Examining Technology Resistance: A Cognitive Load Perspective

Technology adoption has been studied through two perspectives – of acceptance and of resistance. While acceptance has been sufficiently researched, resistance is understudied resulting in a less comprehensive understanding of technology adoption. This study examines technology resistance within the framework of task-technology interaction. Task-technology interaction has been defined based on the level of tasktechnology integration which has led to the identification of two types of interaction: intrinsic and extrinsic tasks to the technology. Within this framework, the study adopts cognitive load perspective to argue that introduction of a technology generates cognitive load by challenging the status quo of required working memory to perform the task which results in the technology resistance. The study further argues that level and influence of cognitive load on resistance are higher in extrinsic tasks compared to intrinsic tasks to the technology.

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