Abstract

The IS literature currently explains continuous-use of IT as a post-adoptive behavior driven by rational cognitive beliefs or non-rational affective/automatic responses. Yet the use contexts, IT artifact characteristics, and the notion of the IT user, underlying the current thinking have evolved. We are in a so-called experiential computing paradigm where computing capabilities have become so deeply embedded in everyday life experiences that IT artifacts have become an extension of the human self, closely tied to the personal behaviors and preferences of users. In this empirical context, new continuance behaviors are emerging for which the current literature falls short in explanation. We have just begun a program of study to address this issue. In the summer paper reported here, we build on previous work in IS and draw from theories of self-identity and stereotypes in social psychology to introduce the concept of IT Associability, and argue that it plays a central role in explaining and predicting continuous-use in experiential computing contexts. Our concept of IT associability taps the social and relational characteristics of an IT to theorize how user attachment to an IT they currently use may significantly influence their decisions concerning future versions of the IT. We attempt, through this perspective, to bridge the gap between rational and non-rational theories by offering a novel yet complementary lens for exploring other processes shaping continuous-use of everyday IT artifacts. We present preliminary validated items for measuring IT associability. Some implications for managing the blurring lines between organizational and personal IT use at the workplace are also discussed.

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