User Choice between Traditional and Computerized Methods: An Activity Perspective

Numerous computerized methods emerge to replace traditional methods in people’s personal, work and social lives, but many are hesitant to make the transition. This study examines the factors that influence human choice between different methods. According to Activity Theory, traditional and computerized methods are both tools that a person uses for a certain task. The situated experiences with various methods shape people’s attitude toward using them later in terms of tool readiness. The understanding leads to hypothesized relationships between user-, methodand task-specific factors and the dependent variable. The results from an empirical study support that method experiences have strong direct effects, user characteristics have weak moderating effects and task situations have both moderating and mediated effects on tool readiness at different levels. This understanding provides researchers and practitioners the insight on how to facilitate the transition from traditional methods to computerized methods for different users and for different tasks.