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Social distancing required the use of doorstep delivery for nearly all purchases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign users in Korea are forced to participate in superfluous tasks, leading to an increase in their anxiety and fatigue while online shopping. This study examines how digital shadow work stemming from the language barrier can affect the emotions and behaviors of foreign shoppers that use Korean shopping sites. By interviewing 37 foreign users in Korea, this draft examined their experiences, behaviors, and emotional output, classifying them into 14 codes and seven categories. Using grounded theory, we found that online shoppers’ emotions, feelings, experiences, and decision making may be changed in the stages of the pre-use, use, and post-use activities. User responses regarding shadow work and related obstacles can be seen with the continue, discontinue, and optional (occasional use) of Korean online shopping sites. Pleasure and satisfaction come from high efficiency and privileges, whereas anger and disappointment come from poor self-confidence and pessimism. Furthermore, buyer behavior and product orientation are identified as intervening conditions, while the online vs. offline shopping experiences are identified as contextual conditions. In conclusion, language barriers and other factors make online shopping difficult for foreign shoppers, which negatively affects their psychological mechanisms and buying behaviors. The implications from the study findings and future research are also discussed.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, social distance regulation calls for non-contact services, making self-service technologies gain much more attention. However, customers found they are pushed into more digital shadow work by employing Self-service technologies (SSTs). This research aims to examine how digital shadow work influences user emotions and behaviors during SSTs use. Based on the grounded theory method (GTM), this draft drives 128 codes and 7 categories to develop the theory of digital shadow work. Operations, consisting of pre-use, during use, and after use, along with the cognitions, including the perception of use-value and time efficiency, act as the trigger of digital shadow work. Achievement emotions, embodying happiness and satisfaction from technology use, result from the perception of high use-value and high time efficiency, while loss emotions, encompassing anger and disappointment from the user experience, generate from the perception of low use-value and low time efficiency, and finally, user responses from the digital shadow work - quitting, continuous and alternative behaviors are found as key factors. The interventing roles of a sense of control, system features, and compensation are also addressed. Examining users’ psychological mechanisms academically contributes to developing the theory of digital shadow work whereas it advances the development of SSTs on a practical side.

Through Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the growth of music streaming platforms has revolutionized music consumption. “Digital Shadow Work” (DSW) refers to unpaid labor in digital spaces, with some prior research on its aspects. However, a comprehensive understanding is hindered by limitations in existing studies such as a lack of universality and dynamic exploration. To address these gaps and enable a comprehensive investigation into the role of DSW within highly versatile digital applications such as digital streaming platforms, this study employs a grounded theory methodology, a qualitative approach well-suited for exploring the intricacies of DSW among users of Chinese music streaming applications over a two-month period, involving longitudinal interviews with nine participants. The study findings elucidate the dynamic nature of DSW perceptions, which fluctuate across different stages of use and change in intensity over time. This study uncovers mixed attitudes towards DSW tasks, and observes a waning enthusiasm for social features over time, prompting some users to consider switching platforms. This study highlights the importance of thoughtful and user-centric feature development to enhance user satisfaction and the understanding of DSW, providing practical design and enhancement implications for music streaming applications.

디지털 전환과 플랫폼 서비스의 확산은 사용자에게 정보 검색, 셀프 결제, 리뷰 작성, 비밀번호 관리, 시스템 설정 등 다양한 과업을 스스로 수행하도록 요구하고 있다. 이러한 디지털 활동은 원래 기업이나 조직이 담당하던 업무가 사용자에게 전가된 결과로, 무보수적 특성을 지닌 ‘그림자노동’의 현대적 양상으로 간주할 수 있다. 지금까지 그림자노동에 관한 연구는 사회구조적 관점과 심리적 반응 관점을 중심으로 전개되어 왔으나, 과업 특성, 행위 주체성, 감정 반응을 단편적으로 분리하여 설명하는 경향이 강했다. 이로 인해 그림자노동 개념은 연구자마다 상이하게 해석되거나 과도하게 확장되는 문제에 직면하였으며, 결과적으로 이론적 일관성을 확보하지 못한 채 교착 상태에 머물러 있는 실정이다. 이러한 문제의식을 바탕으로 본 연구는 그림자노동 개념의 본질을 재정립하고 분석적 중심축을 확립하는 데 목적을 두고자 한다. 이에 본 연구는 과업 유형, 자율성 수준, 정서적 반응이라는 세 가지 차원을 설정하여 디지털 그림자노동을 통합적으로 설명할 수 있는 분석 프레임워크를 제안하였다. 아울러, 이미 출판된 국내외 그림자노동 관련 연구 34편을 프레임워크에 따라 재 분류함으로써, 그림자노동 개념의 일관된 체계화와 향후 연구 확장을 위한 이론적 기반을 제공하는데 중점을 두었다. 본 연구는 그림자노동 연구의 궤적을 비판적으로 조망하고, 그림자노동을 설명할 고유의 프레임워크를 제안하여, 보이지 않는 노동의 본질을 구조적으로 개념화함으로써 디지털 노동 연구의 새로운 전기를 마련하는데 기여할 수 있다.

