Contrast and Assimilation in Consumer Software Selection Decisions – An Experimental Study

Software selection research has so far mainly focused on corporations and often assumed a rational evaluation of selection criteria. Research on consumers’ software selection is still scarce. However, findings from outside IS indicate that consumers’ software selection decisions might be biased by the choice alternatives among which software is selected. In an experiment, this study investigates if consumers’ selection decisions for software package variants are subject to contrast or assimilation and how this affects purchase decisions. In conjoint-type tasks, subjects evaluate software packages alongside other package-variants with reduced functionality and price. Consumers are found to be susceptible to contrast effects when selecting software. They have a higher likelihood to purchase a software package, when they choose from a set of alternatives that also includes package-variants with reduced functionality. This positive effect disappears when the price of the less functional packages is reduced sufficiently. Implications for research and practice are derived

Keeping Software Users on Board - Increasing Continuance Intention Through Incremental Feature Updates

Although feature updates are a ubiquitous phenomenon in both professional and private IT usage, they have to date received little attention in the IS post-adoption literature. Drawing on expectation-confirmation theory and the IS continuance literature, we investigate whether, when and how incremental feature updates affect users’ continuance intentions (CI). Based on a controlled laboratory experiment, we find a positive effect of feature updates on users’ CI. According to this effect, software vendors can increase their users’ CI by delivering updates incrementally rather than providing the entire feature set right with the first release. However, we also find that CI diminishes when the number of updates exceeds a tipping point in a given timeframe, disclosing update frequency as crucial boundary condition. Furthermore, we unveil that the beneficial effect of feature updates on CI operates through positive disconfirmation of expectations, resulting in increased user satisfaction. Implications for research and practice as well as directions for future research are discussed

Gains and Losses in Functionality – An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Software Updates on Users’ Continuance Intentions

Although software updates are ubiquitous in professional and private IS usage, their impact on user behaviors has received little attention in post-adoption research. Based on expectation-confirmation-theory and the IS continuance model, we investigate the effects of gaining and loosing features through updates on expert and novice users’ continuance intentions (CI). In a vignette based experiment, we find that updates which add features to software after its release increase novices’ CI above and beyond a level generated by a monolithic software package that contains the entire feature set from the beginning. With diminished CI, experts show a contrary reaction to the same update. Losing features through an update, on the other hand, severely diminishes CI for experts and novices alike. Mediation analysis reveals positive disconfirmation of previous expectations as psychological mechanism behind novices’ counter-intuitive and somewhat non-rational responses to gaining features through an update. Implications for research and practice are derived

Exploitation of the Timing Capabilities of Metallic Magnetic Calorimeters for a Coincidence Measurement Scheme

In this report, we compare two filter algorithms for extracting timing information using novel metallic magnetic calorimeter detectors, applied to the precision X-ray spectroscopy of highly charged ions in a storage ring. Accurate timing information is crucial when exploiting coincidence conditions for background suppression to obtain clean spectra. For X-rays emitted by charge-changing interactions between ions and a target, this is a well-established technique when relying on conventional semiconductor detectors that offer a good temporal resolution. However, until recently, such a coincidence scheme had never been realized with metallic magnetic calorimeters, which typically feature much longer signal rise times. In this report, we present optimized timing filter algorithms for this type of detector. Their application to experimental data recently obtained at the electron cooler of CRYRING@ESR at GSI, Darmstadt is discussed

Towards an Intrinsic Doppler Correction for X-ray Spectroscopy of Stored Ions at CRYRING@ESR

We report on a new experimental approach for the Doppler correction of X-rays emitted by heavy ions, using novel metallic magnetic calorimeter detectors which uniquely combine a high spectral resolution with a broad bandwidth acceptance. The measurement was carried out at the electron cooler of CRYRING@ESR at GSI, Darmstadt, Germany. The X-ray emission associated with the radiative recombination of cooler electrons and stored hydrogen-like uranium ions was investigated using two novel microcalorimeter detectors positioned under 0∘ and 180∘ with respect to the ion beam axis. This new experimental setup allowed the investigation of the region of the N, M → L transitions in helium-like uranium with a spectral resolution unmatched by previous studies using conventional semiconductor X-ray detectors. When assuming that the rest-frame energy of at least a few of the recorded transitions is well-known from theory or experiments, a precise measurement of the Doppler shifted line positions in the laboratory system can be used to determine the ion beam velocity using only spectral information. The spectral resolution achievable with microcalorimeter detectors should, for the first time, allow intrinsic Doppler correction to be performed for the precision X-ray spectroscopy of stored heavy ions. A comparison with data from a previous experiment at the ESR electron cooler, as well as the conventional method of conducting Doppler correction using electron cooler parameters, will be discussed

COGNITIVE BIASES IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH: A SCIENTOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Human cognition and decision-making related to information systems (IS) is a major area of interest in IS research. However, despite being explored since the mid-seventies in psychology, the phenomenon of cognitive bias has only recently gained attention among IS researchers. This fact is reflected in a comparatively sparse set of mostly disconnected publications, sometimes using inconsistent theory, methodology, and terminology. We address these issus in our scientometric analysis by providing the first review of cognitive bias-related research in IS. Our systematic literature review of 12 top IS outlets covering the past 20 years identifies 84 publications related to cognitive bias. A subsequnt content analysis shows a strong increase of interest in cognitive bias research in the IS discipline in the observed timeframe, yet uncovers a highly unequal distribution across IS fields and industry contexts. While previous research on perception and decision biases has already led to valuable contributions in IS, there is still considerable potential for further research regarding social, memory and interest biases. Our study reveals research gaps in bias-related IS research and highlights common practices in how biases are identified and measured. We conclude with promising future research avenus with the intent to encourage cumulative knowledge-building