A Needs-Affordances-Satisfaction Perspective on the Use of Connected Objects.

Individuals living a digital life find being connected via digital technologies is increasingly important to their overall well-being, especially as more and more everyday life objects provide connectivity features. However, we know little about the individual drivers and outcomes of using connected objects and the role of connectedness in this regard. This paper develops a needs-affordances-satisfaction perspective that posits that psychological needs motivate individuals’ use of connected objects to the extent these objects provide affordances that satisfy such needs. We identify four connectedness affordances and formulate hypotheses that map the affordances to related psychological needs. We empirically test our predictions through a survey about the use of smartphones and connected cars. Our results have implications for research regarding connectedness and digital lives as well as for technology acceptance research and can enrich existing models by opening up the mechanisms through which psychological needs influence individual use of connected objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]