Hans van der Heijden

User acceptance of hedonic information systems

This paper studies the differences in user acceptance models for productivity-oriented (or utilitarian) and pleasure-oriented (or hedonic) information systems. Hedonic information systems aim to provide self-fulfilling rather than instrumental value to the user, are strongly connected to home and leisure activities, focus on the fun-aspect of using information systems, and encourage prolonged rather than productive use. The paper reports a cross-sectional survey on the usage intentions for one hedonic information system. Analysis of this sample supports the hypotheses that perceived enjoyment and perceived ease of use are stronger determinants of intentions to use than perceived usefulness. The paper concludes that the hedonic nature of an information system is an important boundary condition to the validity of the technology acceptance model. Specifically, perceived usefulness loses its dominant predictive value in favor of ease of use and enjoyment.

Understanding online purchase intentions: contributions from technology and trust perspectives

This paper explores factors that influence consumers intentions to purchase online at an electronic commerce website. Specifically, we investigate online purchase intention using two different perspectives: a technology-oriented perspective and a trust-oriented perspective. We summarise and review the antecedents of online purchase intention that have been developed within these two perspectives. An empirical study in which the contributions of both perspectives are investigated is reported. We study the perceptions of 228 potential online shoppers regarding trust and technology and their attitudes and intentions to shop online at particular websites. In terms of relative contributions, we found that the trust-antecedent ‘perceived risk’ and the technology-antecedent ‘perceived ease-of-use’ directly influenced the attitude towards purchasing online.

Measuring IT core capabilities for electronic commerce

This paper reports on the theoretical development and empirical validation of a measurement instrument for three information technology (IT) core capabilities in an electronic commerce context. The instrument is based on the work of Feeny and Willcocks (1998) and includes the capabilities ‘information systems (IS)/IT governance’, ‘business system thinking’ and ‘relationship building’. It was validated using a sample consisting of 179 respondents, all of whom were IT managers or chief information officers. The results demonstrate that the constructs are reliable (α coefficients > 0.8) and valid. A confirmatory factor analysis on the data set yielded a moderately acceptable model fit. The model also demonstrated highly significant factor loadings (p < 0.001). The paper shows that a respecification of a competing model in which IS/IT governance is split into ‘business IT strategic thinking’ and ‘IT management’ provides better measures of fit. The paper concludes that the core capabilities of IT departments are useful constructs for incorporating into future research. They are successfully able to predict behaviours that have relatively little overlap. Recommended further research includes the relationship between capabilities and governance structures as well as further investigation into how IT core capabilities are formed and strengthened in organizations.This paper reports on the theoretical development and empirical validation of a measurement instrument for three information technology (IT) core capabilities in an electronic commerce context. The instrument is based on the work of Feeny and Willcocks (1998) and includes the capabilities ‘information systems (IS)/IT governance’, ‘business system thinking’ and ‘relationship building’. It was validated using a sample consisting of 179 respondents, all of whom were IT managers or chief information officers. The results demonstrate that the constructs are reliable (α coefficients > 0.8) and valid. A confirmatory factor analysis on the data set yielded a moderately acceptable model fit. The model also demonstrated highly significant factor loadings (p < 0.001). The paper shows that a respecification of a competing model in which IS/IT governance is split into ‘business IT strategic thinking’ and ‘IT management’ provides better measures of fit. The paper concludes that the core capabilities of IT departments are useful constructs for incorporating into future research. They are successfully able to predict behaviours that have relatively little overlap. Recommended further research includes the relationship between capabilities and governance structures as well as further investigation into how IT core capabilities are formed and strengthened in organizations.

Modeling hedonic is continuance through the uses and gratifications theory

This study examines the motivators for hedonic IS continuance among individuals.Three types of gratification affect an individuals continuance intention to use online games.Gender is a weak moderator whereas age is a strong moderator.The uses and gratifications theory is a good model to explore hedonic IS continuance. It has long been a challenge for online game providers that online game players frequently switch to alternative games without much hesitation. Current IS continuance theories are mainly developed to interpret user continuance of general utilitarian IS and are ineffective in interpreting user continuance of hedonic IS. In this study based on the uses and gratifications theory, a hedonic IS continuance model is developed by incorporating three types of gratification: hedonic gratification (enjoyment, fantasy and escapism); social gratification (social interaction and social presence); and utilitarian gratification (achievement and self-presentation). Age and gender are the moderating factors in the model. The research model is empirically assessed based on 3919 validated responses from the users of a social network game in China. In this study we found that three types of gratification affect an individuals continuance intention to use a social network game: hedonic gratification (enjoyment, fantasy and escapism), utilitarian gratification (achievement) and social gratification (social interaction and social presence). The results provide weak support for the moderating effect of gender on the relationship between each antecedent and continuance intention, but offer strong support for the moderating effect of age on the relationships.

Introduction to the special issue on mobile user behaviour

European Journal of Information Systems (2006) 15, 249–251. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000613 Theme of the special issue Mobile devices, such as smartphones and Personal Digital Assitants, are now in widespread use. Indeed, for many individuals, these devices have become the preferred mode of accessing and using information systems (IS). They provide their users with unique amenities such as freedom of movement, anytime anywhere accessibility, as well as location-aware capabilities. The widespread adoption of mobile devices, however, has not led to a similar increase in our research efforts to capture the behaviour of their users. That behaviour is decidedly different from the ways in which people interacted with computers a decade ago. To better understand and improve the way users interact with mobile devices, our field is thus in need of new, or more refined, concepts and new theories. We are pleased, therefore, to introduce a Special Issue in the European Journal of Information Systems on mobile user behaviour. The papers in this Special Issue all address the ways in which the increased mobility of the users violates some of the assumptions traditionally associated with the use of IS. They then develop new concepts to address these new circumstances.

