Information Technology Identity: A Key Determinant of IT Feature and Exploratory Usage

Abstract

Creative information technology usage by employees is the critical link between business technology investments and competitive advantage in a digital economy. However, to realize anticipated benefits, organizational leaders need a richer understanding of what drives individuals’ innovation with incumbent organizational technologies. In support of that aim, this study theorized the processes by which a new concept in IS research, IT identity, motivates different forms of IT usage in the post-adoption context. We mapped these processes to two variance models and validated IT identity’s influences for two different technologies. For theory, our results demonstrate IT identity’s role as a key determinant of IT feature and exploratory usage, refine understanding of the nomological net of IT use, and create new opportunities to understand individuals’ interactions with IT in the post-adoption context. For practice, this study offers actionable suggestions for how organizational leaders can encourage employees to leverage IT more effectively in their work. In doing so, this study opens the door for future investigations into the reciprocal relationship between individual IT usage and organizational and/or societal outcomes.