Towards integrating acceptance and resistance research: evidence from a telecare case study

There is wide agreement that acceptance and resistance are crucial factors in information system (IS) adoption. Research has yielded many theories that have focused on either acceptance or resistance, often implicitly assuming that these are opposites. This paper proposes a two‐factor view on acceptance and resistance, and shows how this idea may advance our knowledge of IS adoption. In developing a user reactions framework, we take a first step towards integrating the IS literature on acceptance and on resistance. This framework distinguishes between two behavioural dimensions, namely, acceptance, ranging from high use to non‐use, and a dimension that ranges from enthusiastic support to aggressive resistance. Combining the two dimensions leads to four categories of user reactions. We show the framework's usefulness by analysing data from a telecare implementation project. The findings identify ambivalent reactions. Many clients are identified as supporting but non‐using, while we also find telenurses and care coordinators that show themselves to be resisting but using. These findings support the view that non‐acceptance and resistance are conceptually non‐equivalent. Our data suggest voluntariness as one determinant of the variation in behavioural reactions encountered. We argue that the concepts are also functionally different: IS implementers will have to adapt their strategies to the different reactions described.