What’s the difference between work and fun? Explaining the difference between utilitarian and hedonic IT use

Abstract

Information systems theory tells us that the deepest going difference between utilitarian and hedonic information technology use is that different sets of motivational factors direct the two types of use. However, recent advances in social psychology and consumer behavior research suggest that there is an even more profound difference: Only utilitarian IT use depends on the self-control mechanism and the limited resources consumed bµ exercise of self-control. This causes the daily and weekly rhythms of utilitarian and hedonic use to be different. Utilitarian information technology use decreases throughout the day and the week while hedonic information technology use does not. In this paper, we test for the first time whether the daily consumption pattern of utilitarian information technology use indeed reflects the hypothesized patterns at the aggregate level. Our data suggests that it does, which means that the self-control mechanism should be integrated in the information systems models that seek to explain information technology use.