The usefulness of a software product becomes obvious to consumers only after they get to experience it and, upon experiencing it, they may reach different conclusions regarding its true value. We examine the problem of designing free software trials under a general learning function. Our analyses lead to several new findings. We find that a time-locked trial is optimal only when the rate of learning is sufficiently large. It is not optimal in other situations, even when it has an overall positive effect on consumers' valuations. We also find that positive network effects have a minimal impact on this optimality. Interestingly, we find that neither the optimal trial period nor the optimal price is monotonically increasing in the rate of learning. At moderate rates, the software manufacturer pursues a dual strategy of offering a longer trial as well as a lower price. At higher rates of learning, the manufacturer does the opposite. Our results are robust, and incorporating possibilities such as a trial providing a signal of quality or learning being correlated with prior valuation has little impact on their applicability.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 239-268
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300209
• Authors
  • Debabrata Dey, Foster School of Business, University of Washington
  • Atanu Lahiri, Foster School of Business, University of Washington
  • Dengpan Liu, College of Business, Iowa State University

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 2 / Fall 2013

It is becoming increasingly important for firms to know when to take steps to reduce buyers' uncertainty about products and services. This paper focuses on investments that firms can make to reduce buyers' uncertainty about taste-related product attributes. Using an analytical model, we show that firms should disclose more taste-related information when the customer segment they directly target represents a larger share of the overall market. We further show that there are practical ways by which managers can decide if such disclosure investments are financially beneficial to their firms. Specifically, we show that the variance of consumer reviews can guide such decisions. The paper's main contribution to the extant literature is to show that firms must consider the variance, but not the mean, of buyer reviews, to determine the need to invest in reducing consumer uncertainty about taste-related attributes. The papers's findings are managerially important due to the ubiquity of consumer reviews. They are novel because most of the previous literature views the mean of the review as the key indicator. Finally, they are general in their applicability since they are independent of any assumptions about heuristics that buyers may use to ascertain product quality from the reviews of previous buyers.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 269-299
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300210
• Authors
  • Panos M. Markopoulos, Department of Business and Public Administration, University of Cyprus
  • Eric K. Clemons, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 2 / Fall 2013

Editorial Introduction

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 5-6
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300300
• Authors
  • Vladimir Zwass

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

Special Issue: Information Technology and Organizational Governance: The IT Governance Cube

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 7-12
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300301
• Authors
  • Amrit Tiwana, College of Business, University of Georgia
  • Benn Konsynski, Goizueta Business School, Emory University
  • N. Venkatraman, School of Management of Boston University

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

Two types of information technology (IT) outsourcing governance—contractual and relational—are commonly employed to address different goals in IT service management in outsourcing arrangements. Contractual governance helps improve efficiency in an outsourcing relationship, whereas relational governance facilitates satisfying changing business needs. Past literature argues that both forms of governance are important and that an appropriate balance between them is necessary. This study finds that these two forms of governance often conflict with one another. We contribute to the research on IT outsourcing governance by opening the black box of the evolutionary process of achieving ambidexterity in this context. Organizations shift their focus between contractual and relational forms of governance in an attempt to develop practices that address conflicts between the two forms. We present the findings from a qualitative study of an organization that outsourced its IT services. Our findings reveal how a balance between contractual and relational governance can be achieved through a process we call the ambidexterity pendulum.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 115-140
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300305
• Authors
  • Lan Cao, Old Dominion University
  • Kannan Mohan, Georgia State University
  • Balasubramaniam Ramesh, Computer Information Systems, Georgia State University
  • Sumantra Sarkar, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

