Shocks and IS User Behavior: A Taxonomy and Future Research DirectionsShocks and IS User Behavior: A Taxonomy and Future Research Directions
In a forthcoming paper in Internet Research, my team reviews the literature on shocks and explores how they should be investigated in future Information Systems Research.
Jarring events, be they global crises such as COVID-19 or technological such as the Cambridge Analytica data incident, have bullwhip effects on billions of people’s daily lives. Such “shocks” vary in their characteristics. While some shocks cause, for example, widespread adoption of information systems (IS) as diverse as Netflix and Teams, others lead users to stop using IS, such as Facebook. To offer insights into the multifaceted ways shocks influence user behavior, this study assesses the status quo of shock-related literature in the IS discipline and develops a taxonomy that paves the path for future IS research on shocks. We conducted a literature review (N=70) to assess the status quo of shock-related studies in the IS discipline. Through a qualitative study based on users (N=39) who experienced shocks, we confirmed the findings of previous literature in an illustrative IS research context. We integrated these findings to inform a taxonomy of shocks impacting IS use. Our studies identify different ways that shocks influence user behavior. The taxonomy reveals that IS research could profit from considering environmental, private, and work shocks and shedding light on positive shocks. IS research could also benefit from examining the urgency of shocks, as there are indications that this influences how and when individuals react to a specific shock. Our findings complement previous rational explanations for user behavior by showing technology use can be influenced by shocks. Our studies offer a foundation for forward-looking research that connects jarring events to patterns of technology use.
The paper is co-authored with Marco Meier (University of Bamberg), Christian Maier (University of Bamberg), and Tim Weitzel (University of Bamberg).
Recommended Citation: Meier, M., Maier, C., Thatcher, J.B., and Weitzel, T. (Forthcoming). “Shocks and IS User Behavior: A Taxonomy and Future Research Directions.” Internet Research.