A Longitudinal Study of Herd Behavior in the Adoption and Continued Use of Technology
Authors: Sun, Heshan
Journal: MIS Quarterly (2004)
DOI: 10.25300/misq/2013/37.4.02
Herd literature suggests that people tend to discount their own beliefs and imitate others when making adoption decisions and that the resulting adoption decisions are fragile and can be easily reversed during the post-adoptive stage. This helps explain why the adoption of a number of new technologies―from Amazon’s Kindle, to Apple’s iPod, iPhone, and iPad, to various types of Web 2. 0 technologies―appears to have adoption patterns similar to those of new fashion trends (i. e., an initial en masse acquisition followed by subsequent abandonment). It is important to understand these phenomena because they are strongly related to the staying power of technology. From a herd behavior perspective, this study proposes two new concepts, namely discounting one’s own information and imitating others, to describe herd behavior in technology adoption. A research model is developed to describe the conditions under which herd behavior in technology adoption occurs, how it impacts technology adoption decision making, and how it influences post-adoptive system use. A longitudinal study is conducted to examine the research model. Findings from this research suggest that the discounting of one’s o…