Influence of achievement goal on technology use among undergraduates in Malaysia

Previous studies had identified the potential link between achievement goal and students’ technology use. However, the literature on this topic is extremely scarce. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antecedents to technology use among undergraduates via an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model with achievement goal as an external variable. Data were collected from 599 undergraduates using a 38-item self-report questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results of this study showed that the extended UTAUT model had a good fit to the data of this study, with 35% of the variance in behavioral intention and 32% of the variance in use behavior explained by their antecedents. This study found that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and achievement goal had significant influences on undergraduates’ technology behavioral intention to use technology, while social influence and facilitating conditions from the original UTAUT model did not. It was also found that achievement goal and behavioral intention were significant antecedents that influenced undergraduates’ technology use behavior. The findings of this study contribute to both theory, practice, and policy that enhance our understanding of students’ learning and technology use.