The expansion of digital transformation and platform-based services increasingly requires users to independently perform various tasks such as information retrieval, self-payment, review writing, password management, and system configuration. These digital activities represent a contemporary manifestation of “shadow work”, characterized by the transfer of tasks originally handled by companies or organizations to users without formal compensation. Previous research on shadow work has largely focused on either structural perspectives or psychological responses, often isolating task characteristics, agency, and emotional reactions. As a result, the concept of shadow work has been interpreted inconsistently across studies, with tendencies toward conceptual overextension, ultimately leading to a theoretical stalemate. Thus, this study aims to address these issues by redefining the essence of shadow work and establishing a coherent analytical framework. To this end, it proposes a three-dimensional framework comprising task type, autonomy level, and affective response to provide an integrated explanation of digital shadow work. Furthermore, by systematically reclassifying 34 previously published domestic and international studies based on this framework, the study seeks to contribute to the consistent theorization and future expansion of shadow work research. Ultimately, this study critically examines the trajectory and stagnation of shadow work research and aims to provide a new foundation for structurally conceptualizing invisible labor within the broader field of digital labor studies.

The proliferation of digital technologies has led users to engage in various forms of unpaid labor, commonly referred to as digital shadow work. However, existing research lacks a unified framework to classify shadow work in terms of task characteristics, user autonomy, and affective responses. This study proposes a three-dimensional analytical framework composed of Task Type, Autonomy Level, and Affective Response to conceptualize and systematically classify digital shadow work. A total of 34 relevant studies were re-analyzed and mapped onto the framework, which demonstrated its explanatory power and applicability across diverse contexts. The study also confirms the framework’s conceptual validity and reliability, and discusses its theoretical and practical implications in management, information systems, and service operations research.

본 연구는 RPA(Robot Process Automation) 환경에서 콜센터 상담원의 기술스트레스의 심리적 반응을 분석하고 디지털 그림자노동과 조직시민행동과의 관계를 탐색한다. 국내 대기업 콜센터 상담원을 대상으로 인터뷰를 진행하였으며, 근거이론방법을 활용하여 주요 개념들을 도출하고 이들 간 연관 관계를 제시하였다. 본 연구의 결과는 조직에서 서로 다른 심리적 기재의 역할 인식을 통하여 문제를 예방하고 해결하는 새로운 경로와 접점을 발견한 것과 부정적 요소를 긍정적인 기회의 생성이 가능한 현상의 원리를 제안하고 있다는 점에 학문적 의의가 있으며, 조직 내의 디지털 그림자노동의 부정적인 인식이 조직시민행동과의 균형과 조절을 통한 안정된 조직관리의 대안 마련 측면에서 실무적 의의가 있다.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distance regulations call for non-contact services, making self-service technologies gain much more attention. However, customers found they are pushed into more digital shadow work by using self-service technologies. This research aims to explore the user’s psychological mechanism, examine how shadow work influences user emotion during using self-service technologies; and further discuss how user emotion makes contributions to user behavior. Three rounds of follow-up interviews, with seven participants, and one focus group, consisting of four participants, are conducted over two months. Grounded theory is used in open coding, axial coding, and selective coding stage, and is conducted to develop the user’s psychological mechanisms of digital shadow work. We find and name 128 codes, group them into 18 categories, and finally get 7 concepts after coding. Shadow work has a complex impact on users’ psychological mechanisms. Negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, annoyance, and worry, attribute to the perception of shadow work; and indirectly influence the user’s continuous behavior, such as stopping to use, continuing to use, and seeking alternatives. Examining users’ psychological mechanism contributes to developing the theory of shadow work academically, and also advance the development of self-service technologies practically.

