Personal Achievement Goals, Learning Strategies, and Perceived IT Affordances

Goals are the prism through which actors perceive the affordances of technological artifacts. Yet, personal goals have not been differentiated conceptually, and the learning mechanism through which they shape individuals’ perception of affordances has not been examined. This paper addresses these gaps theoretically and empirically. Drawing on achievement goal theory, we conceptualize information technology (IT) affordances as goal-oriented learning outcomes. We then develop a research model that describes several mediated pathways, in which the impact of personal goals on IT affordance perceptions passes through IT-focused learning strategies. The results of the empirical study support the theoretical model and depict three distinct pathways. Specifically, performance-avoidance goals are positively associated with surface processing, which leads to perceptions of common in-role IT affordances. Performance-approach goals are positively associated with surface processing and effort regulation and these learning strategies lead to perceptions of common and specialized in-role IT affordances. Mastery goals are associated with deep processing, effort regulation, and peer learning, which are positively associated with perceptions of specialized in-role and extra-role IT affordances. The paper offers new insights on how and why employees perceive different IT affordances. The affordances we study are conceptualized and operationalized at a level of abstraction that can be used to study affordance perception across actors, technologies, and contexts. The paper opens new avenues for future research on affordances and on related postimplementation phenomena.