Shackled to the Status Quo: A Replication

Abstract

We conducted a methodological replication of the Polites and Karahanna (2012) model of incumbent system influence on switching to a new Information System using e-mail systems Gmail and Inbox as the incumbent and new systems, respectively. Our replication results support much of the original study. Inertia to use the existing system significantly affected intentions to use the new system. Inertia also affected perceptions of the new system (perceived ease of use and relative advantage) which in turn affected intentions. We found a few differences from the original study and highlight what we consider the major ones. First, the original study found that sunk costs, incumbent system habit, and transition costs all significantly influenced inertia, whereas we found that only sunk costs had a significant influence on inertia. We attribute this to the differences in technologies studied; the original study examined a technology that required a change in both software and work processes whereas we studied a technology switch that only required a change in software (no major change in work processes). Second, the original study found a complex two-part moderation of inertia on the relationship between subjective norm and intentions, while we found a simple direct effect of subjective norm on intentions with no moderation. We also attribute this to the differences in technologies studied; the original study examined a technology that required mutual switch by two parties whereas we studied a technology that required a switch by only one.