HERD BEHAVIOR AND INDIVIDUALS’ INFORMATION SYSTEM BEHAVIORS: USAGE, ABANDONMENT, AND EXPLORATION INTENTIONS By Mirmahdi Darbanhosseiniamirkhiz (Mehdi Darban) A dissertation submitted in partial fuLfiLLment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Management & Information Systems) Department of Management & Information Systems 2018 DoctoraL Committee: Dr. Greta Polites, Chair Dr. Mary Hogue Dr. Dong-Heon Kwak Dr. Christopher Groening Dissertation written by: Mirmahdi Darbanhosseiniamirkhiz B.S., University of Tabriz, 1999 M.B.A., University TechnoLogy MaLaysia, 2013 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2018 Approved by: Dr. Greta Polites Chair, DoctoraL Dissertation Committee Dr. Mary Hogue Member, DoctoraL Dissertation Committee Dr. Dong-Heon Kwak Member, DoctoraL Dissertation Committee Dr. Christopher Groening Member, DoctoraL Dissertation Committee Accepted by: DoctoraL Director, Graduate Programs Dean, Graduate Programs TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................................... ix I. CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW .......................................................................................................... 1 II. CHAPTER 2: Herd Behavior in TechnoLogy Adoption: The RoLe of Adopter and Technology Characteristics ................................................................................................. 39 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 39 THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................ 42 Herd Behavior .............................................................................................................. 42 InformationaL Cascades .......................................................................................... 43 ObservationaL Learning and the Uncertainty of Adoption ....................... 44 RESEARCH MODEL ................................................................................................................... 46 Antecedents of Herd Behavior .............................................................................. 48 Adopter Characteristics ........................................................................................... 50 Technology Characteristics .................................................................................... 56 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................... 65 Research Design and Procedure ......................................................................... 65 AnaLysis ........................................................................................................................... 72 RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................ 72 Measurement Model Evaluation .......................................................................... 73 Structural Model ......................................................................................................... 76 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................................ 79 Major Findings ............................................................................................................ 79 TheoreticaL Contributions and ImpLications for Research ....................... 82 PracticaL ImpLications ............................................................................................... 88 III Limitations and Directions for Future Research .......................................... 90 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 91 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................. 92 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................ 105 TabLes ........................................................................................................................... 106 Figures .......................................................................................................................... 108 Appendix A: Situating Task ................................................................................. 110 Appendix B: Treatments ....................................................................................... 111 Appendix C: Questionnaire Items ..................................................................... 112 Appendix D: Item Loadings and Correlations ............................................. 116 III. CHAPTER 3: Herd Behavior and Continued Use of Technology: The Case of Technology Abandonment Intentions .......................................................................... 118 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 118 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ........................................................................................ 122 Herd Theory ............................................................................................................ 124 RESEARCH MODEL AND HYPOTHESES ....................................................................... 128 Propensity for Imitation ....................................................................................... 128 Task–Technology Fit ............................................................................................. 130 Abandonment ........................................................................................................... 141 METHOD .................................................................................................................................... 152 Research Design and Procedure ....................................................................... 152 ANALYSIS AND RESULTS .................................................................................................... 163 Measurement ModeL .............................................................................................. 164 Structural Model ...................................................................................................... 167 DISCUSSION .............................................................................................................................. 170 Major Findings .......................................................................................................... 171 TheoreticaL Contributions and ImpLications for Research .................... 172 PracticaL ImpLications ............................................................................................ 177 Limitations and Directions for Future Research ....................................... 179 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 180 IV REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 182 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................ 196 TabLes ........................................................................................................................... 197 Figures .......................................................................................................................... 198 Appendix A: Summary of ReLevant Literature On Abandonment ...... 201 Appendix B: Situating Task ................................................................................. 202 Appendix C: Herd SimuLation ............................................................................. 203 Appendix D: Questionnaire Items .................................................................... 204 Appendix E: Item Loadings and Correlations .............................................. 207 Appendix F: List of DeveLoped Items to measure Perceived Niche ... 209 IV. CHAPTER 4: Promotion of ExpLorative IT Learning: A MuLtiLeveL AnaLysis . 210 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 210 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ........................................................................................ 216 IT Training .................................................................................................................. 216 Post-Adoption Behaviors ..................................................................................... 217 Technology Exploration ......................................................................................