The Impact of Computer Alienation on Information Technology Investment Decisions: An Exploratory Cross-National Analysis
Authors: Abdul-Gader, Abdulla H.; Kozar, Kenneth A.
Journal: MIS Quarterly (1995)
DOI: 10.2307/249632
Organizations in both developed and developing countries use information technology to support their operational, tactical, and strategic processes (cf., Bogod, 1979; Cooper and Zmud, 1990). Any strategic competitive advantage of information technology, however, is contingent on acquisition and assimilation of information technology products and applications into organizational processes. Using a value expectancy approach, this study proposes an expanded model to examine the variables that correlate with information technology investment decisions. The theory of alienation from social psychology is used as a basis to systematically define and measure decision makers' attitudes and internal beliefs toward information technology in an investment context. Detailed discussion of the development of a computer alienation measurement scale is presented. The scale was used to collect data from 97 decision makers in the United States, a developed country, and Saudi Arabia, a developing country. Results provide empirical evidence on the appropriateness of applying the computer alienation construct to computer purchase decisions. Computer–alienated decision makers were found to be more incli…