Proposing the Hedonic Affect Model (HAM) to Explain how Stimuli and Performance Expectations Predict Affect in Individual and Group Hedonic Systems Use

Hedonic systems represent a multibillion-dollar industry and play an important role in how people recreate, socialize, and even conduct business. A key goal of hedonic system design is to promote positive affect—a variable known to influence cognitive beliefs, trust, disclosure, adoption, and purchase intentions. Yet, little research has identified or explained how stimuli from design features lead to positive affect in hedonic systems. This article introduces a new theoretical model, the Hedonic Affect Model (HAM), which is a comprehensive and generalizable model explaining the causes of positive and negative affect in a hedonic software context. HAM outlines three stages that provide an explanation of how stimuli lead to positive affect in hedonic contexts. In stage 1, HAM specifies group and individual interaction inputs that are likely to play a role in users' hedonic evaluations of a system. Stage 2 explains how the interaction inputs and intrinsic motivation influence hedonic performance perceptions. Stage 3 explains how performance expectations and perceived performance lead to a positive disconfirmation and influence users' affect.