This study addresses a major gap in our knowledge about the allocation of information technology (IT) decision rights between business and IT units at the application level, including the governance of applications delivered on-premise versus those delivered with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. Building on the findings from a multicase qualitative study of organizations that had adopted the same SaaS application, we draw on three theoretical lenses (agency theory, transaction cost economics, and knowledge-based view) to develop a theoretically grounded model with three organization-level factors, three application-level factors, and application-level IT governance. Hypotheses derived from the model, as well as a set of differential hypotheses about factor influences due to on-premise versus SaaS delivery, are tested with survey responses from 207 firms in which application-level governance is operationalized with two dimensions: decision control rights (decision authority) and decision management rights (task responsibility). Three antecedents (origin of the application initiative, scope of application use, business knowledge of the IT unit) were significantly associated with application governance postimplementation, and the on-premise/SaaS subgroup analyses provide preliminary evidence for the mode of application delivery as a moderator of these relationships. Overall, this study contributes to a growing body of research that takes a more modular approach to studying IT governance and provides theoretical explanations for differing application-level governance designs.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 13-48
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300302
• Authors
  • Till J. Winkler, Department of IT Management, Copenhagen Business School
  • Carol V. Brown, Howe School of Technology Management, Stevens Institute of Technology

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

This paper applies the theory of real options to analyze how the value of information-based flexibility should affect the decision to centralize or decentralize data management under low and high uncertainty. This study makes two main contributions. First, we show that in the presence of low uncertainty, centralization of data management decisions creates more total surplus for the firm as the similarity of business units increases. In contrast, in the presence of high uncertainty, centralization creates more total surplus as the dissimilarity of business units increases. The pivoting distinction trades the benefit of reduction of uncertainty from dissimilar businesses for centralization (with cost saving) against the benefit of flexibility from decentralization. Second, the framework helps senior management evaluate the trade-offs in data centralization that drive different business models of the firm. We illustrate the application of these propositions formally using an analytical model and informally using case vignettes and simulation.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 179-212
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300307
• Authors
  • Chander K. Velu, Institute for Manufacturing, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
  • Stuart E. Madnick, MIT Sloan School of Management
  • Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Boston University

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

This paper develops a process model of how and why complementarity and substitution form over time between contractual and relational governance in the context of information systems outsourcing. Our analysis identifies four distinct process patterns that explain this formation as the outcome of interaction processes between key elements of both contractual and relational governance. These patterns unveil the dynamic nature of complementarity and substitution. In particular, we show that the relationship between contractual and relational governance oscillates between complementarity and substitution. Those oscillations are triggered mainly by three types of contextual events (goal fuzziness, goal conflict, and goal misalignment). Surprisingly, substitution of informal control did not occur as an immediate reaction to external events but emerged as a consequence of preceding complementarity. Thus, our study challenges the prevailing view of an either/or dichotomy of complementarity and substitution by showing that they are causally connected over time.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 81-114
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300304
• Authors
  • Thomas L. Huber, Institute of Information Systems, University of Bern, Switzerland
  • Thomas A. Fischer, CIO Office at Franke Management, Switzerland
  • Jens Dibbern, University of Bern, Switzerland
  • Rudy Hirschheim, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

In recent years, chief information officers have begun to report exponential increases in the amounts of raw data captured and retained across the organization. Managing extreme amounts of data can be complex and challenging at a time when information is increasingly viewed as a strategic resource. Since the dominant focus of the information technology (IT) governance literature has been on how firms govern physical IT artifacts (hardware, software, networks), the goal of this study is to extend the theory of IT governance by uncovering the structures and practices used to govern information artifacts. Through detailed interviews with 37 executives in 30 organizations across 17 industries, we discover a range of structural, procedural, and relational practices used to govern information within a nomological net that includes the antecedents of these practices and their effects on firm performance. While some antecedents enable the speedy adoption of information governance, others can delay or limit the adoption of information governance practices. Once adopted, however, information governance can help to boost firm performance. By incorporating these results into an extended theory of IT governance, we note how information governance practices can unlock value from the ever-expanding mountains of data currently held within organizations.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 141-178
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300306
• Authors
  • Paul P. Tallon, Sellinger School of Business and Management, Loyola University, Maryland
  • Ronald V. Ramirez, Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine
  • James E. Short, MIT Sloan School of Management, London Business School

