Issues regarding IT Consumerization: How Mixed IT Portfolios of Private and Business IT Components Cause Unreliability

Abstract

With increasing mobile work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the usage and relevance of consumer IT for business purposes have substantially increased. In this light, an understudied area of IT consumerization, the adverse outcomes for employees using consumer IT for business purposes, is of major importance. We conduct a mixed-methods study to investigate the adverse outcomes of IT consumerization. We build on prior studies and end-user interviews to draw connections between IT consumerization and unreliability as one known technostressor. A quantitative survey of 162 full-time employees shows that IT consumerization is associated with increased unreliability. The users’ general computer self-efficacy, instead, decreases unreliability, and unreliability leads to various job-related and health-related outcomes. We show that unreliability is driven by users’ experience while trying to integrate private and business IT components for business purposes. We follow up on this observation through a qualitative analysis of open-ended survey questions to detail users’ experiences. Our findings emphasize the need to examine the negative outcomes of IT consumerization, despite its well-studied positive effects. We suggest that organizations should strive to integrate business and private IT as much as IT security constraints allow for reduced technostress.