This study aims to understand the role of digital technology empowerment in shaping the dynamic relationship between value co-creation and“shadow work” in unmanned retail environments. As an emerging business model, unmanned retail leverages advanced digital technologies to automate and streamline the shopping process, providing consumers with a convenient and efficient shopping experiences [16, 18]. However, while digital empowerment introduces innovation and operational efficiency, it also raises significant theoretical and practical challenges related to consumer participation and labor dynamics [6, 7]. This research emphasizes the core concept of value co-creation, highlighting the collaborative interaction between consumers and businesses to create mutual value [12, 13]. In the context of unmanned retail, digital technology facilitates deeper consumer involvement in value co-creation through mechanisms such as self-checkout systems and intelligent recommendations [3, 6, 14]. Yet, this increased consumer engagement often leads to a form of unrecognized labor termed “ shadow work,” where consumers perform tasks that benefit the business without compensation or formal recognition [4, 8, 9]. Despite the potential for value co-creation, the emergence of shadow work raises important questions about consumer rights and the recognition of labor in digital environments [1, 10, 11, 17]. To address these challenges, the study adopts the Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) framework, which views service as the core component of economic exchange and emphasizes the interdependent relationship between businesses and consumers [2, 5, 16, 17]. From this perspective, digital technology empowerment not only enhances service quality and efficiency but plays a crucial role in driving the interaction between value co-creation and shadow work [15]. This paper employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods, focusing on the four key areas: 1. Analyzing the Impact of Digital Technology Empowerment: Understanding how various digital tools influence the interaction between value co-creation and shadow work, particularly how the introduction of advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and user-friendly interfaces enhances consumer participation while potentially leading to shadow work scenarios. 2. Investigating Shadow Work: Delving into the manifestations and contributions of shadow work in unmanned retail settings, analyzing specific tasks that consumers undertake without formal recognition, such as managing inventory via self-service kiosks or participating in feedback loops through review systems, and exploring the implications of this unrecognized labor on consumer satisfaction and loyalty. 3. Identifying Challenges: Addressing the complex challenges associated with labor value recognition and rights protection within the unmanned retail context, evaluating existing frameworks for consumer protection in digital environments, and proposing enhancements that accommodate the unique nature of shadow work. 4. Proposing Optimization Strategies: Recommending strategies to optimize the relationship between value co-creation and shadow work, assisting businesses in enhancing user experience while ensuring that consumers feel valued and recognized for their contributions. This article adopts a comprehensive mixed-methods design, integrating qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the dynamic relationship between digital technology empowerment, consumer participation, and shadow work in unmanned retail environments. Initially, the research plans to employ qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews and observation, to recruit participants and gain a nuanced understanding of their behaviors and experiences during the shopping process. It is anticipated that this approach will reveal how consumers engage in value co-creation in a technology-driven environment, finding out a variety of forms of unrecognized labor. In the quantitative phase, the study plans to conduct a survey involving approximately 150 to 200 consumers who have previously shopped in unmanned retail environments, ensuring scientific rigor and reliability of the results. This sample size adequately considers the diversity of consumer behavior, statistical power, and the potential for reducing sampling bias, while employing structured questionnaires to ensure data validity and consistency. The collected data is expected to be analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), a widely utilized statistical method for exploring complex causal relationships. This research will validate whether the embedding of digital technologies (such as self-checkout and intelligent recommendations) has a significant positive impact on consumer engagement. Furthermore, it will examine whether this enhanced engagement may concurrently accompany the phenomenon of “shadow work,” wherein consumers perform certain tasks for businesses without formal recognition or compensation. Additionally, the study intends to investigate whether significant differences exist in participation patterns and labor recognition responses between light and heavy users, providing new insights into the diversity of consumer behavior in unmanned retail environments. In summary, this study aims to provide a solid theoretical foundation for understanding the complexities of consumer behavior in unmanned retail environments while offering significant practical implications for unmanned retail strategy, consumer participation, and experience design. Based on the role of digital technology empowerment, this research is expected to contribute to the formulation of effective strategies that promote consumer participation, thereby enhancing consumer satisfaction and loyalty. Via an analysis of consumer behavior, this study not only offers substantive recommendations for advancing the sustainable development of the unmanned retail industry but also provides robust theoretical support for related enterprises in optimizing customer experience strategies. Furthermore, the outcomes of this research enable to ensure that consumers ’ labor and contributions in the digital environment receive appropriate recognition and acknowledgment, fostering fairer business practices and a healthy development of the digital economy. This research not only enriches existing academic discourse but offers practical guidance for policymakers and industry practitioners, aiding in the construction of a more inclusive and equitable digital economic system.

