Fighting for the status quo: Threat to tech self-esteem and opposition to competing smartphones

Abstract

Users of rival technology platforms, such as Android-versus-iOS, often harbor hostile opposition to each other. The dominant perspective of technology resistance, conceptualized as technology inertia, cannot explain such strong oppositional behavior. We propose a threat to tech self-esteem construct that captures distinct threat perceptions and offers a unified explanation for oppositional intentions. We conducted an empirical study of smartphone users, where we find that the threat to technology self-esteem arises from distinct antecedents and offers a singular explanation for opposition. Moreover, we show the unintended consequences of employing lock-in strategies and provide advice on why and how to mitigate them.