Acquiring IS Skill through Habitual Use

Understanding skill acquisition in the context of information systems (IS) use is increasingly important as digital technologies continue to pervade all aspects of personal and business life. To address this important construct, in this study we explore potential antecedents of skill acquisition, including: playfulness, ease of use, comprehensiveness of use, and atypical use. We also explore the mediating role of habitual use (conceptualized as “multipurposing” technology) in IS skill acquisition. We develop and validate measurement scales for multipurposing, comprehensiveness of use, and atypical use. Data was collected using 377 self-reported survey responses from users of Microsoft Excel. Our findings indicate that multipurposing mediates some effects on skill acquisition.