Environmental Sustainability: A technology acceptance perspective

Air and water pollution, resource depletion, soil erosion, consequent large-scale ecosystem changes and the threat of global warming have resulted in stakeholders becoming more attuned to the sustainability implications of new technologies. Information systems are no exception. On one hand they can impact negatively on the environment by consuming energy and resources. On the other they can help manage and save resources. Given the ever increasing growth and utilisation of information systems, it is more topical than ever to understand the role systems can play when it comes to sustainability. In this opinion paper, we identify and discuss four areas related to technology acceptance, one of the most popular information systems streams, that need to be considered when it comes to understanding the impact of information systems on the environment. These areas include the technology use predictors, the task-technology impact, implementation issues and the knowledge gap, and system lifetime and long-term implications. We put forward a number of examples to contextualise the areas and propose ways in which future technology acceptance research could be developed to focus more on long-term impacts.