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

A comprehensive set of governance mechanisms and dimensions were investigated to identify combinations of mechanisms that are effectively used together in on-going volunteer-based open source software (OSS) projects. Three configurations were identified: Defined Community, Open Community, and Authoritarian Community. Notably, Defined Community governance had the strongest coordination and project climate and had the most extensive use of outcome, behavior, and clan control mechanisms (controller driven). The controls in the Defined Community governance configuration appear to effectively enable open, coordinated contribution and participation from a wide variety of talented developers (one of the virtues of open source development) while managing the development process and outcomes. The results add to our theoretical understanding of control in different types of information systems projects, as the combination of control modes found in OSS projects is different from those found in previous research for internal or outsourced information systems development projects. This could be due to unique features of OSS projects, such as volunteer participation and the controller being part of the development team. The results provide guidance for practitioners about how to combine 19 identified governance mechanisms into effective project governance that stimulates productive participation.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 49-80
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300303
• Authors
  • Dany Di Tullio, Queen's School of Business, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada
  • D. Sandy Staples, School of Business, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

Giving away trial software is a common practice for software developers to maximize the exposure of their products to potential consumers and to minimize the consumers' uncertainty about software quality. There are two types of free trials: (1) freeware, which consists of very basic features of focal software without a time lock, and (2) trialware, which has the full functionality of focal software with a time lock. In this paper, we study what factors make some free-trial software attract more potential adopters than others. Our empirical model under the traditional Bass-type diffusion examines the effects of the different types of free-trial software and ratings on consumer software sampling and reveals the dynamics of sampling over time. Using free-trial software downloading data on Download.com, we observe that the consumer software sampling process can be described by the theory of information diffusion. We find that user ratings affect sampling performance positively and that third-party ratings need to be positive to be effective. Finally, our results do not show any discernible differences between freeware and trialware with regard to their impact on sampling performance. This study contributes to the understanding of software free-trial practice from the perspective of consumer sampling growth of different types of free trials. Our findings can help design free-trial strategies to extrapolate the extent of consumer awareness of focal software and effectively convey its quality information to potential customers.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 213-246
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300308
• Authors
  • Young-Jin Lee, University of Washington
  • Yong Tan, Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

Traders and investors are aware that emotional processes can have material consequences on their financial decision performance. However, typical learning approaches for debiasing fail to overcome emotionally driven financial dispositions, mostly because of subjects' limited capacity for self-monitoring. Our research aims at improving decision makers' performance by (1) boosting their awareness to their emotional state and (2) improving their skills for effective emotion regulation. To that end, we designed and implemented a serious game-based NeuroIS tool that continuously displays the player's individual emotional state, via biofeedback, and adapts the difficulty of the decision environment to this emotional state. The design artifact was then evaluated in two laboratory experiments. Taken together, our study demonstrates how information systems design science research can contribute to improving financial decision making by integrating physiological data into information technology artifacts. Moreover, we provide specific design guidelines for how biofeedback can be integrated into information systems.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 247-278
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300309
• Authors
  • Philipp J. Astor, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
  • Marc T. P. Adam, Institute of Information Systems and Marketing, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • Petar Jerčić, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden
  • Kristina Schaaff, FZI Research Center for Information Technology, Karlsruhe
  • Christof Weinhardt, Institute for Information Systems and Marketing, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

