IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v13y2023i2p503-d1074745.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Riffat Ara Zannat Tama

    (Department of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensing 2202, Bangladesh
    College of Economics and Management, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China)

  • Md Mahmudul Hoque

    (Ministry of Public Administration, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh)

  • Ying Liu

    (College of Economics and Management, North China University of Technology, Beijing 100144, China)

  • Mohammad Jahangir Alam

    (Department of Agribusiness and Marketing, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensing 2202, Bangladesh)

  • Mark Yu

    (Division of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Science, Tarleton State University, P.O. Box T-0040, Stephenville, TX 76402, USA)

Abstract

Despite being widely advocated as a climate-smart farming system, the adoption of conservation agriculture (CA) among Bangladeshi farmers has remained surprisingly low. Evidence indicates that farmers’ behavior regarding the adoption and continuation of CA is affected by their socioeconomic and psychological factors. This study combined the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theories to examine the socio-psychological determinants of Bangladeshi farmers’ behavior regarding the adoption of CA. The proposed model included both reflective and formative measurements. Based on data collected from 201 CA farmers, this research used a variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach to test the model. The analysis showed that the components of this integrated model explained more variance (Intention: 48.9%; Attitude: 59.2%) than the original TAM framework (Intention: 45.8%; Attitude: 54.5%). Farmers’ attitudes toward the continuation of CA were most influenced by the Relative Advantage (RA) of CA ( β = 0.337). The low level of Complexity ( β = 0.225) and Compatibility ( β = 0.273) of CA had a significant positive effect on attitude. In a campaign to encourage farmers to act more sustainably, interventions should emphasize CA’s long-term benefits, such as its effects on soil, yield, and the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Riffat Ara Zannat Tama & Md Mahmudul Hoque & Ying Liu & Mohammad Jahangir Alam & Mark Yu, 2023. "An Application of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to Examining Farmers’ Behavioral Attitude and Intention towards Conservation Agriculture in Bangladesh," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:2:p:503-:d:1074745
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/2/503/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/2/503/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marko Sarstedt & Erik Mooi, 2014. "The Market Research Process," Springer Texts in Business and Economics, in: A Concise Guide to Market Research, edition 2, chapter 2, pages 11-23, Springer.
    2. Rezaei, Rohollah & Ghofranfarid, Marjan, 2018. "Rural households' renewable energy usage intention in Iran: Extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 382-391.
    3. Ritu Agarwal & Jayesh Prasad, 1998. "A Conceptual and Operational Definition of Personal Innovativeness in the Domain of Information Technology," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 204-215, June.
    4. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    5. Fred D. Davis & Richard P. Bagozzi & Paul R. Warshaw, 1989. "User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(8), pages 982-1003, August.
    6. Jarvis, Cheryl Burke & MacKenzie, Scott B & Podsakoff, Philip M, 2003. "A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(2), pages 199-218, September.
    7. Marios Koufaris, 2002. "Applying the Technology Acceptance Model and Flow Theory to Online Consumer Behavior," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 13(2), pages 205-223, June.
    8. Gary C. Moore & Izak Benbasat, 1991. "Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of Adopting an Information Technology Innovation," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 2(3), pages 192-222, September.
    9. Akter, Shaheen & Gathala, Mahesh K. & Timsina, Jagadish & Islam, Saiful & Rahman, Mahbubur & Hassan, Mustafa Kamrul & Ghosh, Anup Kumar, 2021. "Adoption of conservation agriculture-based tillage practices in the rice-maize systems in Bangladesh," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    10. Sungho Park & Sachin Gupta, 2012. "Handling Endogenous Regressors by Joint Estimation Using Copulas," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 567-586, July.
