The Adoption of Pervasive Technology in Private Spaces: Exploring Pre-Exposure Beliefs and Post-Exposure Outcomes Using Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Abstract

The development of pervasive technology for homes has always revolved around ever-growing consumer needs for comfort, a better home experience and the convenience of technology operation. Smart home technologies promise to deliver financial, environmental and health-related benefits through real-time control and management of resource consumption, remote monitoring and support, and other tailored services for users. However, despite the benefits of the technology for its users, the adoption rate is still low. Low adoption incurs the risk that the technology’s potential will never be realised, decreasing its positive implications for individuals and society in general. Against the backdrop of the low implementation of smart homes and their fast-paced development, it is important to examine technology utilisation from the user’s perspective, focusing on beliefs that underpin the acceptance and the perceived outcomes of performance. Given that new technology raises high expectations, which may undermine post-performance evaluation, it is important to consider the psychological factors that the perception and experiences of the promised performance entail. This will provide valuable evidence about the conditions which lead people to continue with or abandon the technology. The academic community has intensified its efforts to examine the concept of the smart home, its technological capabilities, its implications and the impact on people’s lives, but the literature still lacks empirical evidence about the users’ perspective on the utilisation of technology. Users’ beliefs, such as the expected benefits and risks which may facilitate or inhibit trialling the technology in private spaces have been under-researched. Studies have examined interaction with technologies irrespective of the context, thus decreasing the validity of the analysis of situational behaviour. However, the utilisation of technology in private settings is contingent on psychological factors, the perception of outcomes, motives and beliefs. Those factors affect the perception of the values and risks that the use of the technology might entail. Secondly, there is still a lack of insight into the outcomes of the use of technology when the performance falls short of initial expectations. The behavioural and cognitive responses following poor technology performance and the coping mechanisms that users deploy to ameliorate negative consequences are under-researched. Given the gaps in the literature, the first focus of the thesis was to examine the user’s perspective on smart home utilisation by examining the beliefs that underpin the adoption of the technology. The research adopted the Task Technology Fit (TTF) model, integrated

with the constructs that pertain to the users’ perception of technology performance, such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. While TTF stresses the importance of the “fit” factor when it comes to task-related behaviour, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use explain the attitudinal underpinnings of the behaviour. Additionally, the model aimed to explain whether utilitarian, hedonic values, privacy and financial risks influence the users’ perception of task-fit. The second focus of this thesis was to explore individuals’ behaviour when technology performance falls short of expectations. The hypotheses were drawn from the literature in the confirmation-satisfaction and cognitive dissonance domains. Such an approach made it possible to examine psychological, behavioural and cognitive factors following a negative experience with technology. Post-performance dissonance arousal reflecting the psychological discomfort induced by the discrepancy between performance and expectations was examined. Furthermore, the adoption of cognitive dissonance theory aimed to explore the role of different types of emotions associated with dissonance and their role in post-dissonance behaviour. The motivational roles of each emotion in predicting coping strategies for reducing dissonance, such as behaviour change, attitude change and information seeking, were investigated. Two online surveys were conducted to address the objectives of the thesis. The first survey focused on examining the antecedents of pervasive technology adoption by smart home users. The data for the first survey was collected from 422 respondents located in the United States. The focus of the second questionnaire was to examine the behaviour following disconfirmed expectations. Therefore, only smart home users who had had a negative experience with using smart home technologies were eligible to participate in the survey. After filtering non-eligible cases, the final sample consisted of 387 responses. Both questionnaires consisted of two parts: 1) questions related to the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents, and 2) questions designed to measure the variables for the model. For the analysis of the data, structural equation modelling was utilised. Results indicated that hedonic and utilitarian beliefs are critical for the perception of task fit, whereas privacy and financial factors were found not to be significant. The fit between tasks and technology demonstrated its significant role in predicting perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, use behaviour and satisfaction. Lastly, use behaviour showed a positive correlation with satisfaction. When it came to examining the outcomes of performance following disconfirmed expectations, results indicated that weak technology performance induces dissonance due to the discrepancy between expected and actual

technology performance. Dissonance triggered feelings of anger, guilt and regret. The arousal of those emotions activated distinctive dissonance reduction mechanisms aimed at reducing psychological discomfort through attitude change, behaviour change or information-seeking mechanisms. Behaviour change was selected when people felt anger and regret, while consonant information-seeking and attitude change were selected when people felt guilt. The coping mechanisms, in turn, had different effects on satisfaction and wellbeing. Satisfaction and wellbeing were achieved when people coped with dissonance by changing their attitude to the technology or searching for information to justify the use of the technology. The withdrawal of behaviour increased the likelihood of feeling dissatisfaction and reduced the likelihood of perceiving wellbeing. The results of this thesis make several contributions. The findings contribute to the literature on the acceptance of pervasive technology in private spaces. Evidence on the role of beliefs pertaining to technology utilisation (i.e. task-technology fit, perceived usefulness and perceived ease) in private spaces moves forward the theoretical front in the domain of smart homes. In addition, the examination of psychological beliefs (i.e. hedonic value, utilitarian value, privacy and financial risks) with the task-technology fit factor explained the facilitating and inhibiting conditions in which the technology is most likely to be perceived to be compatible with users’ needs. Secondly, insight into consumer experience after technology widens the boundaries of the research on innovative technology acceptance, which has predominantly focused on the underpinnings of adoption as opposed to the outcomes of initial use. The results of the thesis provide evidence about behavioural outcomes following the utilisation of technology when performance falls short of expectations. Such an approach adds to the literature adopting the expectation disconfirmation paradigm, by providing a different perspective on the behavioural outcomes of disconfirmed expectations. In contrast to prior research, the results indicate that the disconfirmation of expectations can lead to positive outcomes, such as satisfaction and perceived wellbeing. Thirdly, the results widen the application of cognitive dissonance theory, by identifying the complex psychological, cognitive and behavioural processes following the evaluation of technology performance. As far as practical implications are concerned, the results inform practitioners about the factors to focus on when developing technology to satisfy a broader user segment. Also, they provide suggestions on marketing and communication strategies that may eliminate the likelihood or the consequences of disconfirmed expectations.