**5. Methods**

H9: There is a significant relationship between PEOU and ATT.

PU

H2

H1

H3 H4

H5

H6

PEOU

H7

H8

H9

ATT BI

H10

**4.2. PA and NA on the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavioral** 

This research considers PA and NA based on evidences obtained by Zhang and Li [36]. They found that PA strongly influences PEOU, PU, and ATT, while NA only influences PEOU at the initial stage of usage. In their work, BI is mediated by ATT, but the direct influence of PA and NA on BI was not being investigated (**Figure 4**). Isen [42] presented his findings by stating that positive affect state such as joy and elation will lead a person to be creative, playful, and explore innovative ideas and think broadly. Another piece of work conducted by Isen et al. [38] using four experiments on positive and negative affects induced by a series of activities such as watching comedy films for few minutes, receiving a small bag of candy, or showing film of unpleasant feelings. They found that positive affect induced by a comedy film or a small gift of candy facilitates creativity on tasks given. At the same time, activities that designed to induce negative affect using primitive arousal devoid of any affective tone (exercise) had no effect on these measures. In their findings, negative affect neither facilitates nor impairs creativity. However, they pointed out that one of their experiments showed that negative affect was only induced by showing subjects film that induces unpleasant feelings. The proposed work in this research hypothesized the extent of how a person feels in his perception on the KS tools' features and functions (or characteristics) in their day-to-day tasks that induce positive or negative affect. This research fills the gap by examining the relationship of PA and NA and the behavioral intention to accept KS tools in the organizations. The affect induced by the perception toward how knowledge workers evaluate KS tools' affective quality is believed to be able to influence an individual's behavior and intention to accept a

H10: There is a significant relationship between ATT and BI.

**intention to accept KS tools**

154 Knowledge Management Strategies and Applications

PA

NA

**Figure 4.** ATA model.

### **5.1. Study contexts and samples**

The population where sample will be drawn in this research consists of knowledge workers who work in MSC-status organizations in Malaysia. The samples are individuals who deal with information, require developing, or using knowledge to solve problems in their jobs. About 2500 MSC-status organizations from the MSC directory (http://www.mscmalaysia.my/company\_ directory) have been invited to participate in this research. Two thousands and five invitations were sent out to these organizations and 300 forms were received. Two hundred ninety-five forms were usable. A response rate of 11.87% was gathered from the self-administered questionnaire. **Figure 5** illustrates KS tools that are highly utilized by the respondents, and **Figure 6** presents those that are not used at all in the activities that are carried out by the respondents.

**Figure 5.** KS tools with high usage frequency.
