Tell Me What that Means to You: Small-Story Narratives in Technology Adoption

Abstract

Technology adoption is often predicted based on little information such as the Perceived ease-of-use and the Perceived usefulness of the technology. Related constructs such as Attitude to use, Behavioral intention to use and External variables cannot be easily operationalised and so are often ignored. However, technology characteristics themselves fail to represent other factors such as potential adopter attitudes and how they react to the opportunities offered by the technology to meet their needs. In a series of three studies, qualitative methods were used to identify, validate and then exploit narrative themes. Based on the short narratives of potential adopters discussing their experiences with a set of cybersecurity tools, we are developing a small-story narrative framework to capture how they respond to the technology contextualised directly within their professional environment. Akin to concepts from adoption frameworks in healthcare intervention studies, we conclude that adopter’s personal response to a technology and how they make sense of it in their environment becomes evident in the narratives they create.