Respecting the Heterogeneity of the Natives: Antecedents and Consequences of Individuals' Digital nativeness

The Internet and digital media have forced many individuals to change their attitudes and behaviours in nearly all aspects of life, including work and consumption. Other individuals, often younger, have grown up with digital media and seem not to have undergone changes in attitudes and behaviours. This research suggests, however, that age should not be used as the criterion to differentiate between individuals’ attitudes and behaviours towards digital media. Rather, we suggest utilizing a construct that we call “digital nativeness,” which we characterize as an individual‘s propensity to use and have a positive attitude towards digital media. Both a qualitative and a quantitative study investigate digital nativeness as well as its antecedents and consequences. Results show that digital nativeness consists of three dimensions: Expertise in digital media, sophisticated digital media use and sophisticated mobile media use. The studies suggest that early and ubiquitous access to digital media influence an individual’s level of digital nativeness, while, importantly, age does not have such an influence. A high level of digital nativeness positively affects individuals’ attitude towards online social network communication, preference for online advertising, learning by doing, and media multitasking. Important implications for scholars and managers can be derived from this research.