User Acceptance of Hedonic Digital Artifacts: a Theory of Consumption Values Perspective

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Information & Management 47 (2010) 53–59

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User acceptance of hedonic digital artifacts: A theory of consumption values perspective
Ofir Turel a,*, Alexander Serenko b,1, Nick Bontis c,2 a College of Business and Economics, California State University Fullerton, P.O. Box 6848, Fullerton, CA 92834-6848, USA Faculty of Business Administration, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1, Canada c DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M4, Canada b A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Article history: Received 24 June 2008 Received in revised form 11 September 2009 Accepted 2 October 2009 Available online 14 October 2009 Keywords: Technology adoption Perceived value Hedonic technologies Digital products Mobile commerce Ringtones

Hedonic digital artifacts have become prevalent in today’s society. Their users typically pay for them, and in exchange are generally provided with benefits involving enjoyment. Today’s research on technology adoption and use, though, has focused mostly on organizational or personal aids that provide efficiency and effectiveness and are free of charge for users. To bridge this gap, we identified several value drivers of hedonic digital artifacts and measured them in the context of mobile phone ringtones using the theory of consumption values. Hypothesis testing was performed using PLS on data collected from 422 ringtone users. Results confirmed that the overall value of hedonic digital artifacts is a third-order composite assessment, which successfully predicted behavioral usage and positive word-of-mouth intentions. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Most business studies that focus on technology adoption have concentrated on

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He holds a BSc in industrial engineering, an MBA in technology management, and a PhD in management information systems. Before joining the academia, he has held senior positions in the information technology and telecommunications industries. His research interests include behavioral and managerial issues in the domains of online collaboration, electronic commerce and mobile commerce. His award-winning works have been published in several peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of MIS, Communications of the ACM, Information and Management, Telecommunications policy, and Group Decision and Negotiation, and presented at various international conferences. Dr. Alexander Serenko is an associate professor of management information systems in the Faculty of Business Administration at Lakehead University, Canada. Dr. Serenko holds a M.Sc. in computer science, an MBA in electronic business, and a PhD in management information systems from McMaster University. His research interests pertain to scientometrics, knowledge management, and innovation. Alexander has published over 40 articles in refereed journals, and he has received awards at several Canadian, American and international conferences. In 2007, Dr. Serenko received the Lakehead Contribution to Research Award which recognizes him as one of the university’s leading researchers. Dr. Nick Bontis is an associate professor of strategy at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. He received his PhD from the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario. His doctoral dissertation is recognized as the first thesis to integrate the fields of intellectual capital, organizational learning and knowledge management and is the number one selling thesis in Canada. He was recently recognized as the first McMaster professor to win outstanding teacher of the year and faculty researcher of the year simultaneously. He is a 3M National Teaching Fellow, an exclusive honour only bestowed upon the top university professors in Canada. Dr. Bontis is recognized the world over as a leading professional speaker and consultant in the field of knowledge management and intellectual capital.