Measuring Implicit Attitude in Information Systems Research with the Implicit Association Test

Abstract

Information systems (IS) research has primarily focused on explicit perceptions, attitudes, and intentions of which users are largely aware. We argue that this view may be too narrow. We extend it by presenting the concept of implicit attitude, which is as a stable subconscious evaluation of an IS that is developed a priori, stored in memory, and triggered with limited or no awareness and intentional effort when users are exposed to system-related stimuli. We further discuss the theoretical aspects of implicit attitude toward IS and document a set of guidelines regarding a technique for implicit attitude measurement: the implicit association test (IAT). We further present an overview of the FreeIAT software package and offer a practical example and configuration of the IAT, which includes its administration and scoring. Overall, this tutorial builds methodological foundations for future inquiries into the role of implicit processes in IS research.