The perception to practice pathway of Integrated Pest Management in horticulture: an extended Technology Acceptance Model

An extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to explore the pathway between the perception of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) by growers and its practical uptake. IPM is an established framework for the management of crop health based on a range of strategic and tactical horticultural techniques. In this research, IPM adoption is quantified through the application of a novel IPM metric. Policy makers need to understand the perception to practice pathway for IPM in order to increase adoption in line with regulatory frameworks. The TAM examines perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) on the attitude and subsequent acceptance of a technology; extended TAM frameworks incorporate additional antecedent variables. In this study, we include the additional latent variables of business features and innovativeness to examine their capacity to predict the adoption of IPM at the farm business level for growers of horticultural crops (n = 100) in the Republic of Ireland, surveyed in 2023. Findings verify the correlation between PU, PEOU and attitude and the effect of PEOU on PU. PU has a stronger association with attitude than PEOU. Neither business features nor innovativeness were significantly related to PU or PEOU, respectively. The hypothetical correlation between attitude and IPM adoption was rejected, demonstrating a divide in the perception to practice trajectory and adding to the literature on the attitude to adoption gap. The findings demonstrate the value of empirical assessment of behavioural data. An implication for IPM policy direction is that grower perception does not always infer future grower adoption. Therefore, a cautionary reliance on perception data during the ex-ante stages of IPM incentivisation development is recommended.