Enterprise Social Networks as Digital Infrastructures -- Understanding the Utilitarian Value of Social Media at the Workplace
This research addresses the problem of understanding and optimizing enterprise social media for workplace efficiency, though it is incremental as it builds on existing technology acceptance models.
The study investigated the factors influencing employees' continuous participation in enterprise social networks, finding that utilitarian value significantly outweighs hedonic value, with this value driven by digital infrastructure characteristics like versatility and adaptability.
In this study, we first show that while both the perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment of enterprise social networks impact employees' intentions for continuous participation, the utilitarian value significantly outpaces its hedonic value. Second, we prove that the network's utilitarian value is constituted by its digital infrastructure characteristics: versatility, adaptability, interconnectedness and invisibility-in-use. The study is set within a software engineering company and bases on quantitative survey research, applying partial least squares structural equation modeling.