The development of digital technology has given rise to a new service model: self-service. This model introduces the concept of “digital shadow work”, in which consumers conduct unpaid behind-the-scenes digital tasks instead of employees. While consumers are engaging in increasingly more digital shadow work in self-service environments, they are unaware of their unpaid labor. This raises concerns about consumer rights and businesses’ long-term sustainability and health. This study aims to reveal the psychological awareness factors that influence consumers’ decisions to engage in digital shadow work in self-service environments. This exploratory qualitative study utilizes a grounded theory approach and semi-structured interviews to reveal the psychological awareness factors that contribute to consumers’ decision to engage in digital shadow work. By revealing the psychological awareness of decision-making factors, this study enhances consumer’s understanding and awareness of digital shadow work, which helps increase their awareness of self-protection in the context of self-service technologies. Additionally, understanding consumers’ decision-making psychology is crucial for non-face-to-face self-service technology companies and provides a theoretical basis for sustainable and healthy business development.

This study conceptualizes online review writing as a form of customer engagement in the digital platform environment and examines, using structural equation modeling, how facilitating and inhibiting factors operating in the review-writing process influence consumers' intention to rewrite reviews. Online review writing is assumed to be a psychological and cognitive activity in which positive factors such as emotional expression, information provision, and reward expectation coexist with negative factors such as structural difficulty, lack of intrinsic motivation, and time pressure; this dual structure is explained with a particular focus on involvement and digital shadow work. To this end, the study specifies Research Model 1, which tests the direct effects of facilitating and inhibiting factors, and Research Model 2, which incorporates the moderating roles of involvement and digital shadow work, and analyzes survey data from 216 university students in their twenties who had written an online review within the past month using SmartPLS 3.0. The results indicate that facilitating factors have a significant positive effect on intention to rewrite, whereas inhibiting factors have a significant negative effect, suggesting that the facilitating and inhibiting structure of online review writing systematically shapes consumers' intention to rewrite reviews. Involvement, defined as the perceived importance of and psychological immersion in review writing, exerts a significant moderating effect by strengthening the positive impact of facilitating factors and attenuating the negative impact of inhibiting factors. Digital shadow work, understood as the perceived level of unpaid labor and cognitive and time burden associated with review writing, functions as a pure moderator through its interaction with facilitating and inhibiting factors. In particular, in the high digital shadow work group, the positive effect of facilitating factors is amplified and the negative effect of inhibiting factors becomes relatively weaker, suggesting the operation of psychological mechanisms such as effort justification and enhanced self-efficacy in the review-writing process. Both research models demonstrate high explanatory power and predictive relevance for intention to rewrite, and the superior R² and Q² values of Research Model 2 support its validity as a theoretical framework for interpreting the psychological structure of online review writing.

디지털 전환과 코로나19 팬데믹 상황으로 인해 평생교육에서 비대면 평생학습이 확대되었다. 이에 본 연구는 비대면 평생학습에서 성인학습자가경험하는 디지털 그림자노동의 요소, 범주, 유형이 다른 분야의 그림자노동 연구와 유사하게 나타나는지를 분석하였다. 이를 위해 성인학습자 16명을 대상으로 개별면담을 실시하였다. 분석 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 비대면 평생학습에서 학습자가 경험하는 디지털 그림자노동은 비밀번호 변경,홍보 이메일 수신, 공인인증서 구매, 학습공간 조성 등 구체적으로 존재한다. 둘째, 비대면 평생학습자의 그림자노동 요소는 세 범주(구체적 행동,부정적/긍정적 경험, 지속적 요구/불안감/필요성)로 구분된다. 셋째, 성인학습자가 경험하는 디지털 그림자노동은 네 가지의 유형으로 구분된다. 이상의 분석 결과에 대한 논의 및 결론을 제시하였다.

Non-face-to-face lifelong learning had been spread out in the situation of digitaltransformation and COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is toinvestigate the elements, categories and types of digital shadow work innon-face-to-face lifelong learning compared with the studies in the other field. Forthe purpose, 16 adult learners were interviewed individually. Qualitative data werecollected from 16 interviewees and analyzed. The results were as follows: First,the digital shadow work were diverse that were experienced by the adult learnerssuch as changing password, receiving e-mails, purchasing certificate, makinglearning space, etc. Second, the elements could be divided according to 3categories. Third, there 4 types were discovered in the non-face-to-face lifelonglearning also. Based on the results, conclusions and implications were suggested.

