Contents I. Introduction
Though information technology (IT) acceptance is one of the most mature research topics in the information systems field, researchers in this field have largely ignored the acceptance of alternative products. The effects of alternative products on intention and the influence of predicting very specific IT product acceptance have also been largely unexplored by researchers in this field. For instance, some studies have looked at the acceptance of Word, WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, Excel, or Math Explorer [1]–[5]. Researchers in the field of psychology have pointed out that measuring a very specific product may trigger subjects to think of other alternative products [6]–[8]. When subjects are asked for a very specific product such as Word Perfect, they may compare their evaluations with other alternatives (e.g., Microsoft Word). Therefore, single-product studies may yield conclusions that are incomplete without data about the competing alternative. Motivated by these factors, this research seeks to understand the factors affecting the choice of IT products by examining intentions of alternative products.
