Digital Hoarding in the Workplace: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Abstract

Digital technologies have generated several positive effects at the individual and social levels. However, more recently, the negative side of technologies has been studied. Among these negative consequences is the excessive accumulation of digital content, also known as “digital hoarding”. This is a relatively recent behavior, so research is still in development and only a few studies have been published about its effects. To contribute to closing this gap, a study was conducted on 344 higher education workers (administrative and academic staff). We analyzed digital hoarding and its effect on loss of control and negative consequences using structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Our results show that digital hoarding influences individuals’ perception of loss of control and that both significantly influence negative consequences. Additionally, we found that there is no significant moderating effect of age or number of devices on the relationship between the constructs. Organizations should be concerned about this behavior and its effects to generate measures to mitigate its impact, especially considering that 83% of decision-makers believe that their companies are digital data hoarders.