Time Flies When You're Having Fun: Cognitive Absorption and Beliefs About Information Technology Usage

Extant explanations of why users behave in particular ways toward information technologies have tended to focus predominantly on instrumental beliefs as drivers of individual usage intentions. Prior work in individual psychology, however, suggests that holistic experiences with technology as captured in constructs such as enjoyment and flow are potentially important explanatory variables in technology acceptance theories. In this paper, we describe a multi-dimensional construct labeled cognitive absorption and defined as a state of deep involvement with software. Cognitive absorption, theorized as being exhibited through the five dimensions of temporal dissociation, focused immersion, heightened enjoyment, control, and curiosity, is posited to be a proximal antecedent of two important beliefs about technology use: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. In addition, we propose that the individual traits of playfulness and personal innovativeness are important determinants of cognitive absorption. Based on the conceptual definition of this construct, operational measures for each dimension are developed. Using the World Wide Web as the target technology, scale validation indicates that the operational measures have acceptable psychometric properties and confirmatory factor analysis supports the proposed multi-dimensional structure. Structural equation analysis provides evidence for the theorized nomological net of cognitive absorption. Theoretical and practical implications are offered

[1]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research , 1977 .

[2]  Suzanne M. Roche,et al.  Absorption: Nature, assessment, and correlates. , 1990 .

[3]  D. Schopflocher,et al.  The role of absorption in experiential involvement. , 1995 .

[4]  Kieran Mathieson,et al.  Predicting User Intentions: Comparing the Technology Acceptance Model with the Theory of Planned Behavior , 1991, Inf. Syst. Res..

[5]  Ritu Agarwal,et al.  Are Individual Differences Germane to the Acceptance of New Information Technologies , 1999 .

[6]  A. Tellegen,et al.  Openness to absorbing and self-altering experiences ("absorption"), a trait related to hypnotic susceptibility. , 1974, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[7]  Richard D. Johnson,et al.  The Multilevel and Multifaceted Character of Computer Self-Efficacy: Toward Clarification of the Construct and an Integrative Framework for Research , 1998, Inf. Syst. Res..

[8]  Fred D. Davis.  Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology , 1989, MIS Q..

[9]  A. Tellegen.  Practicing the two disciplines for relaxation and enlightenment: comment on "Role of the feedback signal in electromyograph biofeedback: the relevance of attention" by Qualls and Sheehan. , 1981, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[10]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Prediction of goal directed behaviour: Attitudes, intentions and perceived behavioural control , 1986 .

[11]  Ritu Agarwal,et al.  A Conceptual and Operational Definition of Personal Innovativeness in the Domain of Information Technology , 1998, Inf. Syst. Res..

[12]  Jane Webster,et al.  The Differential Effects of Software Training Previews on Training Outcomes , 1995 .

[13]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation to Use Computers in the Workplace1 , 1992 .

[14]  L. Delbeke.  Quasi-experimentation - design and analysis issues for field settings - cook,td, campbell,dt , 1980 .

[15]  J. Laurence,et al.  A multivariate approach to the prediction of hypnotic susceptibility. , 1996, The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis.

[16]  A. Bandura.  Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory , 1985 .

[17]  I. Ajzen,et al.  Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior , 1980 .

[18]  Jawaid A. Ghani,et al.  The Experience Of Flow In Computer-Mediated And In Face-To-Face Groups , 1991, ICIS.

[19]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[20]  James C. Wetherbe,et al.  The Adoption of Spreadsheet Software: Testing Innovation Diffusion Theory in the Context of End-User Computing , 1990, Inf. Syst. Res..

[21]  Bernadette Szajna,et al.  Empirical evaluation of the revised technology acceptance model , 1996 .

[22]  Deborah Compeau,et al.  Computer Self-Efficacy: Development of a Measure and Initial Test , 1995, MIS Q..

[23]  J. Webster,et al.  The Dimensionality and Correlates of Flow in Human-Computer Interactions. , 1993 .

[24]  Fred D. Davis.  User Acceptance of Information Technology: System Characteristics, User Perceptions and Behavioral Impacts , 1993, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[25]  Robert E. Kraut,et al.  Information and Communication: Alternative Uses of the Internet in Households , 1999, Inf. Syst. Res..

