Go Tell It on the Mountain: The Impact of Social Information on Technology Acceptance
Abstract
Integrating theories of social information processing, stress & coping, and technology adoption, we investigated the role of social interaction and its impact on employees’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response to a new information technology (IT) at work. 1445 business-school alumni completed an online survey about a current technology implementation in their organization. Our analysis showed that both formal and informal communication directly affect employees’ understanding of and emotional reaction to a new IT. Formal Communication Quality, the operationalization of formal communication, is directly related to Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU), Perceived Resources (PR), and Subjective Norm. Word-of-Mouth (WOM), the operationalization of informal communication, directly affects PEOU and PR. Employees’ anxiety toward the adoption of the new IT is directly influenced by PEOU and PR. Employees’ enthusiasm toward the adoption of the new IT is directly influenced by the WOM received through social interaction, and their assessment of PU. Finally, anxiety prompts employees to seek instrumental aid and emotional aid from others (i.e., Seeking Social Support). Enthusiasm, on the other hand, prompts them to use the new IT.