Effect of user resistance on the organizational adoption of extended reality technologies: A mixed methods study

Abstract

Although organizations are increasingly adopting extended reality (XR) technologies to transform their operations, their adoption has been slower than initially expected. Scholars and practitioners have pointed to user resistance as a potential hindrance to their adoption. This mixed-methods study examines how managerial perceptions of expected employee resistance and organizational value are related to organizational adoption intention. An organizational-level resistance-value adoption model was developed and tested using the structural equation modeling approach with cross-sectional data from 206 European industrial decision makers. The results show that trialability, internal support capabilities, and extant user skills are negatively associated with expected employee resistance. Moreover, mimetic pressures strongly influence value perceptions, whereas expected employee resistance is negatively related to organizational value perceptions and adoption intentions. Perceived value had the strongest positive relationship with adoption intention. A qualitative study consisting of 58 interviews further revealed 12 key conditions affecting the relationships between resistance, value, and adoption intention. As a theoretical contribution, we proposed and validated an integrated resistance-value adoption model that extends our understanding of factors affecting organizational XR adoption. As a practical contribution, practitioners can use the study’s results to help them focus on relevant factors for mitigating user resistance and promoting XR adoption.