Paper Type
Complete Research Paper
Description
Decades of research on information technology (IT) adoption have resulted in a large number of different models and theories. While the number of theoretical models has significantly increased our knowledge on IT adoption, we lack an integrative view of the different stages of the adoption process. In this paper, we review the primary theories from both the acceptance and post-acceptance stage of IT adoption. In addition, we synthesize the different theories and their constructs in a reference framework for IT adoption. We conceptualize individual IT adoption as a dynamic process, in which use patterns, beliefs, and individual motivations change over time. Our framework provides an end-to-end view of IT adoption, spanning the adoption process from acceptance antecedents to outcomes. Eventually, we suggest opportunities for future research based on the different stages of our framework. We believe that our framework will be helpful to develop more complete and actionable theories, and to provide clarity on the concepts and stages related to IT adoption.
FROM ACCEPTANCE TO OUTCOME: TOWARDS AN INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION
Decades of research on information technology (IT) adoption have resulted in a large number of different models and theories. While the number of theoretical models has significantly increased our knowledge on IT adoption, we lack an integrative view of the different stages of the adoption process. In this paper, we review the primary theories from both the acceptance and post-acceptance stage of IT adoption. In addition, we synthesize the different theories and their constructs in a reference framework for IT adoption. We conceptualize individual IT adoption as a dynamic process, in which use patterns, beliefs, and individual motivations change over time. Our framework provides an end-to-end view of IT adoption, spanning the adoption process from acceptance antecedents to outcomes. Eventually, we suggest opportunities for future research based on the different stages of our framework. We believe that our framework will be helpful to develop more complete and actionable theories, and to provide clarity on the concepts and stages related to IT adoption.