[26]  Peter L. Nelson,et al.  Personality Trait Absorption: An Exploratory Study of Opportunity and Capacity in Relation to Cannabis Use , 1995 .

[27]  Wynne W. Chin.  Issues and Opinion on Structural Equation Modeling by , 2009 .

[28]  R. Vallerand.  Toward A Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation , 1997 .

[29]  Ravi Kalakota,et al.  e-Business: Roadmap for Success , 1999 .

[30]  J. Webster,et al.  Flow in Computer-Mediated Communication , 1992 .

[31]  J. Webster,et al.  Teaching Effectiveness in Technology-Mediated Distance Learning , 1997 .

[32]  F. Bookstein,et al.  Two Structural Equation Models: LISREL and PLS Applied to Consumer Exit-Voice Theory , 1982 .

[33]  T. Cook,et al.  Quasi-experimentation: Design & analysis issues for field settings , 1979 .

[34]  Peter A. Todd,et al.  Perceived Usefulness, Ease of Use, and Usage of Information Technology: A Replication , 1992, MIS Q..

[35]  V. K. Kumar,et al.  Trait factors, state effects, and hypnotizability. , 1996, The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis.

[36]  K. Jöreskog,et al.  Intraclass Reliability Estimates: Testing Structural Assumptions , 1974 .

[37]  Icek Ajzen,et al.  From Intentions to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behavior , 1985 .

[38]  S. Turkle.  Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet , 1997 .

[39]  D. O. Sears.  College sophomores in the laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology's view of human nature. , 1986 .

[40]  Deborah Compeau,et al.  Social Cognitive Theory and Individual Reactions to Computing Technology: A Longitudinal Study , 1999, MIS Q..

[41]  Joel Herche,et al.  Reversed-polarity items and scale unidimensionality , 1996 .

[42]  Richard,et al.  Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation to Use Computers in the Workplace , 2022 .

[43]  S. Deshpande,et al.  Task Characteristics and the Experience of Optimal Flow in Human—Computer Interaction , 1994 .

[44]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models , 1989 .

[45]  Fred D. Davis,et al.  A Model of the Antecedents of Perceived Ease of Use: Development and Test† , 1996 .

[46]  Don Tapscott,et al.  The Digital Economy: Promise and Peril in the Age of Networked Intelligence , 2003 .

[47]  Edward L. Deci,et al.  Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behavior , 1975, Perspectives in Social Psychology.

[48]  Deborah Compeau,et al.  Application of Social Cognitive Theory to Training for Computer Skills , 1995, Inf. Syst. Res..

[49]  Jan-Bernd Lohmöller,et al.  Latent Variable Path Modeling with Partial Least Squares , 1989 .

[50]  Wynne W. Chin.  The partial least squares approach for structural equation modeling. , 1998 .

[51]  M MarakasGeorge,et al.  The Multilevel and Multifaceted Character of Computer Self-Efficacy , 1998 .

[52]  Joseph J. Martocchio,et al.  Turning Work into Play: Implications for Microcomputer Software Training , 1993 .

[53]  Jane Webster,et al.  Audience engagement in multimedia presentations , 1997, DATB.

[54]  L. Festinger.  A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance , 1957 .

[55]  A. Bandura.  Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. , 1977, Psychological review.

[56]  Viswanath Venkatesh,et al.  Creation of Favorable User Perceptions: Exploring the Role of Intrinsic Motivation , 1999, MIS Q..

[57]  Joseph J. Martocchio,et al.  Microcomputer playfulness: development of a measure with workplace implications , 1992 .

[58]  Dennis L. Hoffman,et al.  Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments : Conceptual Foundations 1 ) , 1998 .

[59]  M. Csíkszentmihályi.  Flow. The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York (HarperPerennial) 1990. , 1990 .

[60]  A. Bandura.  Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control , 1997, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy.

[61]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction , 1998 .

[62]  D. Bem.  Self-Perception Theory , 1972 .

[63]  Indra Sinha,et al.  The Cybergypsies: A True Tale of Lust, War, and Betrayal on the Electronic Frontier , 1999 .