Making Sound Adoption Decisions: A Longitudinal Study of Mindfulness in Technology Adoption and Continued Use

A lot of research has been conducted to study what drives people to adopt technologies. Yet, an equally, if not more, important question is how to make sound adoption decisions. This research investigates this question from a mindfulness perspective. Based on the mindfulness literature, this research defines mindfulness in the context of technology adoption and conceptualizes it as a multi-faceted formative factor. A research model of mindfulness is developed to delineate how mindfulness influences the soundness of technology adoption decisions, including the influence of mindfulness at both the adoption and post-adoption stages. The model was examined by a longitudinal empirical study and the data largely supported the model. The results suggest that mindfulness can help individuals make sound adoption decisions, which are somewhat crystallized at the post-adoption stage through high (i.e., positive) disconfirmation, user satisfaction, modified beliefs, and intention to continue. The results have implications for IS research and practices

Sellers’ Trust and Continued Use of Online Marketplaces

Despite the fact that more and more people are selling things online, the community of sellers is under-investigated by information systems researchers. This research explores the role of sellers’ trust in the continued use of online marketplaces. This research differentiates between the sellers’ trust in intermediaries and their trust in the community of buyers. In addition, the concept of trust is examined with a balanced view of cognitive and affective trust. A research model is developed. Empirical data collected from sellers at uBid.com confirm the research model and hypotheses. The findings show that, for online sellers, (1) both cognitive and affective components of trust matter; (2) trust in the intermediary impacts trust in the community of buyers through the trust transference mechanism; (3) trust influences sellers’ retention to online marketplaces indirectly via perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment of using online marketplaces; and (4) perceived enjoyment is an important antecedent of sellers’ retention. This research has implications for information systems research and practice

Does IT Use Matter? Toward a Deeper Understanding of the Impacts of IT Use on Individual Work Performance

Researchers and practitioners have paid much attention to the impacts of information technologies (IT). However, while studied at the organizational level extensively, the impact of IT use at the individual level receives less attention. Therefore, my dissertation is aimed at a deeper understanding of the impacts of IT use on the individual work-related performance. This research involves two Phases. In Phase I, I will reconceptualize IT use. Based on a comprehensive literature review, I found that IT use is obviously a critical concept yet previous conceptualizations of IT use are not sufficient. IT use has been measured primarily by the amount of time, the frequency and duration, and tasks completed. Other aspects of IT use should also be considered. Therefore, I first apply activity theory and other relevant theories to deconstruct and reconceptualize the too simply defined IT use. According to activity theory, an activity involves three major components: subjects and objects that are mediated by tools. Their interactions are also influenced by organizational and technological environments. Activity theory provides us a new perspective to analyze IT use behavior. In Phase II, the nomological values of the new conceptualization of IT resulting from Phase I will be examined. Specifically, I will consider the relationships between IT use and its antecedents (personal traits, perceptions, etc) and consequences (performance). This research has implications for both researchers and practitioners

Understanding Herd Behavior in Technology Adoption and Continued Use: A Longitudinal Perspective

People often discount their own information and imitate others though a process known as herd behavior. This paper investigates herd behaviors in technology adoption and continued use. Specifically, this paper concerns how people may follow others when choosing to adopt information systems and how they may revise this initial decision at the post-adoption stage. Herd literature suggests that people may discount their own beliefs when making adoption decisions and that these adoption decisions are fragile and can be easily reversed at the post-adoption stage. This has implications for existing information systems (IS) research on initial adoption and postadoption system use. We develop a new concept called level of herding to measure to what degree a person follows the actions of others, rather than his/her own beliefs, then adopting a new technology. A research model is developed. A longitudinal survey is being conducted to examine the research model, using PBwiki, an online wiki system, as the research technology. Findings from this research can help us understand herd behavior in the adoption and continued use of technology

Developing an Interdisciplinary Area of Economics and Human-Computer Interaction

As an important component of IS research, human-computer interaction (HCI) research in IS has heavily relied on reference disciplines. Economics is less referenced despite the fact that human beings have been strongly driven by economic rules. This paper purports that economics can be of high value to HCI research, providing fresh perspectives for understanding HCI phenomena. Drawing upon concepts and theories in neoclassical economics, behavioral economics, and information economics, this paper examines five important HCI topics from various perspectives from the field of economics. Accordingly, eighteen propositions are developed, demonstrating the usefulness of economics for advancing our understanding of HCI phenomena. While claiming the benefits of referring to economics, this paper also warns HCI researchers of the potential threats of doing so. Opinions are offered about how HCI researchers can refer to economics strategically

A Research Agenda Toward a Better Conceptualization of IT Use

IT use is a primary concept that should be clarified carefully since it is a major concept in several existing IS theoretical models such as the Technology Acceptance Model, Task-Technology Fit, and IS Success model. Unfortunately, most studies define this concept too simply. This can constrain our understandings of IT impacts. Therefore, it is necessary to conceptualize IT use and explore its multiple dimensions. This research attempts to formulate a research agenda for this purpose. Using activity theory and other related theories, we propose a research framework to conceptualize IT use and a multi-item scale to measure it

Adaptive System Use; An Investigation at the System Feature Level

System use has been simply defined and measured. In this research, we investigate the dynamics of system use at the individual level. A new concept called adaptive system use is developed to capture user modifications to their use of system features. A causal model including antecedents of adaptive system use is developed. Three antecedents of adaptive system use are identified. Using a sample of 282 users of MS Office, our study examines the psychometric properties of adaptive system use and confirms the research model. Four types or dimensions of adaptive system use are trying new features, feature substitution, feature combination, and feature repurposing. Triggers are found to be the most important antecedent of adaptive system use. Facilitating conditions also affect adaptive system use significantly. Research and practical implications are offered

Causal Relationships between Perceived Enjoyment and Perceived Ease of Use: An Alternative Approach

Identifying causal relationships is an important aspect of scientific inquiry. Causal relationships help us to infer, predict, and plan. This research investigates the causal relationships between two constructs, perceived enjoyment (PE) and perceived ease of use (PEOU), within the nomological net of user technology acceptance. PE has been theorized and empirically validated as either an antecedent or a consequence of PEOU. We believe that there are two reasons that account for this ambiguity the conceptual coupling of PE and PEOU and the limitations of covariance-based statistical methods. Accordingly, we approach this inconsistency by providing more theoretical reasoning and employing an alternative statistical method, namely Cohen\u27s path analysis. Specifically, as suggested by previous research on the difference between utilitarian and hedonic systems, we propose the conditional dominance of causal directions. Empirical results from two studies using different technologies and user samples support the theoretical claim that the PE?PEOU causal direction outweighs the PEOU?PE direction for utilitarian systems. There are both theoretical and the methodical contributions of this research. The approach applied in this research can be generalized to study causal relationships between conceptually coupled variables, which otherwise may be overlooked by confirmatory methods. We encourage researchers to pay attention to causal directions in addition to causal connectedness

Reexamining the Impact of System Use on Job Performance from the Perspective of Adaptive System Use

Prior research with regard to the relationship between system use and job performance has been inconsistent. Some research found that system use has significant impact on job performance, as anticipated; other research does not confirm such a relationship. In this paper, we try to bridge this inconsistency by attributing this inconsistency to the simply conceptualized and measured system use construct. Subsequently, we introduce a “richer” conceptualization of system use, namely adaptive system use, and we examine its relationship with job performance. We suggest that adaptive system use accounts for a significant part of the impact of system use on job performance. Using a sample of 274 MS Office users, we were able to confirm that adaptive system use has significant impact on task productivity, management control, and task innovation. This research has implications for both research and practice