Technology Frustration and Consumer Valuation Shift for Mobile Apps: An Exploratory Study

Consumer evaluation of products in a market is a predictor of the success or failure of a product. For digital products, the usage of a product is determined by the technology robustness associated with the design of the product. Bad designs, implementation and integration issues lead to frustration on the part of consumers using the product. In this study, we explore how technology frustration negatively influences the valuation of a product in digital markets. Furthermore, we hypothesize that market externalities, such as consumer passion for, and sustenance of, the product in question temper this negative effect. Finally, we contend that the negative effect of technology frustration is high for new and high priced products because of the higher expectations and hence more stringent evaluations for new and high priced products by consumers. We conducted empirical analysis and found support for our hypotheses. Managerial and research contributions are discussed.

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