acceptance when advanced features were used.