The system, individual and social factors as critical determinants towards members of parliament's engagement with internet communication / Norsyahida Zaharudin

The purpose of this study is to provide insights and empirical evidence on internet usage among the Members of Parliament (MP) in Malaysia. In tandem with the globalization, information and communication technology (ICT) usage has become ubiquitous. As such, politicians and MPs should fully utilize the internet-based tools to reach out to their constituent members. The Parliament of Malaysia, in responding to this phenomenon, has provided the infrastructure for more e-involvement and engagement of the MPs with their peers and the constituent that they represent. Regardless of race and gender, many MPs, especially young politicians, are into ICT usage and have taken the initiative on e-participation into their hands and pace. Therefore, the research objective are, 1) to examine the relationship between system factor and MPs engagement with ICT 2) to examine the relationship between individual factors (perceived usefulness; perceived ease-of-use; perceived selfefficacy) and MPs engagement with ICT 3) to examine the relationship between social factor (subjective norm; word of mouth) and the MPs engagement with ICT. Besides, this research also 4) examines the moderating effect of trust on the relationship between independent and dependent variables. With the emergence of ICT, many theories have been introduced to give an overview of l'Cf engagement among users. The theories used in this research are Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), The Extension of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2), Theory Reason Action (TRA),Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), Diffusion of Innovation Theory (DOl) and Agenda Setting Theory. Through cross-sectional design, the sample size was 222 MPs from the House of Representative in Malaysia. Data collections were done through interviews, surveys and the evaluation of the MPs~ personal website(s). There were 67 usable completed questionnaires returned. To support the results from the quantitative data, structured interviews were conducted with 3 MPs from the House of Representative (HORs) who are actively using ICT as a medium of communication. The research found that, the individual factor (perceived usefulness; perceived ease of-use) and social factor (subjective norm) has a significant relationship with the MPs engagement with ICT, particularly, Internet communication. In addition, the findings also found that trust moderates the relationship between independent variables, which are system, individual (perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use, and self-efficacy), social factor (subjective norm and word of mouth) and dependent variables, that is, MP engagement, with ICT, particularly, Internet communication. Finally, the results and outcomes of this research will hopefully provide the contribution to both academic research and will be implemented in the area of ICT in Parliament institution. Moreover, it is also hoped that these outcomes can provide meaningful information for the government, Parliament institution, political party, Parliament consultants, system providers and MPs in determining the factor, that lead to MPs engagement with the ICT, which, in turn, will increase their engagement (intention to use and continuance to use) with ICT.