The Impact of Institutional Pressures on BIM Identity Formation in the Construction Industry and the Mediating Role of Perceived Usefulness

Abstract

During the rapid development of building information modeling (BIM) in the construction industry, a phenomenon of nonidentification with or even resistance to BIM has emerged among technical staff in construction projects. Based on Information technology (IT) identity theory, this study proposes a concept of BIM identity to reflect technical staff’s identification with BIM technology. As an important driver of BIM adoption, institutional pressures have received little attention in the literature at the individual level in terms of their effects on the psychological states of BIM practitioners. Therefore, this study proposes a theoretical framework to investigate the impacts of institutional pressures on BIM identity and to explore the mediating role played by perceived usefulness in this context. Based on 284 questionnaires collected from BIM practitioners, the results show that (1) coercive pressure, mimetic pressure, and normative pressure are all positively related to BIM identity; (2) perceived usefulness fully mediates the positive relationship between normative pressure and BIM identity, and partially mediates the positive relationships between the other two forms of pressure and BIM identity; and (3) the impact of mimetic pressure on perceived usefulness or on BIM identity is significantly stronger than that of coercive pressure or normative pressure. The findings contribute to the extant BIM research by revealing the influencing mechanism of external institutional pressures on BIM identity of individuals, which helps to understand the psychological process that leads to BIM adoption behaviors. In addition, this study provides guidance for project managers to take measures to create coercive, mimetic, and normative pressures to cultivate BIM identity of BIM practitioners, improve BIM performance of construction projects, and ultimately improve productivity of the construction industry.