The impact of continuous use intention of cooperative members on new agricultural technologies

The widespread application of new agricultural technologies promotes an increase in agricultural production and income and in the optimization and adjustment of the industrial structure. However, there are problems such as low promotion efficiency, an insufficient transformation of achievements, and a mismatch of supply and demand in the process of promotion. Based on the research context of farmer cooperatives in China, this study explores the factors influencing the continuous use intention of cooperative members toward new agricultural technologies and builds a research structure based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model, which includes performance expectations, effort expectations, cooperative social impact, and policy support. A total of 401 valid questionnaires were collected, and the data were analyzed in three stages using descriptive statistics, a measurement validation model, and a structural equation model, using a survey questionnaire and by inviting members of farmer cooperatives within China to participate in an online survey through a web-based electronic questionnaire. The results of the study found that policy support plays a dominant role in the intention of cooperative members of farmers to use new agricultural technologies consistently, and cooperative social impact plays a facilitating role, while factors such as performance expectation and effort expectation also have a significantly positive effect on the intention to use consistently.