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Theories: 16


Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Cognitive dissonance theory aims to explain the relationships between the motivation, perceptions and cognitions of an individual.

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Diffusion of Innovations

Diffusion of innovation studies aim to understand what stimulates the adoption of a resource, such as an idea or product, and how such a decision can affect a social structure and context.

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Equity Theory

Equity Theory explains the individual's perception of fairness in social exchange relationships, based on the perception of one’s input into relations and the output of those relations compared against the ratio of the input and output of other people

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Evolutionary Economic Theory

Evolutionary economics explains change over time with respect to economic development.

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Expectation Confirmation Theory

Expectation Confirmation Theory explains how individuals' post-purchase satisfaction and repurchase intentions depend on the pre-purchase expectations and subsequent experiences with products or services.

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Protection Motivation Theory

Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) is a theory explaining the impact of persuasive communication on protective behaviour with an emphasis on cognitive mechanisms mediating fear appeals and behaviour change.

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Self-Presentation Theory

Self-presentation is an influential theory in sociology, aiming to explain how individuals develop, shape, and maintain their impressions in society.

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Social Capital Theory

Social capital refers to the structure and quality of social relationships and constitutes a positive product of social interactions that can be a source of benefits for individuals, social groups and the society as a whole.

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Social Exchange Theory

Social exchange theory explains the social behaviour in dyadic and collective relations by applying a principle of a cost-benefit analysis of relations.

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Social Influence Theory

Social Influence Theory explains the impact of social influence on individuals through three processes of influence acceptance, namely compliance, identification and internalisation, and considers the conditions necessary for these processes to occur.

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Socio-Technical Theory

Socio-technical theory is an organisational theory that conceptualises a given work or other system in view of its constituent social and technical subsystems, with the goal of achieving system success through joint optimisation.

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Task-Technology Fit

The Task-Technology Fit model postulates that the match between task requirements and technology characteristics predicts the utilisation of the technology and individuals’ performance.

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Technology Acceptance Model

The technology acceptance model (TAM) explains the acceptance of information systems by individuals. TAM postulates that the acceptance of technology is predicted by the users’ behavioural intention, which is, in turn, determined by the perception of technology usefulness in performing the task and perceived ease of its use.

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Theory of Planned Behaviour

The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is one of the most influential theories of human behaviour. It posits that individual behaviour is driven by intention, which is influenced by attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control. It has been applied across many research domains.

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Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology

The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) examines the acceptance of technology, determined by the effects of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions.

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Upper Echelons Theory

The Upper Echelons Theory postulates that the idiosyncratic characteristics (e.g., cognitive base and values) of a firm’s top-level managers play a key role in explaining and/or predicting strategic decisions and organisational performance. Top-level managers’ cognitive base and values exert influence on how they interpret strategic situations, shaping their decisions and resulting in market and financial performance outcomes.

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