An Artifact Switching Model for User Acceptance of eBooks

This study theorizes and validates a model of user switching from non-IT artifacts to IT artifacts by integrating and extending prior findings from IT acceptance and adoption streams of research and using migration theory as the theoretical bridge. The proposed model examines different types of switching predictors such as push and pull factors, intervening obstacles, and individual differences, as well as interdependencies between these factors as moderating effects. Empirical data from a longitudinal field survey of users’ switching from traditional hard copy books to eBooks validates most of the hypothesized associations. This study alerts publishers, academics, and educational institutions to the challenges and opportunities of artifact switching in general and suggests strategies that can help these stakeholders enable artifact switching within their target populations. DOI: 10.4018/joeuc.2013040102 20 Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, 25(2), 19-40, April-June 2013 Copyright © 2013, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. preferred using eBook technologies to pBooks. In the same year, McFall (2005) found no significant differences between students’ learning from paper textbooks to those who used the electronic version, and student responses about the usefulness of the eBooks were rated as neutral. However, during the past few years, the acceptance and use of eBooks has been gaining some traction, especially in academic institutions. The introduction of the open source eBook XML-based ePub standard in 2007 reduced the risk for publishers (Kaiser, 2009) by being a viable and competitive format to Amazon’s proprietary AZW and KF8 formats. A year later Guess (2008) correctly anticipated the increase in the adoption rate of eBooks by students. They were more receptive to using eBooks due to technology advancements and a concomitant reduction in cost, the growing availability of content by publishers, and the rising cost of traditional textbooks. The introduction of the Kindle® with E-ink display technology in 2007 allowed Amazon to overcome barriers that previously prevented the widespread adoption of eBook reader devices such as poor battery life, insufficient screen clarity, and the lack of search and notation capabilities. With the Kindle, they executed a successful business strategy by complementing their existing book sales with a user-friendly, easy-to-read eReader device. The subsequent surge in sales for the Kindle paralleled the rapid growth of the eBook market (IDPF, 2010). Now, many eBook readers such as the Amazon Kindle Fire® and the Apple iPad® have multi-modal features that have helped to fuel the expansion of the market for eBook acceptance and usage. Buying and reading books is an inherently social process and eReaders with social networking and sharing features that are enabled through 3G and/or wireless affect decisions concerning adoption and diffusion of IT-enabled innovations such as eBooks (Oinas-Kukkonen et al., 2010). eBooks not only change the way we consume media, but the changing relationship between the ecosystem of writing and reading alters the very manner and style of media that is produced and consumed. It has an effect on vendors and educational institutions in that the acceptance and usage by students has the potential to increase textbook revenues for textbook publishers and/or to decrease textbook costs for educational institutions and students (Shiratuddin, 2005; Thomas, 2006). Both pBooks and eBooks can co-exist, and complement each other’s strengths (van der Velde, 2009). For example, Springer publishes over 4,000 book titles annually, which are converted into eBooks, and its eBook usage is 50 percent of its journal usage, while the amount of content compared with journals is only 15 percent. Artifact switching, such as replacing pBooks with eBooks, can be viewed as a combination of users’ discontinuing an incumbent artifact and accepting a substitute IT artifact. Hence, theories of IT acceptance, such as the technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis et al., 1989) and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh et al., 2003) may be relevant to understanding artifact switching when the substitute artifact is technology-based. However, the acceptance and adoption streams of IT usage research have focused on slightly different problems, have progressed independently of each other, and neither stream has specifically addressed artifact switching. For instance, IT acceptance theories examine why users accept new technologies, without consideration of the use of incumbent artifacts. Furthermore, neither IT acceptance nor adoption research considers factors such as switching costs that are often relevant to artifact switching considerations. Hence, a comprehensive explanation of the switching phenomenon requires an integration and extension of these two theoretical perspectives. This study improves on our understanding of artifact switching by drawing on migration theory (Lee, 1966) in the human geography literature as an integrative framework to bridge and extend the IT acceptance and adoption literatures. The research questions examined in this study are: (1) what factors predict user propensity to switch from an incumbent artifact to a substitute IT artifact, and (2) how do these 20 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the "Add to Cart" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/article/artifact-switching-model-useracceptance/76875? camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Journals, InfoSci-Journal Disciplines Communications and Social Science, InfoSciSelect, InfoSci-Technology Adoption, Ethics, and Human Computer Interaction eJournal Collection, InfoSciManagement Science and Organizational Research eJournal Collection. Recommend this product to your librarian: www.igi-global.com/e-resources/libraryrecommendation/? id=2