The Prospect of next-generation digital content industry: User acceptance of the realistic content technology

Abstract

We are now facing a new age in the digital content industry caused by diffusion of the wearable device. Realistic content, which consist of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and hologram technologies. It had been predicted to be the prevalent future digital content technology by many institutions and researchers. There are very limited researchers, however who have tried to predict the possibility of realistic content by analyzing the user acceptance of such technologies.

To complete a definitive study of technology acceptance, an economic model was designed based on the literature reviews of several theories, including behavioral economic, theory of reasoned actions, flow theory and perceived risk theory.

Factors from three different perspectives – Content & Device characteristics and Perceived risk – were integrated with technology acceptance model to improve the reliability and validity of the research and to ensure the results of analysis.

Survey were conducted by users in South Korea (N=429) who were aware of the existence of realistic content technology. Analysis was made based on structural equation modeling method.

The result of factor analysis showed that Flow and Spatiality have significant influence on the Perceived Usefulness of realistic content, Interaction and Display have significant influence on the Perceived Ease of use. Perceived Usefulness had more influences than Perceived Ease of use on the intention to use the realistic content. Meanwhile, users pointed out the privacy risk as the most significant reason that hesitate users may hesitate to use realistic content.

To invigorate next-generation digital content industry, realistic content technology should be focused on providing optimal experiences to the users. In addition, new digital devices with new display systems are vital to the easy use of realistic content. Moreover, danger of personal information infringement must be considered before the active diffusion of realistic content in the society.