The Examination of Effects on Perceptions of Innovation Characteristics and Purchase Intention of Electronic Books

E-books have changed the way to publish and the way to read. The books are stored digitally and can be loaded by various readers. In this study, we examine the effect of gender and format of e-books toward the perceptions of innovation characteristics and purchase intention of the books. Following a 2x2 experimental design on the content (static versus dynamic) and reader (computer versus tablet), we randomly assign 200 volunteers into four groups. After 10 minutes reading the assigned content on the assigned reader, the participants are asked to rate the relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, observability, flow, and purchase intention based on their reading experience. Male showed stronger perceptions of innovation characteristics and purchase intention of e-books. Compared with computer e-book readers, tablet readers generated higher perceptions of innovation characteristics and purchase intention of e-books. Surprisingly, there was no difference between the readers reading static or dynamic contents.