Adoption of e-book among college students: The perspective of an integrated TAM

•This study explored factors that affect consumer acceptance of e-book use.•The external factors are compatibility, relative advantage, self-efficacy, and subjective norms.•The internal factors are PEU, PU, satisfaction with e-book usage, and intention to use.•The external factors play an important role as core determinants of e-book use.•The integrated TAM played a critical role in accounting for the strength of e-book usage.

This study explored factors that affect consumer acceptance of e-book use by applying a model that incorporates the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as the theoretical basis of the hypotheses. The model differentiated external factors—compatibility, relative advantage, self-efficacy, and subjective norms—from internal factors—perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, satisfaction with e-book usage, and intention to continue using e-books. The study (n = 1030) found statistically significant support for the hypothesized model, indicating that the tested relationships between the revised TAM and user intention to continue using e-books were positive and statistically significant. The study’s findings provide potentially significant implications that can be used to develop guidelines and a framework for assessing e-book users’ behavior.