Extending the Expectation-Confirmation Theory: How do Software Updates Change Continuance Intention?

Software updates have enabled developers the possibilities to fix bugs or add features after the initial software release. The phenomenon of using such updates to enhance software, is a relatively new trend that has not received much attention in the Information Systems (IS) literature. However, because software updates influence the interaction between users and developers, they are directly connected to sales and revenue. Based on a conducted literature review, this research idea consists of two parts and proposes an approach to measure and analysis the effects of software updates on users. First, a longitudinal, panel study is conducted to gain qualitative knowledge and extend the expectation-confirmation framework proposed by the existing literature. Second, a self-developed Android app will be used in an experimental setting to test and validate the research model and gain knowledge on how developers can keep users happy and increase continuance intention through functional software updates

User Expectations of Hedonic Software Updates

Software updates have recently become a common phenomenon in software development and maintenance. This is due to the rise of ubiquitous and interconnected IT that enables developers to frequently fix bugs, enhance features, or even add new functionalities. This paper contributes to the post-adoption topic of IS research by investigating the understanding of how users perceive software updates of hedonic software. The focus is to understand how and what users perceive and expect from upcoming updates. Pokémon GO is the IT artifact that will be examined with the paper as it is a prime example of an innovative and trending game that was released relatively unfinished, but is constantly improved via updates. We use the IS continuance model to evaluates the players perception on: expectations before the initial use, confirmation or disconfirmation, perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, expectations for upcoming software updates, and continuance intention

Influence of Software Updates on Hedonic Software Users

Lately, a more and more frequently used method to enhance and maintain software is through software updates. These updates are distributed over the Internet in order to fix bugs, improve base-software, or add new functionalities. This research paper extends theory in the IS topic of post-adoption and examines the effect of software updates on the individual hedonic software user. We develop a digital game and use it in a web-based experiment with 225 participants who are randomly assigned to three distinct groups. We adapt the IS continuance model and assess the effects of a functional software update and a placebo update notification through inter group comparisons. Our study unveils that while a functional software update leads to an increase in perceived enjoyment, satisfaction, continuance intention, and disconfirmation, albeit the placebo update notification does not. Finally, implications for research and practice are discussed

The Influence of Design Updates on Users: the Case of Snapchat

Today’s smartphone apps are regularly updated and enhanced through software updates. The case at hand is the popular social multimedia messaging app Snapchat that released a design overhaul in February 2018. While the update neither changed any features nor caused any relevant bugs or crashes, it led to an uproar of Snapchat’s users and significantly decreased its app store ratings and consequently revenue. As a result, Snap Inc., the company behind Snapchat, was forced to reverse design changes to appease their users. The initial adverse effects of the update were surprising; however, after using difference-in-difference tests in combination with sentiment analysis, our results indicate that design updates can be perceived negatively by users. We contribute to IS literature by evaluating the effect of design changes and the role of perceived ease of use in the post-adoption stage

Why Would Customers Engage in Drone Deliveries?

Modern technologies, such as autonomously flying vehicles respectively drones, have won attention and are on the edge to change incumbent industries. Whereas drones are currently used in a variety of industry landscapes, such as filmmaking and agriculture, we focus particularly on the shipping industry. In this paper, we take the customers’ perspective and evaluate why customers would engage in drone deliveries. We investigate the influence of trust, perceived risk, and motivational factors and propose a research model that seeks to explain the customers’ intention. This study uses survey data (n = 116) and structural equation modeling. Our results provide empirical evidence that trust and perceived risk, as well as specific motivational factors influence the customers’ intention to engage in drone deliveries. Further, our paper encourages researchers, designers, and developers to build the respective IS including the expectations of future drone users. Therefore, academic and practical implications are discussed

“Online Or Offline, What Do You Prefer?” Pre-Test of Measurement Scales for Empirical Analysis

In times of increasing globalization and the continuing growth of internet-based processes and services, it becomes necessary to study emerging phenomena such as user resistance from a novel theoretical perspective. In this paper, we develop measurement instruments to empirically analyze and test why different process participants use or do not use this process in a virtual environment, and why different types of people perceive a virtualized process as useful or usable. We are interested in why people reject or use virtual processes. In order to verify the rejection of virtual processes, we base our research on user resistance and we examine Process Virtualization Theory, service quality and user satisfaction and their impact on attitude towards user resistance. Therefore we conducted a pre-test in the form of an online-survey with 90 participants. The aim of this pretest is to validate our measurement instruments and to get an early understanding of construct validity

The Influence of Private Alternatives on Employees\u27 Acceptance of Organizational IS

