DIGITAL LITERACY AND BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION TO USE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AMONG ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF IN MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES: A UTAUT-BASED CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Digital literacy has become a critical determinant of institutional effectiveness as Malaysian public universities accelerate their digital transformation agendas under the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint and the Public Sector Digitalisation Strategic Plan 2021–2025. Although the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) remains the dominant lens for explaining technology adoption, it implicitly assumes that users possess uniform capability to act upon their intentions, has historically been applied to bounded, single-system contexts, and has left voluntariness of use largely unexamined; it therefore cannot explain why documented competency deficits translate into weak adoption motivation among administrative staff. This paper addresses these theoretical shortcomings by proposing a UTAUT-based conceptual framework in which digital literacy, conceptualised as a multidimensional competency rather than a technology, is positioned as an antecedent that influences behavioural intention to use digital technologies both directly and indirectly through Effort Expectancy as a partial mediator, a pathway grounded in Social Cognitive Theory and self-efficacy. Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, and Facilitating Conditions are modelled as direct predictors of behavioural intention, while voluntariness of use, together with gender, age, and experience, is incorporated as a moderator to capture the semi-mandatory nature of technology use in Malaysian public universities. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey of 384 administrative staff across eight public universities is proposed, with data to be analysed using covariance-based Structural Equation Modelling. The framework contributes theoretically by repositioning individual competency within UTAUT’s nomological network, contextually by examining a systematically overlooked institutional workforce, and practically by generating evidence to calibrate digital upskilling policy under the MyDIGITAL agenda.