The Adoption and Use of IT Artifacts: A New Interaction-Centric Model for the Study of User-Artifact Relationships

摘要

The question of why a user adopts an information technology (IT) artifact has received ample research attention in the past few ndecades. Although recent adoption research has focused on investigating some of the relational and experiential aspects nassociated with adopting and using IT artifacts, the theories utilized have been static in nature. Furthermore, many have been nbased on traditional models like TAM and TPB, which focus on the utilitarian benefits that users accrue from their interactions nwith IT artifacts. Independently, recent research has paid much-needed attention to factors surrounding the use of IT artifacts. In nthis paper, we offer an overview of a theoretical model that connects these two interrelated processes. nStarting with a survey of concepts related to social interactions, we present an argument in support of viewing IT artifacts as nsocial actors, whose characteristics are manifested within the context of interactions. The proposed interaction-centric model nhighlights how the characteristics of an IT artifact, together with the user’s internal system and other structuring factors, affect nusers’ choices in terms of how to utilize the artifact. The nature of that utilization, subsequently, affects the beliefs users form nabout the artifact and the outcomes from using it. Furthermore, the model proposes that users will also form beliefs about their nbond or relationship with the IT artifact. These beliefs do not refer to observations made in a single interaction, but rather nconcern users’ mental representations of past interactions and outcomes. To facilitate the study of the relationship that develops nfrom user-artifact interactions over time, the model describes how past interactions affect future ones. Specifically, it proposes nthat deciding how to utilize an IT artifact in subsequent interaction, consistent with theories of relationship development, is ninfluenced by already held beliefs about the artifact and the relationship with it.