    11. Knowler, Duncan & Bradshaw, Ben, 2007. "Farmers' adoption of conservation agriculture: A review and synthesis of recent research," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 25-48, February.
    12. Marko Sarstedt & Jan-Michael Becker & Christian M. Ringle & Manfred Schwaiger, 2011. "Uncovering and Treating Unobserved Heterogeneity with FIMIX-PLS: Which Model Selection Criterion Provides an Appropriate Number of Segments?," Schmalenbach Business Review (sbr), LMU Munich School of Management, vol. 63(1), pages 34-62, January.
    13. Alambaigi, Amir & Ahangari, Ismael, 2016. "Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) As a Predictor Model for Explaining Agricultural Experts Behavior in Acceptance of ICT," International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development (IJAMAD), Iranian Association of Agricultural Economics, vol. 6(2), June.
    14. Li Hua & Shanyong Wang, 2019. "Antecedents of Consumers’ Intention to Purchase Energy-Efficient Appliances: An Empirical Study Based on the Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, May.
    15. Emmann, Carsten H. & Arens, Ludwig & Theuvsen, Ludwig, 2013. "Individual acceptance of the biogas innovation: A structural equation model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 372-378.
    16. Pradhan, Aliza & Chan, Catherine & Roul, Pravat Kumar & Halbrendt, Jacqueline & Sipes, Brent, 2018. "Potential of conservation agriculture (CA) for climate change adaptation and food security under rainfed uplands of India: A transdisciplinary approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 27-35.
    17. Adnan, Nadia & Nordin, Shahrina Md & bin Abu Bakar, Zulqarnain, 2017. "Understanding and facilitating sustainable agricultural practice: A comprehensive analysis of adoption behaviour among Malaysian paddy farmers," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 372-382.
    18. Faridi, Amir Ali & Kavoosi-Kalashami, Mohammad & Bilali, Hamid El, 2020. "Attitude components affecting adoption of soil and water conservation measures by paddy farmers in Rasht County, Northern Iran," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    19. Ebrahimi Sarcheshmeh, Elaheh & Bijani, Masoud & Sadighi, Hassan, 2018. "Adoption behavior towards the use of nuclear technology in agriculture: A causal analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 175-182.
    20. Mark Simkin & Alexander McLeod, 2010. "Why Do College Students Cheat?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(3), pages 441-453, July.
    21. Verma, Pranay & Sinha, Neena, 2018. "Integrating perceived economic wellbeing to technology acceptance model: The case of mobile based agricultural extension service," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 207-216.
    22. Nasrin. M.A. & Akteruzzaman, M., 2018. "Adoption Status And Factors Influencing Adoption Of Conservation Agriculture Technology In Bangladesh," Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, vol. 38(1-2), September.
    23. Wynne W. Chin & Barbara L. Marcolin & Peter R. Newsted, 2003. "A Partial Least Squares Latent Variable Modeling Approach for Measuring Interaction Effects: Results from a Monte Carlo Simulation Study and an Electronic-Mail Emotion/Adoption Study," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 189-217, June.
    24. Viswanath Venkatesh & Fred D. Davis, 2000. "A Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model: Four Longitudinal Field Studies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(2), pages 186-204, February.
    25. Nasrin, M.A. & Akteruzzaman, M., 2018. "Adoption Status And Factors Influencing Adoption Of Conservation Agriculture Technology In Bangladesh," Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Economics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, vol. 38(1-2), September.
    26. Jonathan R B Fisher & Jensen Montambault & Kyle P Burford & Trisha Gopalakrishna & Yuta J Masuda & Sheila M W Reddy & Kaitlin Torphy & Andrea I Salcedo, 2018. "Knowledge diffusion within a large conservation organization and beyond," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-24, March.
    27. Marko Sarstedt & Erik Mooi, 2014. "A Concise Guide to Market Research," Springer Texts in Business and Economics, Springer, edition 2, number 978-3-642-53965-7, August.
    28. Schuitema, Geertje & Anable, Jillian & Skippon, Stephen & Kinnear, Neale, 2013. "The role of instrumental, hedonic and symbolic attributes in the intention to adopt electric vehicles," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 39-49.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wen-Lung Shiau & Yogesh K. Dwivedi, 2013. "Citation and co-citation analysis to identify core and emerging knowledge in electronic commerce research," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(3), pages 1317-1337, March.