Online reviews have become an important basis for consumers to make purchasing decisions when shopping online, and there is a lot of shadow work in the process. Therefore, research on the effect of the perception of shadow work on consumers' online review behavior has theoretical and practical implications. This study extracted related codes and categories that can explain online review behavior by conducting interviews with qualitative research methods to identify the psychological mechanisms of consumers' online review behavior and brought them as stimulating factors in the S-O-R research model. After classification, seven variables are finally considered: emotional regulation, altruism, individualism, self-efficacy, system overload and review cost. According to related interviews and path analysis results, review costs and system overload have significant positive effects on consumers' awareness of shadow work, and individualism, altruism, self-efficacy, and emotional regulation have significant negative effects on consumers' negative perceptions of shadow work. The degree of consumers' negative perceptions of shadow work will implicitly affect consumers' online review behavior as a core variable. Studying the psychological mechanisms of consumers helps to develop relevant theories of shadow work academically, and in practice, allows consumers to better understand shadow work.

디지털 트랜스포메이션과 코로나19는 셀프서비스와 같은 비대면 기술의 확산을 가속화해 왔다. 본 연구는 셀프서비스 사용 환경에서 셀프서비스에 대한 지속사용의도를 감소시키는 디지털그림자노동에 대한 부정적 반응에 영향을 미치는 요인을 탐색하고자 한다. 또한 만족지연능력이 디지털 그림자노동에 대한 부정적 반응과 셀프서비스 지속사용의도 간의 관계를 조절하는지를 파악하고자 한다. 450명의 유효 표본을 가지고 SmartPLS 4.0으로 실증분석한 결과, 지각된 혜택이 디지털 그림자노동에 대한 부정적 반응에 유의한 영향을 끼쳤으며, 이러한 부정적 반응은 셀프서비스 지속이용의도를 유 의하게 감소시켰다. 또한 디지털 그림자노동에 대한 부정적 반응의 지속이용의도에 대한 효과는 높은 만족지연능력을 가 진 사용자보다는 낮은 만족지연능력을 가진 사용자에서 더 강하게 나타났다. 본 연구는 디지털 그림자노동의 개념과 만 족지연능력과 같은 심리적 변수가 어떻게 셀프서비스 지속이용의도에 영향을 미치는지 살펴봄으로써 셀프서비스 운영기업들의 전략 수립에 기여할 수 있다.

Digital transformation and the COVID-19 pandemic have facilitated the rapid development and dissemination of non-face-to-face technologies such as self-service technologies (SSTs). This research investigates how motivation factors affect consumers’ negative responses to digital shadow work (DSW) in SSTs which decreases their continuous use intention of SSTs. Also, we examine whether the grafication delay ability moderates the relationship between consumers’ negative responses to DSW and their continuous use intention of SSTs. By an analysis of usable 450 user respondents via SmartPLS 4.0, perceived benefits was found to significantly influence consumers’ negative responses to DSW. Also, consumers' negative responses to DSW can significantly decrease their intention to continue using SSTs. Further, the effect of negative responses to DSW on continuous use intention of SSTs is stronger in case of consumers with low gratification delay ability than in case of consumers with high gratification delay ability. The study findings contribute to providing some strategies for companies operating SSTs by examining the effects of consumer’s responses to DSW and gratification delay ability on the continuous usage intention of SSTs.

4차 산업혁명을 견인하고 있는 AI와 빅데이터, 메타버스, 사물인터넷과 같은 디지털 기술들의 발전과 함께 RPA(Robotic Process Automation)의 발전은 기업과 소비자에게도 큰 발전과 변화를 가져왔다. 본 연구는 지속적 발전하고 있는 RPA 의 현장 중에서도 조직 내의 인간과 시스템 간의 상호작용으로 연결된 분야인 콜센터의 상담 서비스에서 발생하는 다양 한 현상에 주목하고 있다. 특히 복합적인 첨단 시스템과 전문운영집단의 결합으로 이루어진 콜센터 서비스영역은 이제 인공지능이 상담을 진행하는 단계까지 이르렀다. 이런 변화와 함께 RPA 조직 내에서 조직원들의 기술적 스트레스와 그 해결방안에서도 많은 변화가 있었다. 본 연구에서는 ‘보이지 않는 수고’로 표현되는 디지털그림자노동(Digital Shadow Work; DSW)과 ‘직무 외 조직에 도움이 되는 행위’인 조직시민행동(Organizational Citizenship Behavior; OCB)을 연구의 핵심으로 고려하여, RPA의 진화에 따른 기술 스트레스와 그 해결방안에서 나타나는 대표적인 심리적 기제를 제안하고자 한다. 본 연구는 DSW의 개념을 조직 내부와 조직 구성원에 대한 적용으로 확장한다는 점에서 연구적 공헌점이 있다.

