92 Int. J. Economics and Business Research, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2018 Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Towards an understanding of students’ behavioural intention to take virtual lectures in UAE universities Ahmed Shuhaiber Management and MIS Department, College of Business, Al Ain University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box: 112612, Abu Dhabi, UAE Email: ahmed.shuhaiber@aau.ac.ae Abstract: The electronic trend of university teaching has recently transformed the learning style to become more learner-centred, and has popularised virtual lectures as an adjunct or alternative to traditional lectures. Despite its potential and popularity, virtual lectures have low adoption rates in UAE universities, and little is known about students’ acceptance and usage of virtual lectures in the country, and in non-western countries in general. Thus, this research aimed to fill this gap by studying the factors that influence students’ willingness to accept virtual lectures in one Emirati University. A quantitative approach was followed, by extending the UTAUT model, obtaining 78 survey responses (a pilot study), and statistically testing the associated hypotheses. Results revealed that effort expectancy, performance expectancy, social influences, and self-efficacy could positively influence students’ attitudes towards virtual lectures. Moreover, facilitating conditions and attitudes towards virtual lectures have positive impact on students’ intention to take virtual lectures. Theoretical and practical implications are indicated, and directions of future research are specified afterwards. Keywords: e-learning; online live learning; students’ acceptance; virtual lectures; web-based learning systems. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Shuhaiber, A. (2018) ‘Towards an understanding of students’ behavioural intention to take virtual lectures in UAE universities’, Int. J. Economics and Business Research, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp.92–103. Biographical notes: Ahmed Shuhaiber is currently an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the College of Business, Al Ain University of Science and Technology, UAE. He achieved his PhD at the school of Information Management, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is primarily a quantitative researcher, and his past work has been published in distinguished outlets, such as Computers in Human Behaviour (Elsevier) and Information Systems Development (Springer), and International Journal of Business Information Systems (Inderscience). Some of his past work has been funded by the Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan.