The effects of technostress within the context of employee use of ICT

• Technostress creators and inhibitors influence employee use of ICT at work.
• Creators reduce user levels of satisfaction with the use of ICT at work.
• Inhibitors increase user levels of satisfaction with the use of ICT at work.
• Creators and inhibitors influence the intention to extend ICT use through user satisfaction.
• Creators and inhibitors should be modelled as formative multidimensional constructs.

The main purpose of the present study is to help managers cope with the negative effects of technostress on employee use of ICT. Drawing on transaction theory of stress (Cooper, Dewe, & O’Driscoll, 2001) and information systems (IS) continuance theory (Bhattacherjee, 2001) we investigate the effects of technostress on employee intentions to extend the use of ICT at work. Our results show that factors that create and inhibit technostress affect both employee satisfaction with the use of ICT and employee intentions to extend the use of ICT. Our findings have important implications for the management of technostress with regard to both individual stress levels and organizational performance. A key implication of our research is that managers should implement strategies for coping with technostress through the theoretical concept of technostress inhibitors.