An empirical research of the intention to use iris recognition for personal identification

Abstract

This study was designed to explore the key factors impacting on the intention to use iris recognition for personal identification. The primary purpose is to identify the possible variables, which influence individuals’ acceptance of iris recognition. The second and third purposes were to develop a conceptual model and propose twelve hypotheses to examine the relationships between constructs and to provide practical suggestions for the companies and organizations that would like to apply iris recognition technology.

Three main theoretical models were applied to develop the conceptual model in this research, namely Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Adoption of Risky Technology Models (ARTM), and Motivation Model (MM). Based on the three theoretical models, the proposed conceptual model was comprised of seven factors and twelve hypotheses and adopted a three-dimension framework, including two constructs of technology context – Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use, three constructs of motivation context – Perceived Need for Security, Perceived Need for Privacy, and Perceived Physical Invasiveness, and one construct of individual context – Personal Innovativeness in IT.

According to the proposed conceptual model, a questionnaire was conducted. Research data were obtained through an online survey. There were 157 valid responses utilized in the research analysis. Statistical techniques – Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis were performed to explore the factor structure and identify a measurement model. Then Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was conducted to assess the goodness-of-fit (GOF) of the proposed structural model and validate the research hypotheses.

The results validated some hypotheses and supported past research: Perceived Usefulness and Personal Innovativeness have a direct positive impact on intention to use; Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Need for Security has an indirect positive influence in intention to use via Perceived Usefulness. However, Perceived Physical Invasiveness did not show a significant negative influence in intention to as previous study. This could be explained based on different situational contexts.

The theoretical contribution was to develop a new and comprehensive conceptual model, which successfully extend the TAM through integrating ATRM and MM, and validate some variables in a new field – biometric recognition context.

At last, the limitations of this study and suggestions for further research were discussed, including enlarging sample size and sample variation in physical locations, educational levels, and employments.