Factors influencing green information technology adoption in Nigerian higher institutions

Abstract

In the last decade, there has been an increase in the awareness of environmental decline and Information Technology (IT) is identified as one of the causes. IT is a significant contributor of electronic waste (e-waste), consumer of energy and emitter of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2). Thus, Green information technology or Green IT is practised to address the effect of IT on the environment and make IT infrastructure more sustainable. Green IT adoption is considered a reasonable undertaking for organisations. Although previous studies investigated Green IT from an organisational perspective, few have examined factors influencing Green IT adoption from the perspective of the Chief Information Officers (CIOs). As such, this study investigated factors influencing the adoption of Green IT from the perspective of CIOs and IT senior managers. Specifically, the effect of Compatibility (CO), Cost Advantage (CA), Management Support (MS), IT Strategic Alignment (ITSA), Institutional Innovativeness (II), Regulatory Pressure (RP), Vendor Support (VS) and Ethical Responsibility (ER) on Green IT adoption were examined. Moreover, this study also looked into the impact of Green IT Goals (GITG) and Goals Feedback (GF) on institutional Green IT adoption. To determine the effect of these factors, a survey method was used in this study. The synergetic perspectives of Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework and Goal-Setting Theory (GST) were used to develop the research model based on the literature review. Data were also collected from CIOs and IT senior managers of Nigerian Universities and 143 valid responses were received based on purposive sampling. A structural equation modelling software, SmartPLS was used to analyse the hypotheses. The result of the study shows that GITG, CA, MS, ITSA, II and RP were supported whereas, GF, CO, VS and ER do not influence Green IT adoption. The findings also revealed that II, CA, and RP were found to be the most influential, followed by MS, ITSA and GITG. Furthermore, the institutional size was found to positively moderate the relationship between institutional innovativeness and Green IT adoption. In contrast, the institutional budget does not moderate the relationship between institutional innovativeness and Green IT adoption. These findings would be useful in helping CIOs make well-informed policies on technology adoption, particularly on Green IT adoption, which will potentially save cost and the environment in the future.