Abstract
There is growing use of digital technologies as a channel for client engagement and service delivery among microfinance institutions globally. This is an empirical study of an organization’s use of interactive voice response (IVR) to reach female microfinance clients in the context of Ghana. Employing affordance theory, we ask: how does a microfinance institution innovate with digital technologies to engage female clients? The research examines the role and dynamics of technology affordances for an improved understanding of how the technology– which is socially constructed and inherently gendered (Bijker and Hughes 1987; Wilson 2004)– becomes intentionally gendered as it is configured for its intended userbase. The preliminary findings suggest that perceptions of technology and gender are interdependent and play a role in how the organization configures the innovation to female clients. The research aims to offer significant scholarly and practical contributions by generating new insights into the relationship between technology affordances and enacted gendered strategies in digital innovation.
Recommended Citation
Lunberry, Dana, "The Gendering of Technology in Digital Innovation: Case of Configuring IVR to Reach Female Microfinance Clients in Ghana" (2020). ECIS 2020 Research-in-Progress Papers. 59.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2020_rip/59
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