A New Theory of Technology Usage

Jiming Wu California State University, East Bay, USA

Hongwei Du California State University, East Bay, USA

Abstract
Benbasat and Barki (2007) suggest that the traditional perception-intention-usage framework has fulfilled its original purpose and has demonstrated its deficiencies in a number of important respects. Thus, they call for researchers to step outside its limited confines and move toward a new theory that takes into account the constantly changing context of IT. Answering the call, this paper presents a preliminary effort to develop the theory of technology usage (TTU), review its research base, and discuss how it can be applied to different contexts of IT. The current paper also emphasizes that IT should be categorized into productivity-oriented, pleasure-oriented, and dual-purposed, as it evolves from a single-user system in an organizational context to a multi-user system in a social and leisure setting. Moreover, a two-step procedure is devised for such trichotomization. The TTU incorporates the core concepts of the needs-based perspective on behaviors, and maps these concepts in a way that permits prediction and understanding of usage of these three IT categories. The paper is concluded with discussions of implications and directions for future research.

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Reference:	Wu, J., Du, H. (2010). "A New Theory of Technology Usage," Proceedings > Proceedings of JAIS Theory Development Workshop . Sprouts: Working Papers on Information Systems, 10(69). http://sprouts.aisnet.org/10-69
Keywords:	dual-purposed IT, needs-based perspective, pleasure-oriented IT, productivity-oriented IT, theory of technology usage, TTU
Item Type:	Article - Volume 10 Article 69 (2010)
Language:	English
Email:	Jiming Wu (jiming.wu@csueastbay.edu) Hongwei Du (hongwei.du@csueastbay.edu)

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