Deciding to Update Mobile Applications: Reasons and Consequences of Inertia

While most of studies have paid attention to the initial adoption of a specific application, research on applications has not focused on an individual's update decision process. This study draws upon both dual information processing and status quo bias perspectives as a comprehensive theoretical lens to explain why individuals do not update their applications. This study assumes that individuals' inertia could be the main reason for their reluctance to update the applications. Based on a survey of 186 smartphone users, this study demonstrated that both habit as an affective trigger of system 1 thinking and sunk cost as a cognitive trigger of system 2 thinking promoted the two types of inertia (i.e., affective and cognitive based inertia) in individuals, which have a negative effect on their willingness to update their applications. By grounding the research model in a theoretical view, such as dual information processing and status quo bias, this study provides a unique theoretical lens from which to view individuals' behaviors, thereby gaining a better understanding of their decision not to update to the current version of applications. This study also investigates the moderating effect of the types of applications on the relationships between affective/cognitive-based inertia and willingness to update. Results show that both habit and sunk cost decrease the willingness to update because they increase both affective and cognitive-based inertia. This study also found that the effects of affective/cognitive based inertia differed depending on the type of applications.