Recent phenomena such as IT consumerization, bring your own device, and shadow IT describe employees who introduce new technologies into their organizations rather than resist technological change. We research the underlying mechanism that drives employees to introduce new private technology into their working environment. In our study, we intentionally separate the impact that organizational IS performance and private technology use have on satisfaction with organizational IS and consider satisfaction’s dynamics as a fundamental aspect in our research model. As a theoretical contribution, we suggest that familiarity with superior private technological alternatives for organizational IS decreases satisfaction with organizational IS and, thus, fosters behavioral change. In our empirical study, we found interaction effects that indicate that innovative employees, in contrast to non-innovative employees, reach a higher satisfaction level in situations with high organizational IS performance. Furthermore, we found that non-inert employees, in contrast to inert employees, become dissatisfied with organizational IS when they experience well-performing IS in their private environments

Analytical modelling of stable isotope fractionation of volatile organic compounds in the unsaturated zone

Analytical models were developed that simulate stable isotope ratios of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) near a point source contamination in the unsaturated zone. The models describe diffusive transport of VOCs, biodegradation and source ageing. The mass transport is governed by Fick's law for diffusion, and the equation for reactive transport of VOCs in the soil gas phase was solved for different source geometries and for different boundary conditions. Model results were compared to experimental data from a one-dimensional laboratory column and a radial-symmetric field experiment, and the comparison yielded a satisfying agreement. The model results clearly illustrate the significant isotope fractionation by gas-phase diffusion under transient state conditions. This leads to an initial depletion of heavy isotopes with increasing distance from the source. The isotope evolution of the source is governed by the combined effects of isotope fractionation due to vaporization, diffusion and biodegradation. The net effect can lead to an enrichment or depletion of the heavy isotope in the remaining organic phase depending on the compound and element considered. Finally, the isotope evolution of molecules migrating away from the source and undergoing degradation is governed by a combined degradation and diffusion isotope effect. This suggests that in the unsaturated zone, the interpretation of biodegradation based on isotope data must always be based on a model combining gas-phase diffusion and degradation.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

An aberrant phase transition of stress granules triggered by misfolded protein and prevented by chaperone function

Stress granules (SG) are membrane-less compartments involved in regulating mRNAs during stress. Aberrant forms of SGs have been implicated in age-related diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but the molecular events triggering their formation are still unknown. Here, we find that misfolded proteins, such as ALS-linked variants of SOD1, specifically accumulate and aggregate within SGs in human cells. This decreases the dynamics of SGs, changes SG composition, and triggers an aberrant liquid-to-solid transition of in vitro reconstituted compartments. We show that chaperone recruitment prevents the formation of aberrant SGs and promotes SG disassembly when the stress subsides. Moreover, we identify a backup system for SG clearance, which involves transport of aberrant SGs to the aggresome and their degradation by autophagy. Thus, cells employ a system of SG quality control to prevent accumulation of misfolded proteins and maintain the dynamic state of SGs, which may have relevance for ALS and related diseases

TADPOL: A 1.3 mm Survey of Dust Polarization in Star-forming Cores and Regions

We present {\lambda}1.3 mm CARMA observations of dust polarization toward 30 star-forming cores and 8 star-forming regions from the TADPOL survey. We show maps of all sources, and compare the ~2.5" resolution TADPOL maps with ~20" resolution polarization maps from single-dish submillimeter telescopes. Here we do not attempt to interpret the detailed B-field morphology of each object. Rather, we use average B-field orientations to derive conclusions in a statistical sense from the ensemble of sources, bearing in mind that these average orientations can be quite uncertain. We discuss three main findings: (1) A subset of the sources have consistent magnetic field (B-field) orientations between large (~20") and small (~2.5") scales. Those same sources also tend to have higher fractional polarizations than the sources with inconsistent large-to-small-scale fields. We interpret this to mean that in at least some cases B-fields play a role in regulating the infall of material all the way down to the ~1000 AU scales of protostellar envelopes. (2) Outflows appear to be randomly aligned with B-fields; although, in sources with low polarization fractions there is a hint that outflows are preferentially perpendicular to small-scale B-fields, which suggests that in these sources the fields have been wrapped up by envelope rotation. (3) Finally, even at ~2.5" resolution we see the so-called "polarization hole" effect, where the fractional polarization drops significantly near the total intensity peak. All data are publicly available in the electronic edition of this article.Comment: 53 pages, 37 figures -- main body (13 pp., 3 figures), source maps (32 pp., 34 figures), source descriptions (8 pp.). Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal Supplemen