The use of information technology as value co-creation: the role of contextual variety and means drivenness

Abstract

This paper proposes a service dominant logic view of technology use as value co-creation in context. We argue that individuals, as value co-creators, are resource integrators and such resource integration in technology use is determined by the degree of variability of the context within which the individual faces. We also posit that where contexts are varied to the extent that goals are unknown, individuals could be means driven rather than goals driven. Our paper develops two new constructs, contextual variety and means drivenness, and investigate its impact on technology use and the technology adoption model (TAM) through four focus groups and a survey of 1526 smartphone users. Our results indicate that contextual variety and means drivenness impacted on use behaviors and the two constructs mediated the impact of the original TAM perceived ease of use (fully) and perceived usefulness (partially) constructs towards use. We also showed that increased contextual variety drives means drivenness. Our study demonstrates the role of context within co-creation that is set apart from the role of the individual's enduring traits. We also show the influence of effectual reasoning, as opposed to causal reasoning on technology use and propose that future research could focus on contexts, as well as users.