Context-Sensitive Mobile Services for Police Officers: A Re-assessment of TAM

This paper focuses on the explanatory value of context parameters and individual characteristics for preferences of police officers for mobile applications. Starting from adoption and acceptance (DoI and TAM), media choice and task-technology fit (TTF) theories, we collected data from police officers, who were asked which specific communication devices they preferred in specific situations. Our analyses show that the explanatory value of individual parameters is high when tested in a model that focuses exclusively on individual characteristics. In addition, context characteristics also play an important role in the preference with regard to specific communication technologies, as conjoint analysis shows. When we include context and individual characteristics into a single model, the results show that the significance of the TAM concepts is low and the context-related issues become more important. TAM models are too generic to understand behavior with regard to mobile technologies. Research should take contextual factors into account.