On the appropriation of consumerised IT : a trial and error approach

Consumerized IT devices, such as tablets, are widely adopted and support both personal and professional uses with a wide breadth of applications. Our study focuses on appropriation behaviour in instances of disillusionment, that is, when technology-in-use fails user goals. Building on grounded theory methods, we analyse blog entries that provide narratives on user interaction with tablets to unpack users’ efforts to appropriate the tablet through the lens of trial and error theory. In doing so, we identify the conditions for rejection, as well as appropriation. Trial and error is shown to be a variation that extends the appropriation literature. We contribute to understanding the volitional, consumerized use of IT where the use scenarios are determined by the individual and IT use transcends the boundaries between work and personal IT use.