Vroom’s expectancy theory to motivate academic library users in India using grounded theory approach
| Pages | 300-322 |
| Published date | 01 July 2019 |
| Date | 01 July 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-09-2018-0079 |
| Author | Komal Chopra |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information in society,Information literacy,Library & information services |
Vroom’s expectancy theory to
motivate academic library users
in India using grounded
theory approach
Komal Chopra
Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies,
Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of study is to understand themotivation of academic library users by developing
Vroom’s expectancytheory in the context of academic libraries using the groundedtheory approach.
Design/methodology/approach –The grounded theory approach has been used for data collection,
analysis and development of theory. The data were collected through the process of theoretical sampling. Interviews
of faculty and students belonging to government and private universities in India were recorded and transcribed till
theoretical saturation was achieved. The interviews were analysed in three stages, i.e. open coding, axial coding and
selective coding, to identify concepts of Vroom’s theory and integrate them into a theoretical model.
Findings –The components of Vroom’s theory, i.e. motivation, expectancy, instrumentality and valence
were generated from data. The motivation to visit an academic library can be classified as intrinsic
motivation and force choice motivation.Expectancy in the context of academic libraries is related to ease or
difficulty in accessinglibrary and its resources which relates to ease of location access, timingaccess, remote
access, access to siblings and discipline norms for access. Instrumentality is related to infrastructure,
information, service and promotion. Valence is related to pleasure and satisfaction. The concepts were
integratedinto a theoretical model.
Research limitations/implications –The study is limited to academic libraries under state
universities and private universities in India. Hence, the study cannot be generalised across institutions
enjoying autonomy by the Government of India. Users of academic libraries may be motivated by several
factors other than those consideredwith respect to motivation, expectancy, instrumentality and valence.The
findings are based on the grounded theory approach which is an inductive approach. Alternate research
methodologies,both inductive and deductive, need to be usedto strengthen the external validity.
Practical implications –The understanding of user motivation through Vroom’s theory will help
academiclibraries to increase user motivation, therebyincreasing usage of library resources.
Originality/value –Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation in the context of academic libraries was
developedusing the grounded theory approach.
Keywords Academic library, Valence, Expectancy, Instrumentality, User motivation,
Vroom’s expectancy theory
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The purpose of academic librariesis to motivate users to increase usage of library resources.
In the context of academic libraries,motivation is defined as information-seeking behaviour,
This research was funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (02/324/2017-18/RP/
Minor).
GKMC
68,4/5
300
Received16 September 2018
Revised2 November 2018
26November 2018
Accepted27 November 2018
GlobalKnowledge, Memory and
Communication
Vol.68 No. 4/5, 2019
pp. 300-322
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9342
DOI 10.1108/GKMC-09-2018-0079
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2514-9342.htm
and information-seekingbehaviour is impacted by user experience in seeking informationin
physical (Mills and Bannister, 2001) or digital library (Fox, 2017). Published literature on
academic libraries reveals that most of the research work on motivation and application of
motivation theories is in the areaof staff and librarian motivation (Bakewell, 1993). Shields
(1988) tested the application of varioustheories such as Maslow’s theory, McGregor theory,
Herzberg theory, equity theory and Vroom’s expectancy theory on staff motivation. The
results showed that Maslow’s theory,McGregor theory, Herzberg theory and equity theory
do not satisfactorily explain motivation. It was also observed that not much has been
written about applying these theories to motivate users of libraries. Lee (2007) wrote a
conceptual paper on understanding motivation of library users by applying Vroom’s
expectancy theory where the emphasis was on adopting a user-centric approach. However,
the context was public libraries.This triggered a need to develop a theoretical frameworkto
understand motivationof academic library users.
Vroom (1964 cited in Van Eerde and Thierry, 1996) developed the expectancy theory of
motivation. Vroom’s (1964 cited in Van Eerde and Thierry, 1996) theory explained that
motivational force for behavioural-oriented action is a function of three distinct components, i.e.
expectancy, instrumentality and valence. Expectancy is the efforts or action that leads to a des ired
outcome. Instrumentality is the result of outcome of efforts. It also relates to the probability of
outcome or performance, whilst valence relates to satisfaction of outcome. The equation for
Vroom’s expectancy theory is given by motivation = expectancy instrumentality valence.
Lee (2007) defined the expectancy theory in the context of libraries as follows: expectancy relates
totheeaseordifficulties faced in accessing a library and library products. Instrumentality relates
to the availability and updation of library products and service, whilst valence relates to the
satisfaction of information needs and services provided by a library.
A meta-analysis of Vroom’s expectancy theory using a deductive approach showed lack of
external validity (Van Eerde and Thierry,1996). Hence, rather than testing an existing model, it
would be more appropriate to develop the theory emerging from the data. This emphasised the
need for using the grounded theory. The use of the grounded theory for qualitative research was
given by Glaser and Strauss (1967). Their approach is used to generate theory from the data
collected in the area of social science. Corbin and Strauss (1990) showed that theory can be built
with incidents or activities as they are observed or reported. They argued that researchers have
the flexibility to select the respondents and record activities and identify the potential
phenomenon which can then be given conceptual labels. The grounded theory approach has
been adopted in several research areas of library science. Mansourian (2006) has adopted this
approach for library information system. The approach can help in taking value-added decisions
(Miller et al., 2017). The grounded theory along with ethnography has helped in understanding
library interactions (Bamkin et al., 2016). Hence, the current study also proposes the use of the
grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) to develop the Vroom’s expectancy theory
to understand user motivation in usage of academic library resources.
Research question
RQ1. How can Vroom’s expectancy theory be generated to understand motivation of
academic library usersby using the grounded theory approach?
Review of literature
Vroom’s expectancy theory has beenapplied to understand motivation in different areas of
management. Pearson and Hui (2001) applied the theoryto find out employee motivation in
the beauty care industry, whereas Chiangand Jang (2008) applied it to the hotel industry for
Grounded
theory
approach
301
To continue reading
Request your trial