Reputation systems have been recognized as successful online review communities and word-of-mouth channels. Our study draws upon the elaboration likelihood model to analyze the extent that the characteristics of reviewers and their early reviews reduce or worsen the bias of subsequent online reviews. Investigating the sources of this bias and ways to mitigate it is of considerable importance given the previously established significant impact of online reviews on consumers' purchasing decisions and on businesses' profitability. Based on a panel data set of 744 individual consumers collected from Yelp, we used the Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation method to develop and empirically test a system of simultaneous models of consumer review behavior. Our results reveal that male reviewers or those who lack experience, geographic mobility, or social connectedness are more prone to being influenced by prior reviews. We also found that longer and more frequent reviews can reduce online reviews' biases. This paper is among the first to examine the moderating effects of reviewer and review characteristics on the relationship between prior reviews and subsequent reviews. Practically, this study offers businesses effective customer relationship management strategies to improve their reputations and expand their clientele.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 279-310
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300310
• Authors
  • Xiao Ma, Wisconsin School of Business
  • Lara Khansa, Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech
  • Yun Deng, School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
  • Sung S. Kim, Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

This work anchors on the theories of cognitive fit and schema congruity to advance a review-product congruity proposition. The proposition states that the effects of product review content (either attribute or experience based) on the product review comprehension (reflected by perceived cognitive effort and review comprehension time) and assessment (manifested by perceived review helpfulness) of a consumer are contingent on the assessed product type (either search or experience product). The results of our first experiment support the proposition by revealing that the two matching conditions, (1) attribute-based reviews describing a search product and (2) experience-based reviews describing an experience product, could lead consumers to perceive higher review helpfulness and lower cognitive effort (subjective measure) to comprehend the reviews. However, the subjective evaluation of cognitive effort is not reinforced by the resulting review comprehension time (an objective assessment of comprehension effort), which suggests that consumers spend significantly more time processing reviews in the presence of the two matching conditions. A second experiment was conducted using the think-aloud method to gain further insights into the effects. We found that under the review-product matching conditions, consumers engage in deeper-level comprehension and expend more time in comprehension without realizing it, compared to consumers under the mismatching conditions. This research extends our current understanding of how review content and product reviews jointly influence the comprehension and assessment behavior of the consumer, and provides guidelines on the identification and the presentation of reviews to facilitate the judgment and decision making of potential consumers.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 311-343
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300311
• Authors
  • Liqiang Huang, Zhejiang University
  • Chuan-Hoo Tan, City University of Hong Kong
  • Weiling Ke, School of Business at Clarkson University
  • Kwok-Kee Wei, Association of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 3 / Winter 2013-14

Special Issue: Neuroscience in Information Systems Research

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 7-12
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300401
• Authors
  • Ting-Peng Liang, Research Center for Mind, Brain, and Learning, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
  • Jan vom Brocke, Institute of Information Systems, University of Liechtenstein

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 4 / Spring 2014

Editorial Introduction

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 5-6
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300400
• Authors
  • Vladimir Zwass

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 4 / Spring 2014

User-game engagement is vital for building and retaining a customer base for software games. However, few studies have investigated such engagement during gameplay and the impact of gaming elements on engagement. Drawing on the theoretical foundation of engagement, we meticulously deduced two cognitive-related gaming elements of a software game, namely, game complexity and game familiarity, and argued that these elements have individual and joint effects on user-game engagement. This research adopted multimethod empirical investigations to validate our conceptions. The first investigation used electroencephalography and a self-report survey to study quantitatively the cognitive activities of user-game engagement. The second investigation adopted the qualitative interview method to triangulate the findings from the quantitative data. This research contributes to theory in two ways, namely, conceptualizing and empirically examining user-game engagement as well as theorizing and demonstrating how the two gaming elements affect user-game engagement. This work contributes to the gaming practice by providing a set of design principles for gaming elements.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 115-150
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300405
• Authors
  • Mengxiang Li, School of Information Systems and Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences, University of Wollongong
  • Qiqi Jiang, School of Economics and Management, Tongji University
  • Chuan-Hoo Tan, City University of Hong Kong
  • Kwok-Kee Wei, College of Business, City University of Hong Kong

