Cross-regional comparison of university teachers’ intentions to adopt digital teaching in China: a multi-group SEM analysis based on UTAUT

Abstract

The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) is a dominant framework for explaining teachers’ technology acceptance, yet its assumption of cross-contextual stability has rarely been challenged. Region, as a composite variable carrying multiple structural differences such as resource adequacy and professional community density, may systematically moderate the strength of UTAUT paths. This study surveyed 351 university teachers from eastern (n = 126), central (n = 115), and western (n = 110) China and employed multi-group structural equation modeling to examine cross-regional differences in the core paths of UTAUT. The results showed that at the full-sample level, performance expectancy (β = 0.32), effort expectancy (β = 0.14), social influence (β = 0.21), and facilitating conditions (β = 0.26) all significantly and positively predicted adoption intention, jointly explaining 51.2% of the variance. At the cross-regional level, effort expectancy explained adoption intention more strongly for western than for eastern teachers (β_west = 0.23 vs. β_east = 0.09, p = 0.004); facilitating conditions showed a similar pattern (β_west = 0.34 vs. β_east = 0.21, p = 0.009); social influence explained adoption intention more strongly for eastern than for western teachers (β_east = 0.28 vs. β_west = 0.15, p = 0.003); and performance expectancy remained stable across the three regions (β_east = 0.31, β_central = 0.33, β_west = 0.29, p = 0.654). These findings suggest that the path weights of UTAUT systematically vary with regional development levels. Accordingly, eastern universities should prioritize culture cultivation, western universities resource assurance, and central universities a dual-track strategy.