Decision support for selecting optimal logistic regression models

Highlights? The paper considers user support for selecting optimal logistic regression models. ? A number of heuristics to arrive at optimal logistic regression models are reviewed and formalized. ? Two computational algorithms that incorporate these formalized heuristics are devised. ? An implementation of these algorithms in an interactive decision support system is presented. This study concerns itself with providing user support for a decision problem in logistic regression analysis: given a set of metric variables and one binary dependent variable, select the optimal subset of variables that can best predict this dependent variable. The problem requires an evaluation of competing models based on heuristic selection criteria such as goodness-of-fit and prediction accuracy. This paper documents the heuristics, formalizes the algorithms, and eventually presents an interactive decision support system to facilitate the selection of such an optimal model.This study adds to the sparsely studied domain of expert systems for social science researchers, and makes three contributions to the literature. First, the study formalizes a number of heuristics to arrive at optimal logistic regression models. Second, the study presents two computational algorithms that incorporate these formalized heuristics. Third, the paper documents an implementation of these algorithms through an interactive decision support system. The study concludes with a discussion on the risks of relying too heavily on the system and with future opportunities for research.

Evaluating dual performance measures on information dashboards: effects of anchoring and presentation format

ABSTRACT: This study examines aspects of dual performance measures in the context of organizations disclosing operational performance to the general public through information dashboards. Dual perf...

A Taxonomy of Government Approaches Towards Online Identity Management

A governments approach towards establishing the online identity of its citizens is often subject to heated debate. This debate is sometimes obscured by the lack of clarity regarding the specific approach that a government adopts towards identity management. We propose a taxonomy for the type of identity management that a government can pursue. Our taxonomy identifies three essential approaches: a decentralized, a federal, and a centralized type. We illustrate our taxonomy using three countries that have approaches characteristic of each type: Australia, the United States, and the Netherlands respectively.

Progress in information systems research

It is often said that there are two types of progress in scientific research: one type that is incremental, another that is revolutionary. Incremental progress takes small steps, and builds on exis...European Journal of Information Systems (2009) 18, 385–386. doi:10.1057/ejis.2009.35 It is often said that there are two types of progress in scientific research: one type that is incremental, another that is revolutionary. Incremental progress takes small steps, and builds on existing theories and frameworks. Revolutionary progress takes big steps, and replaces existing frameworks with entirely new ones. Thomas Kuhn, in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, famously used the term paradigm shift for this last type of progress. Will we be witnessing paradigm shifts in information systems (IS) research? Are we perhaps witnessing paradigm shifts already? I should like to discuss this in somewhat more detail in the context of user acceptance of IS, one of our most important areas of research. A characteristic aspect of revolutionary progress is that it is Darwinian in nature. Such a Darwinian streak reveals itself when there are several contenders for the – yet to be established – new paradigm. The contenders then compete with each other on explanatory power, parsimony, elegance, and so on. Progress ‘evolves’, in that researchers gradually become attracted to what they perceive are better paradigms. Less popular paradigms become extinct because researchers simply cease to apply them. Thus, the ‘fittest’ of these competing frameworks will ‘survive’, in the Darwinian, evolutionary sense. From the above, we can conclude that a few necessary conditions would need to be present at the start of revolutionary progress: we would need to have (1) an existing, dominant paradigm; (2) a record of incremental progress within this paradigm; (3) growing dissatisfaction with the limitations of the paradigm; and finally (4) a number of new, alternative frameworks to address those limitations. Are we ready for a paradigm shift in IS? Let us examine these conditions and start with the first condition, the availability of a strong, dominant paradigm. I would argue that in user acceptance research we do have such a paradigm. Our current dominant paradigm produces theoretical frameworks that are based on the theory of reasoned action, and analyses perceptions about IS using covariance-based modelling. EJIS readers will be aware of many examples that sit comfortably within this paradigm, and that were published in this journal. Condition two is the availability of much incremental progress within this paradigm. User acceptance research has seen much of such progress. Indeed, EJIS has published its fair share of incremental contributions. One could argue that this has reached its peak and that it is now in decline. The perceptive EJIS reader will have noticed that we do no longer publish as many papers in this tradition as we did in the past. Condition three is some perceived dissatisfaction with the current state of research. Again, there is evidence of this. We often read about user behaviour and certain types of IS that our current perception-based models cannot adequately explain (hedonic and social IS spring to mind). There is dissatisfaction about its reductionist nature. There is dissatisfaction about the notion that IS are treated as immutable constants. We see panels at conferences that discuss ‘what next in user acceptance’. We see Special European Journal of Information Systems (2009) 18, 385–386 & 2009 Operational Research Society Ltd. All rights reserved 0960-085X/09

Goal abstraction, goal linkage dependency, and perceived utilitarian value of information systems: a mixed-method study

Prior research has shown that the utilitarian value of an information system influences user acceptance because of the way the system helps to achieve certain user goals. It is less recognized in the literature that users have multiple goals that influence a user’s perception regarding the information system’s utilitarian value. This paper extends this body of knowledge by incorporating different types of goals into a theoretical framework. Building on means-end chain theory, two goal characteristics are identified, goal abstraction and goal linkage dependency, that both exert an influence on the utilitarian value of an information system. Findings from a qualitative and a quantitative study indicate that perceived utilitarian value changes as goal abstraction increases, and that goal linkage dependency influences the similarity of perceived utilitarian values across goals. Implications are important because they provide insight into potentially contradicting user evaluations of information systems.