Technical Expertise and Its Influence on the Acceptance of Future Medical Technologies: What Is Influencing What to Which Extent?

In this research we examine the influence of technical expertise on future medical technology. Technical expertise is assumed to positively influence the acceptance of modern technologies, and there is evidence within the information and communication technology (ICT) sector for this. While no one would seriously dispute this basic impact of technical expertise on technology acceptance, it is far from clear what the main drivers of technical expertise are. In order to understand the complex nature of expertise on the one hand and its impact on the acceptance of other technology domains on the other, an empirical approach was undertaken. 100 participants (19-75 years) participated in a survey, in which the acceptance of a medical mobile device was explored. Outcomes show (1) that technical expertise is a highly complex construct entailing different facets (knowledge, motivational, emotional and pragmatic components), which are influenced by age and gender of respondents (2) technical expertise in the ICT domain decisively modulates acceptance of medical technology. Interestingly, a low technical expertise does not only reduce the acceptance of the pro-using arguments, but is specifically related to a high confirmation of contrausing arguments.