Abstract:

While information technology (IT) adoption has been widely discussed in previous studies, it is still a research challenge. In this sense, a neglected research topic is understanding what users say during an IT adoption process. To contribute to this issue, we analysed the discourses of three Chilean lecturers of first-year engineering courses during a training session of an online quiz system. Methologically, we used discourse analysis to understand and classify the rhetoric of the users. The findings show some meaningful differences between the speech of users who adopted the system, and the user who did not. The first two users expressed themselves in the first person singular, showing commitment and assertiveness. The other lecturer used neutral and passive statements and was lacking in commitment. His communication was based on asymmetrical and intimidating power relationship. These findings show that understanding the differences in rhetoric between users could help to predict their willingness to either use IT or not. The present paper contribute by giving an answer to prominent scholars, who claim that new mythological perspectives are needed to understand better why users adopt or reject a new system. We would strongly encourage researchers and practitioners to analyse what the users say during an IT adoption process.