Role of personal values in acceptance of information technology

Organizations have gained significant benefits, such as efficiency, innovation, business performance by effectively deploying information technology (IT). However, firms often fail to successfully assimilate and exploit IT due to users' reluctance or resistance in their acceptance of IT. Prior studies on IT acceptance have mainly focused on users' self-centered utilitarian evaluations while ignoring their altruistic evaluations, which have been considered as important variables to predict various behaviors by researchers in other domains, such as psychology and management.; To better understanding of the phenomenon, I develop the research model that posits two distinct paths of users' evaluations by combining the self-centered utilitarian path, which dominates in IT acceptance research, with the other-oriented non-utilitarian path, which could explain users' altruistic acceptance behaviors, especially when users use the IT for other employees' benefits instead of their own benefits. The research model also posits personal values and their hierarchies in users' value system as moderators, which regulate users' evaluations and, in turn, their IT acceptance.; Empirical evaluation of the model was conducted through a field survey of 118 professionals who primarily work in a regional public library in the southeastern U.S.A. The results suggest that both self-centered utilitarian and other-oriented non-utilitarian paths are significant. The results also show that personal value system moderates the relationships between IT characteristics and acceptance outcomes. In particular, persons who are lower in altruism (other orientation) are more associated with utilitarian evaluations (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness), and tend to accept an IT only when it provides utilitarian benefits to themselves.; This study provides unique conceptualizations of personal values and users' altruistic evaluations into the new IT acceptance research model, which goes beyond the limited considerations in the extant literature. This study furthers theory development by proposing that personal values research should be incorporated in the examinations of the IT acceptance phenomenon. Managerial recommendations on how to develop effective interventions on users' acceptance of IT are also provided.