컨버전스 서비스 평가에 대한 기술의 역설: 텔레매틱스 서비스를 중심으로

Many products today tend to adopt a convergence approach by adding new features or functionalities to the existing products. The convergence, however, results in both positive and negative effects on usage of products, and thus demonstrates the characteristics called “paradox of technology.” On the one hand, the added functionalities or features will increase the usefulness of the products. On the other hand, the convergence increases complexity of learning and usage of products and may decrease satisfaction or user evaluations. This study provides an empirical evidence of this paradox through investigation of telematics, one of the exemplary products of convergence services. Our research model is designed to test the existence of the “paradox of technology” and includes variables such as variety of functions, complexity of usage, perceived usefulness, service evaluation, and service fit. The proposed research model and subsequent hypotheses are empirically tested using 149 survey responses from telematics users. We have found that the variety of functions is positively associated with perceived usefulness, but is negatively associated with the complexity of usage. The data analysis reveals that the perceived usefulness has more significant impacts on service evaluation than the complexity of usage does. Furthermore, the strength of causal relationships among these variables is partially moderated by the degree of service fit. This study thus highlights the paradox of technology in explaining user attitudes and beliefs associated with convergence services.