Innovation Assimilation by Individuals: A Mobile Application Diffusion Perspective

Abstract

Despite the incredible increase in smartphone penetration and the birth of a plethora of mobile applications, we cannot overlook the considerable gap between first smartphone adoption and actual usage of mobile applications. Grounded in the technology-organization-environment framework of technology assimilation and the consumer involvement model, this paper develops a conceptual model that accounts for post-adoption phase from the individual perspective. We show that knowledge barrier have a negative impact on assimilation stage, while innovativeness, optimism, insecurity and susceptibility to normative influence significantly contribute to the level of consumer involvement. We also found that consumer involvement plays an important mediating role. These findings indicate the usefulness of the mechanism for studying the innovative technology assimilation.