    2. Kathrin Dudenhöffer, 2013. "Why electric vehicles failed," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 95-124, July.
    3. Ivonne Angelica Castiblanco Jimenez & Laura Cristina Cepeda García & Maria Grazia Violante & Federica Marcolin & Enrico Vezzetti, 2020. "Commonly Used External TAM Variables in e-Learning, Agriculture and Virtual Reality Applications," Future Internet, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Gao, Tao (Tony) & Rohm, Andrew J. & Sultan, Fareena & Pagani, Margherita, 2013. "Consumers un-tethered: A three-market empirical study of consumers' mobile marketing acceptance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(12), pages 2536-2544.
    5. Damon E. Campbell & John D. Wells & Joseph S. Valacich, 2013. "Breaking the Ice in B2C Relationships: Understanding Pre-Adoption E-Commerce Attraction," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 219-238, June.
    6. Andrei OGREZEANU, 2015. "Models Of Technology Adoption: An Integrative Approach," Network Intelligence Studies, Romanian Foundation for Business Intelligence, Editorial Department, issue 5, pages 55-67, June.
    7. Allam, Hesham & Bliemel, Michael & Spiteri, Louise & Blustein, James & Ali-Hassan, Hossam, 2019. "Applying a multi-dimensional hedonic concept of intrinsic motivation on social tagging tools: A theoretical model and empirical validation," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 211-222.
    8. Iviane Ramos-de-Luna & Francisco Montoro-Ríos & Francisco Liébana-Cabanillas, 2016. "Determinants of the intention to use NFC technology as a payment system: an acceptance model approach," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 293-314, May.
    9. Amaro, Suzanne & Duarte, Paulo, 2015. "An integrative model of consumers' intentions to purchase travel online," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 64-79.
    10. Mütterlein, Joschka & Kunz, Reinhard E. & Baier, Daniel, 2019. "Effects of lead-usership on the acceptance of media innovations: A mobile augmented reality case," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 113-124.
    11. Christopher R. Plouffe & John S. Hulland & Mark Vandenbosch, 2001. "Research Report: Richness Versus Parsimony in Modeling Technology Adoption Decisions—Understanding Merchant Adoption of a Smart Card-Based Payment System," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 208-222, June.
    12. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13613 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Yajiong Xue & Huigang Liang & Liansheng Wu, 2011. "Punishment, Justice, and Compliance in Mandatory IT Settings," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 400-414, June.
    14. Schmidthuber, Lisa & Maresch, Daniela & Ginner, Michael, 2020. "Disruptive technologies and abundance in the service sector - toward a refined technology acceptance model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    15. Sepasgozar, Samad M.E. & Hawken, Scott & Sargolzaei, Sharifeh & Foroozanfa, Mona, 2019. "Implementing citizen centric technology in developing smart cities: A model for predicting the acceptance of urban technologies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 105-116.
    16. Nastjuk, Ilja & Herrenkind, Bernd & Marrone, Mauricio & Brendel, Alfred Benedikt & Kolbe, Lutz M., 2020. "What drives the acceptance of autonomous driving? An investigation of acceptance factors from an end-user's perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    17. Qian Wang & Michael Myers & David Sundaram, 2013. "Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 5(6), pages 409-419, December.
    18. Małecka, Agnieszka & Mitręga, Maciej & Mróz-Gorgoń, Barbara & Pfajfar, Gregor, 2022. "Adoption of collaborative consumption as sustainable social innovation: Sociability and novelty seeking perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 163-179.
    19. Paul Juinn Bing Tan, 2013. "Applying the UTAUT to Understand Factors Affecting the Use of English E-Learning Websites in Taiwan," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(4), pages 21582440135, October.
    20. Scott, Stephanie & Hughes, Paul & Hodgkinson, Ian & Kraus, Sascha, 2019. "Technology adoption factors in the digitization of popular culture: Analyzing the online gambling market," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    21. Sara Moussawi & Marios Koufaris & Raquel Benbunan-Fich, 2021. "How perceptions of intelligence and anthropomorphism affect adoption of personal intelligent agents," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 31(2), pages 343-364, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:2:p:503-:d:1074745. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.