Perceived Value and Technology Adoption Across Four End User Groups

This chapter explores the role end user perceptions in information technology adoption from the perspective of innovation diffusion theory. It is based on empirical data from a three-year longitudinal study of an information system implementation in an engineering organization. Data were collected on six different applications and their adoption by four categories of end users: engineering managers, project engineers, professionals, and secretaries. The data indicate a substantial variance across time, user categories, and applications in terms of adoption rates and perceptions of technology. The managerial implications of the results are that differentiated implementation strategies focused on specific end user categories are likely to be more successful than a single broadbrush strategy for all users. The results also suggest a framework for predicting technology adoption in the long run, based on initial adoption rates and user perceptions of technology.