People born after 1980, who are often referred to as millennials, behave differently than older generations in significant ways. They are the first ‘digital natives’, the ‘always-on-generation’, who expect to have information instantly and always at their fingertips. Their attitudes have been described by previous research in often unfavorable terms. When they enter the workplace, they pose a major challenge to managers from older generations who, it has been show, typically follow a different set of values.
This research investigates the attitude of millennials which have not yet entered the workforce towards the use of information technology (IT) in terms of the consumerization of IT. Specifically, we want to know how this part of the population weighs benefits against risks when it comes to the behavioral intention to use technology in a business environment.
We conducted an international study with students in their last year of study, i.e., just before entering the workplace. Our findings show that these millennials share a common set of values regardless of their nationality, including motivational drivers that may be alarming for corporate IT managers. The individuals in our sample value their own benefit very highly and dramatically neglect the risks their actions may pose.