This dissertation introduces and empirically examines an attention-based theory of idea integration that underscores the importance of IS user interface design. The assumption is that presenting ideas via user interface plays a key role in enabling and motivating idea integration in electronic brainstorming (EBS), and thus advances productivity. Building upon Cognitive Network Model of Creativity (CNM) and ability-motivation framework, the attention-based theory proposed and tested in this dissertation focuses on two major attributes of user interface: visibility and prioritization. While visibility enables idea integration via directing attention to a limited set of ideas, prioritization enhances the motivation for idea integration by providing individuals with a relevant and legitimate proxy for value of the shared ideas. The laboratory experiments conducted as part of this dissertation’s research showed that although communicative idea integration (e.g. mere reference to partners’ ideas) increased when visibility increased, elaborative idea integration increased only when visible ideas where highly diverse. Laboratory experiments also indicated that the influence of prioritization on idea integration takes different forms for communicative idea integration and elaborative idea integration. While the effect of prioritization on communicative idea integration is significant through the mediating effect of perceived value of information, the effect of prioritization on elaborative idea integration is significant through the mediating effect of perceived value of idea integration. To further examine part of the unexpected results of the lab experiments, this dissertation introduces and computationally examines a model of idea integration that formulates the joint influence of (1) idea visibility as an electronic media feature, (2) attention to partners’ ideas as a cognitive attribute, and (3) individual’s experience with idea integration as a decision-making factor on idea integration in EBS. Results from this dissertation’s computational experiments suggest that the influence of idea visibility cannot be expressed in terms of simple effects of either attention or experience. Rather, the effect of visibility on idea integration is moderated by partners’ attention-experience disparities. Full description of the theory and the result of the experimental and computational studies and their implications will be presented in separate chapters. This dissertation’s research has implications for both the practice and research of knowledge management, especially for the attention-based view of the organization.
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