Repurchase Intentions of Information Technology: An Emotion Process Perspective

Research has examined information technology (IT) discontinuance within organizational and consumer contexts with various explanations for this phenomenon. Unfortunately, these explanations are based on the assumption of stability of technology usage, and, therefore, not applicable for explaining the behavior of technology users who have experienced interruptions during technology usage. This study explicates the repurchase intentions of consumers using an emotion process model. A virtual ethnography methodology is employed for data collection and analysis. The investigative context is two online consumer forums that are designed to address a variety of technical issues after the sale of a product. The results suggest that the customers are influenced by their own IT problem appraisals and affective experiences for their given intentions. Yet such appraisals and affective experiences are shaped through the interactions with the social groups and regulations. The customer’s emotion process shows two different patterns depending on whether the customers have obtained satisfactory outcomes.