Entering data correctly: An empirical evaluation of the theory of planned behaviour in the context of manual data acquisition

This study investigates to what extent psychosocial factors, as identified by the theory of planned behaviour, determine the intention of the data producers to enter data correctly and to what extent their intention explains the actual errors in the entered data. The research goal is achieved by means of an observational study in a major Belgian financial institution. The results show that the degree of intention of the data producers to enter data correctly explains a certain share of the actual errors in the studied data, but that a larger share could be explained by statistical control variables related to actual behavioural control. In addition, the results indicate that the surveyed data producers' intention towards entering high quality data is mainly determined by two factors: their instrumental and experiential attitude. This paper adds to the literature by (1) empirically evaluating the theory of planned behaviour in a context of manual data entry using not only self-reported measures but also a measure of actual behaviour, and (2) by demonstrating the importance of actual behavioural control.