Information Systems Faculty Publications

The Paradoxical Impact of Smartphone Addiction on Innovative Performance: A Conservation of Resources Theory Perspective

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2026

Abstract

Smartphone addiction represents a growing challenge in organizational contexts, yet its impact on different types of work performance remains underexplored. Using the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine how smartphone addiction affects innovative and routine performance through stress and mindfulness. Using survey data from organizational employees, we find that smartphone addiction influences these two performance types through distinct pathways. This study reveals a fundamental paradox: smartphone addiction simultaneously enhances and undermines innovative performance through competing resource mechanisms. While addiction directly benefits innovation by exposing employees to diverse information and stimuli, it concurrently depletes critical cognitive resources (mindfulness) and increases stress, creating opposing effects on the same outcome. For routine performance, smartphone addiction shows only direct negative effects, with no mediating role for stress or mindfulness. Our results extend COR theory by showing how resource depletion affects work types through distinct mechanisms. Practically, organizations can leverage these insights to develop targeted interventions that mitigate stress and enhance mindfulness to protect innovative performance, while simultaneously addressing the direct negative effects of smartphone addiction on routine work.

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Publication Title

Information Systems Frontiers

DOI

10.1007/s10796-025-10673-4

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