Developing a Novel Architectural Technology Adoption Model Incorporating Organizational Factors and Client Satisfaction

Despite some high-profile exceptions, the architecture service industry has typically adopted new digital technologies slowly. Previous research has examined the influence of user-friendliness and ease of technology use to explain the slow adoption rate, but contextual factors associated with the operations of architectural organizations—such as result demonstrability, training needs, cost factors, environmental expectations, project factors, and client satisfaction—have been largely overlooked. This paper presents a novel architectural technology adoption model (ATAM) encompassing multiple architecture-service-specific factors and their relationships. The key hypotheses embodied in ATAM are that the digital technology adoption process is shaped by industry-specific factors that directly affect perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use by architects and, subsequently, their intention to employ the technology. Furthermore, the impacts of user satisfaction, user behavior, and client satisfaction on technology acceptance are examined. This paper describes the development of an ATAM, drawing on a set of original data collected from 452 participants from a case study country (Saudi Arabia). The ATAM is then validated through extensive hypothesis testing performed using maximum likelihood structural equation modeling in AMOS. The outcomes show that result demonstrability, training needs, cost factors, environmental expectations, project factors, and client satisfaction are significant factors affecting technology adoption. The development of the ATAM addresses the lack of empirical knowledge about technology adoption in architecture. The ATAM offers a novel and rigorous approach to helping organizations understand and overcome the factors that affect technology adoption in the architecture service sector. Fundamentally, the ATAM supports a new understanding of the factors that are critical for organizations to increase user and client satisfaction with technology adoption. The ATAM contributes to the literature on architectural innovation, but it can be modified and replicated in various sectors associated with architectural services where clients’ satisfaction is critical.