Beyond carrot-and-stick: How values and endogenous motivations affect residential Green IS adoption

Research on the adoption of information systems (IS) has been dominated by mechanistic motivational theories (extrinsic vs. intrinsic motivation). In contrast, the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) goes beyond the traditional dichotomy of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation by distinguishing between different types of motivation based on one’s perceived self-determination when performing a behavior (Ryan and Deci 2000). Our study contributes to IS research by examining the role of endogenous motivation on the adoption of Green IS. Our research model additionally investigates the role of personal values as they ultimately motivate actions (Schwartz 2009) and are suggested to be important antecedents of eco-innovations’ adoption. To test our model we collected data from an online survey from 1.319 consumers, both actual users and non-users. Results show that especially autonomous motivations are influential drivers of Green IS adoption. Further, a comparison of both groups reveals that extrinsic rewards tend to be more relevant for non-users

Exploring the Behavioral Sprouts of Smart Home Farming

In times of climate change and growing urbanization, the way food is produced and consumed also changes. Meanwhile, digitization is transforming farming practices, which also applies to the domestic growing of crops. More and more so-called smart home farms (SHF) are finding their way into private households. This paper conceptualizes the unique nature of enabled smart services and their underlying technology. Following an inductive interpretive approach, this study explores the antecedents of smart home farming practices. Our sample consists of eleven actual smart home farmers. We found six constructs to be of salient importance: expected outcomes related to harvesting, positive feelings, and sustainability; a combination of one\u27s affinity for green and novel technologies; and the smartness and visibility of the enabled services. In the outlook, we present some preliminary thoughts for testing our qualitative findings

Sustainable IS Use: What IS Needed to REDUSE

Facing ever-looming climate change, studying the drivers for individuals\u27 Information Systems (IS) Use to reduce environmental harm gains momentum. While extant research on the antecedents of sustainable IS Use has focused on specific theories, interventions, contexts, and technologies, a holistic understanding has become increasingly elusive, with a synthesis remaining absent. We employ a systematic literature review methodology to shed light on the driving antecedents for sustainable IS Use among individual consumers. Our results build on findings of 29 empirical studies drawn from 598 articles retrieved from our premier outlets and a forward/backward search. The analysis reveals six salient complementary antecedents: Relief, Empowerment, Default, User-centricity, Salience, and Encouragement. We recommend considering these concepts when developing, deploying, promoting, or regulating digital technologies to mitigate individual consumers’ emissions. Along with memorable and implementable concepts, our theoretical framework offers a novel conceptualization and four promising avenues for researchers on sustainable IS Use

On the role of smartness in helping consumers create sustainable outcomes

The proliferation of smart technologies transforms the way individual consumers perform tasks. Considerable research alludes that smart technologies are often related to domestic energy consumption. However, it remains unclear how such technologies transform tasks and thereby impact our planet. We explore the role of technological smartness in personal day-to-day tasks that help create a more sustainable future. In the absence of theory, but facing extensive changes in everyday life enabled by smart technologies, we draw on phenomenon-based theorizing (PBT) guidelines. As anchor, we refer to task endogeneity related to task-technology fit theory (TTF). As infusion, we employ theory on public goods. Our model proposes novel relations between the concepts of smart-autonomy and -transparency with sustainable task outcomes, mediated by task convenience and task significance. We discuss some implications, limitations, and future research opportunities

ON THE ROLE OF SMARTNESS IN HELPING CONSUMERS CREATE SUSTAINABLE OUTCOMES

The proliferation of smart technologies transforms the way individual consumers perform tasks. Considerable research alludes that smart technologies are often related to domestic energy consumption. However, it remains unclear how such technologies transform tasks and thereby impact our planet. We explore the role of technological smartness in personal day-to-day tasks that help create a more sustainable future. In the absence of theory, but facing extensive changes in everyday life enabled by smart technologies, we draw on phenomenon-based theorizing (PBT) guidelines. As anchor, we refer to task endogeneity related to task-technology fit theory (TTF). As infusion, we employ theory on public goods. Our model proposes novel relations between the concepts of smart-autonomy and -transparency with sustainable task outcomes, mediated by task convenience and task significance. We discuss some implications, limitations, and future research opportunities

The Impact of Endogenous Motivations on Adoption of IT-Enabled Services: The Case of Transformative Services in the Energy Sector

Transformative services represent a crucial topic in future service research. Particularly in the energy sector, consumer adoption of transformativeoften IT-enabledservices is essential to increased environmental sustainability. As adopting these services increases both individual and collective well-being, research has to delve more deeply into the origins of consumers' motivations. For this reason, this study aims at augmenting the understanding of how different types of motivation determine consumers' intention to adopt transformative services. The proposed model integrates the theory of planned behavior and the self-determination theory and is tested with survey data gathered from 462 users and 537 nonusers of home energy management services. Results indicate that consumers' motivations are major direct determinants of intentions to adopt. While this finding notably holds when consumers perceive the adoption as self-determined and internalize associated values such as environmentalism, motivations based on external rewards and feelings of compulsion matter to a lesser extent. A comparison of users and nonusers reveals important differences in motivation, in particular that extrinsic motivations tend to be more relevant for nonusers than for users

Latest Pleistocene and Holocene Floodplain Evolution in Central Europe—Insights from the Upper Unstrut Catchment (NW-Thuringia/Germany)

The upper Unstrut River is located in Germany at the modern Central European climate boundary of Cfb and Dfb climate. The river drains a loess landscape, which has experienced important environmental changes throughout the last 12,000 years. To evaluate the impacts of these changes on floodplain evolution, a multi-proxy research program, consisting of 2D electrical resistivity tomography profiling (ERT), vibracoring, and sedimentological investigations, 14C and OSL dating were applied. From base to top the investigations the following fluvial deposits were revealed: (1) gravels embedded in a fine-grained sediment matrix (interpreted as fluvial bedload deposits); (2) silty sediment with pedogenic features (interpreted as overbank floodplain deposits); (3) peat and tufa deposits (interpreted as wetland deposits) intercalated by pedogenetically influenced silty sediments (interpreted as overbank deposits); (4) humic silty sediment with some pedogenic features (interpreted as overbank floodplain deposits); and (5) silty sediments (interpreted as overbank deposits). Radiocarbon and luminescence dates yielded the following periods for sediment formation: (1) Younger Dryas to Preboreal period (around 11.6 cal ka BP); (2) Preboreal to early Atlantic period (approx. 11.6 to 7.0 cal ka BP); (3) early Atlantic to late Subboreal period (approx. 7.3 to 3.4 cal ka BP); (4) late Subboreal to early Subatlantic period (2.9 to 2.3 cal ka BP); and (5) late Subatlantic period (approx. 1.0 to 0.6 cal ka BP). The results suggest that floodplain development during the latest Pleistocene and early Holocene (approx. 11.6 to 7.0 cal ka BP) was considerably controlled by climatic conditions and short-term climate variabilities, which caused gravel deposition and overbank sedimentation. Afterwards floodplain conditions varied between rather stable (peat and tufa development, initial soil formation) and active periods (deposition of overbank fines)