Motivation Theory Contributions to the understanding of IT Appropriation

Abstract

This research adopts a motivational approach of individual technology appropriation suggesting that individuals engage themselves in technology appropriation as long as they find an intrinsic “interest” in it. Due to the fact that this kind of interest is not systematic for professional users, managerial interventions are necessary to extrinsically stimulate user interest in the technology and via this, avoid the risk of non-appropriation. On this basis, we propose a model of individual technology appropriation bringing together the individual and managerial level. At the individual level two dependent variables represent individual intrinsic interest in the technology (Technology Use Benefit and Technology Relative Advantage). At the manage- rial level, managerial interventions, represented by three moderators (Training, Technical assistance and Internal communication), express extrinsic motivational levers. To test the model we conducted a survey of 332 questionnaires and performed data analysis in Amos 22. The research findings suggest two types of managerial intervention: cognitive-effect interventions and motivational-effect ones.