Unravelling the Relationship between Competitiveness Trait and Intention to Use Memory Implants: The Moderating Roles of Moral Equity, Egoism, and Utilitarianism

Abstract

Technological advancements and augmenting technologies foster competitiveness and improved performance for businesses, nations, and individuals. The potential of memory implants offers a competitive edge to individuals seeking higher performance levels. The present study investigates whether the trait of competitiveness predicts the intention to use memory implants and explores how moral equity, egoism, and utilitarianism moderate this relationship. A total of 402 digital native technology users from four countries participated in the study. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between competitiveness traits and the intention to use memory implants. Furthermore, this relationship is weaker for individuals scoring high on moral equity against memory implants but stronger for those scoring high on utilitarianism in favor of memory implants. Egoism did not influence this relationship. This research improves the understanding of how competitiveness traits and ethical judgments influence the acceptance of human–machine hybrid technologies, enhancing competence.

Keywords:

• Cyborg
• memory implants
• competitiveness trait
• moral equity
• egoism
• utilitarianism
• behavioral intention

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The raw data of the present study is available at https://osf.io/ebk4r/?view_only=f9beea5b42e54f9b9514a0acce7e819c.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Xiamen University Malaysia Research Fund (XMUMRF/2022-C9/IART/0014).

Notes on contributors

Ashraf Sadat Ahadzadeh

Ashraf Sadat Ahadzadeh serves as an Associate Professor at the School of Communication, Xiamen University Malaysia, with a research focus that spans the confluence of new media technologies, psychology, and health.

Fon Sim Ong

Fon Sim Ong is an Emeritus Professor of Marketing, University of Nottingham. She has research interests in consumer behavior focusing on issues that affect consumers in terms of their subjective well-being, such as materialism, religiosity, health, and more.

Ruolan Deng

Ruolan Deng is a doctoral student from Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University. With a passion for exploring the intersection of new media technologies and society, she focuses on technology acceptance, media effects, and online misinformation and disinformation from a social science perspective.

Rizwanah Souket Ali

Rizwanah Souket Ali is a Lecturer in Public Relations at Monash University Malaysia. Her research strength includes the study of media effects, political communication, voter behavior, public relations history, and more recently on the role of women in Malaysian public relations.