The Human Side of Digitalisation: Evidence from the B2B Sales Profession

There are many models that have been used to study technology adoption intention and use in various contexts. Most of these models focus on technology attributes and contextual factors. Recent reviews of the adoption literature indicate that few models incorporate the characteristics of individuals even though the disposition of individuals may shape adoption decisions. We propose that well-being, an individual characteristic, should be included in adoption models. Our finding is based on dynamics observed through a qualitative study of salespeople who are required to adopt advanced digital technologies in their sales roles. Digital technologies have transformed the sales role raising questions about job security, digital technology self-efficacy, job satisfaction and so on. This has created considerable anxiety and stress that have affected the well-being of salespeople. We posit that understanding how well-being influence technology use decisions is an important theoretical contribution to technology adoption research.