Since Ryan and Gross (1943) discussed the diffusion of technology innovation, this has been a fascinating research topic that spilled over to other academic fields including information systems studies. In the discipline of management information systems, Rogers (1995) raised this issue with his diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory, and many researchers suggested several theories, frameworks, and research methods such as the technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis, 1989), theory of planned behavior (Taylor & Todd, 1995), and social cognitive theory (Compeau & Higgins, 1995). As research evolves, the main topics of research have focused on the pattern and extent of ICT diffusion and the propensity of an adopter to adopt and assimilate ICT (Fichman, 1999). While these theories have played a profound role in developing this field, they do not apply equally well to all types of ICT innovation in all adoption contexts (Fichman, 1999).
At the initial stage of research, researchers focused primarily on developing theories about the adoption of innovations by individuals (Agarwal, 2000). Later, individual-level ICT adoption and diffusion studies expanded to an organizational-level that includes all unit levels within an organization as research found that the critical factors for ICT adoption and diffusion for individuals were completely different from those for organizations. For example, Gallivan (2001) pointed out that these traditional individual level innovation adoption frameworks may not fit well when used in more complex technologies and adoption scenarios which require high levels of coordination across multiple adopters or where the technology has a high knowledge burden.