An Exploration of the Drivers of Non-Adoption Behavior

Abstract

While there has been a substantial amount of attention within the information systems research community towards understanding the phenomenon of adoption, much less is known about non-adoption. This study examines the factors surrounding the decision to not adopt a technology and whether certain factors exert differing effects on individuals in particular ways such that concurrent factors could be identified to develop a classification of the specific types of non-adoption behavior. Utilizing inhibitor theory and the symbolic adoption model as a foundational framework for the different types of non-adoption, we posit that different types of non-adoption exist which is demonstrated by determining the perceptions towards technology that coalesce around different types of non-adoption. We conducted a two-phase investigation into non-adoption with two goals in mind: 1) identify and explore specific factors of the IT that are associated with the rejection decision and are distinct from the adoption decision, and 2) determine the extent to which these factors (along with traditional enablers) differentiate between different types of non-adoption. The results from a discriminant function analysis (DFA) indicate the coalescence of specific perceptual variables according to the types of non-adoption behavior, specifically, the discriminatory power of differing perceptions of IT between trial rejecters, symbolic rejecters, trial accepters, symbolic adopters, and adopters. The implications for research and implications for practice are discussed.