Mediating Role of Motivation in the Relationships between Awareness, Accessibility, Perceived Organizational Support and Adoption of ICT among Extension Agents in North-East, Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediation role of motivation in the relationships between awareness, accessibility, perceived organizational support, and adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The data was obtained using the multi-stage cluster sampling method with questionnaires administered to 254 respondents. While structural equation modelling was used for the analysis, Constructivism Theory, Digital Divide Theory, as well as Vroom's Expectancy Theory were adopted in the study. The majority of the respondents were males, married, and in their middle age with long years of work experience who had also obtained either high school diploma or Bachelor degree. The direct relationship paths showed that the exogenous construct [awareness, accessibility, Perceived Organizational Support (POS)] had a direct positive effect on the endogenous construct (ICT adoption) with an R 2 value of .23 (23%). The final model has an R 2 of 0.47 (47%) of the variation in ICT adoption explained by the model with a substantial increase in the direct model, which explains 23% of the variation. The mediation effect of motivation in the relationships between awareness, accessibility, POS, and ICT adoption was also established indicating partial mediation. The study recommends that extension organizations should be mindful of the motivation levels of their employee to facilitate the adoption of ICT in extension work, which will facilitate timely delivery of messages, cover the manpower shortages, reduce cost, as well as a total transformation of agricultural development in the area.