Green IT Adoption: A Motivational Perspective

Although there is need for information systems (IS) empirical research that study the factors influencing the adoption of green technologies, most, if not all, of the published IS research on either Green IT or Green IS are characterized by a call for action to the IS community and a definition of the Green IS research and teaching agenda. This paper empirically investigates the influence of organizational eco-sustainability motivations on the adoption of Green IT. Drawing from the motivational theory and using data collected from a survey of 176 organizations, the paper develops and tests four hypotheses. The result shows that eco-efficiency and eco-effectiveness motives influence the adoption of technologies that improve the energy efficiency of IT infrastructure and subsequent pollution reduction. They also explain variations in the adoption of policy and practices that aim to improve product stewardship of the IT lifecycle from procurement to end of life management. We highlight some of the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.