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 4 / Spring 2014

Human emotions' role in phenomena related to information systems (IS) is increasingly of interest to research and practice, and is now informed by a burgeoning literature in neuroscience. This study develops a nomological network with an overarching view of relationships among emotions and other constructs of interest in IS research. The resulting 3-emotion systems' nomological network includes three interacting emotion systems: language, physiology, and behavior. Two laboratory experiments were conducted to test the nomological network, with six online travel service Web pages used as stimuli. The first study used paper-based self-report measures and qualitative comments, whereas the second included both self-reports and electroencephalography (EEG) measures. An outcome measure of e-loyalty was included in each study. The results of both studies showed positive and negative emotion-inducing stimuli were related to positive and negative emotions when viewing the Web sites as indicated by both self-reports and EEG data. In turn, positive and negative emotions as measured by both self-reports and EEG measures were linked to e-loyalty to some degree. This research is novel and significant because it is possibly the first in-depth study to link the study of emotions in IS with a sound theory base and multiple measurement approaches, including neuroscience measures. It shows that an EEG measure has some predictive power for an outcome such as e-loyalty. Implications of the research are that IS studies should distinguish between the different emotion systems of language and physiology, choose emotion measures carefully, and also recognize the intertwining of the emotion systems and cognitive processing.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 13-48
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300402
• Authors
  • Shirley Gregor, National Centre for Information Systems Research, Australian National University
  • Aleck C. H. Lin, Department of Arts and Creative Industries, National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan
  • Tom Gedeon, Information and Human Centred Computing (iHcc) Research Group of the Research School of Computer Science, Australian National University
  • Amir Riaz, Australian National University
  • Dingyun Zhu, Research School of Computer Science, Australian National University

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 4 / Spring 2014

Virtual teams are increasingly common in today's organizations, yet they often make poor decisions. Teams that interact using text-based collaboration technology typically exchange more information than when they perform the same task face-to-face, but past results suggest that team members are more likely to ignore information they receive from others. Collaboration technology makes unique demands on individual cognitive resources that may change how individual team members process information in virtual settings compared to face-to-face settings. This experiment uses electroencephalography, electrodermal activity, and facial electromyography to investigate how team members process information received from text-based collaboration during a team decision-making process. Our findings show that information that challenges an individual's prediscussion decision preference is processed similarly to irrelevant information, while information that supports an individual's prediscussion decision preference is processed more thoroughly. Our results present neurological evidence for the underlying processes of confirmation bias in information processing during online team discussions.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 49-82
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300403
• Authors
  • Randall K. Minas, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
  • Robert F. Potter, Indiana University
  • Alan R. Dennis, John T. Chambers Chair of Internet Systems at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
  • Valerie Bartelt, Texas A&M-Kingsville
  • Soyoung Bae, Department of Communication, University of Maryland

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 4 / Spring 2014

This study examines two types of information commonly used by group-buying sites to induce purchasing. The first study indicates the number of people who have bought a deal ("buy" information). The second one indicates Facebook friends who "like" a deal ("like" information). The effects of the group-buying information on opinions (attitude and intention) and emotions were examined using a controlled experiment. Our results show that positive and negative "buy" information has an asymmetric influence on attitude and intention, whereas "like" information has a positive influence on intention. The presence of "buy" information is associated with EEG activity that is generally linked to negative emotions. However, the addition of "like" information is associated with EEG activity that is generally linked to positive emotions. The different effects of the two types of group-buying information can be explained by the different social influences exerted by the information.

• Content Type Journal Article
• Pages 151-178
• DOI 10.2753/MIS0742-1222300406
• Authors
  • Kevin K. Y. Kuan, School of Information Technologies, University of Sydney
  • Yingqin Zhong, Master of Finance program at the Business School, Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Patrick Y. K. Chau, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Hong Kong (HKU)

• Journal Journal of Management Information Systems
• Print ISSN 0742-1222
• Journal Volume Volume 30
• Journal Issue Volume 30, Number 4 / Spring 2014