Predictors of diverse usage behaviour towards personal knowledge management systems

Purpose – This paper aims to argue that individuals' use of personal knowledge management systems (PKMS) differs significantly as a result of their underlying innovativeness and involvement traits. Based on the literature, this paper seeks to propose that while more involved users utilise PKMS more frequently, more‐innovative users utilise more functions of PKMS. Design/methodology/approach – A field survey was conducted to collect data. Correlation techniques and regression analysis were used to test the proposed relationship between constructs. Findings – The findings indicated that while both traits were significantly associated with PKMS usage behaviours, users' involvement was the primary predictor of PKMS use frequency, while users' innovativeness predominated in the prediction of the number of PKMS functions they used. That is, although more involved users may use fewer functions compared with more innovative users, they are more likely to become long‐term supporters of PKMS because their use frequency is significantly higher than that of more innovative users. Practical implications – The paper informs scholars and managers that using a single approach – that is, only using frequency or the number of functions used – to evaluate the performance of a PKMS may lead to a biased result. Originality/value – After half a century of development of information technology, this paper addresses the importance of taking a step further and verifying the behaviours related to the use of PKMS with different approaches, such as use frequency and the number of functions used. In particular, the paper presents a pioneering piece of research in the information systems discipline, revealing that individuals' underlying innovativeness and involvement contribute to different PKMS use behaviours.