With the development of AI and digital technologies such as big data, metaverse, and the Internet of Things, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has brought great development and change to companies. Among these realistic industrial areas by RPA, the call center service area, which consists of a combination of complex high-tech systems and professional operation groups, has now reached the stage where AI is conducting counseling. The evolution of this digital transformation has become an important direction of change in the digital-related industry sector. Along with these changes, there have been many changes in the technical stress of the members of the organization within the RPA organization and their solutions. In this study, the representative psychological mechanisms were presented as Digital Shadow Work (DSW), expressed as ‘unpaid work’, and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), which is ‘an act that helps organizations other than their duties’. This study theoretically contributes to the extension of the DSW concept to the organizational members.

This research shows how the perception of digital shadow work varies depending on the user's period of use of digital services in applications, which are key areas of digital services. The purpose of this research is to investigate how the digital shadow work type changes over time. This research adopted a qualitative research method for location-based service "help application" users and examined the change in perception from the app service acceptance stage to the app service continuous use stage with two-times interviews of ten users by a longitudinal research design. This study conducted a longitudinal analysis focusing on how digital shadow work occurs in the application subscription process, exploring phenomenologically how the type changes throughout the process over time.

As the commercialization of self-service technology (SST) increases, the acceptance of digital shadow work (DSW), in which customers directly invest time and labor, tends to be inevitable. The company's strategy to reduce costs through SST results in consumers being forced into unpaid work. In this study, we examined the causal relationship regarding DSW acceptance amid the SST craze, and the main research results are as follows. First, economic benefits, psychological benefits, self-efficacy, and enjoyment classified as SST benefit variables all had a positive effect on satisfaction. Second, the negative (-) effect was statistically significant between conversion cost, difficulty in use, and satisfaction classified as SST loss variables, but there was no statistical significance in anxiety and compulsion to use. Third, SST satisfaction was found to have a positive effect on intention to continue using SST. This means that if customers are overall satisfied with digital shadow labor such as SST, they will intend to continue using it in the future. Therefore, it is judged that companies need to use various strategies to satisfy customer satisfaction.

오늘날 디지털 기술의 발전으로 개인은 자동화되고 지능화된 디지털 서비스를 누리고 있으나, 한편으로는 비자발적 디지털 그림자 노동이라 일컫는 불필요한 노력을 수반하고 있는 것도 사실이다. 이러한 상황에서 본 연구는 디지털 기술 이용에 따라 파생된 사용자의 그림자 노동이 어떻게 발생되고 전개되는지를 규명하고자 한다. 구체적으로, 본 연구에서는 애플리케이션의 비밀번호 변경, 소프트웨어 업데이트 환경과 스팸메일 삭제와 같은 비자발적 디지털 기술 환경 맥락에서 사용자의 그림자 노동이 어떻게 발생하고 전개되는지를 살펴보는데 목적을 두고 있다. 본 연구에서는 총 12명의 응답자들을 대상으로 인터뷰를 진행하였고, 근거이론방법을 활용하여 69개의 코드를 추출하였으며, 유사한 개념간의 통합과정을 거쳐 6개의 주요 범주를 제시하였다. 자료 분석결과, 사용자의 그림자 노동은 ‘그림자 노동에 대한 필요성 인식’, ‘행동의도에 대한 의사결정’, 그리고 ‘디지털 그림자 노동 행동완수’라는 일련의 과정에서 이루어짐을 발견하였다. 더불어 그림자 노동의 형성과정에서는 ‘해야 할 일에 대한 지각정도’, ‘디지털 그림자 노동에 대한 인지적 노력정도’, ‘디지털 기술 관리방식 고수 정도’에 따라 그림자 노동에 대한 의사결정이 달라질 수 있으며, 이 과정에서 그림자 노동 수행에 대한 의사결정을 받아들이지 않을 경우,‘디지털 그림자 노동수행에 대한 부정적 태도’나 ‘디지털 그림자 노동을 하지 않았을 때 발생하는 현상에 대한 태도’로 연결됨을 확인하였다. 본 연구는 근거이론방법을 활용하여 사용자의 그림자 노동 형성 메커니즘을 제안함으로써 학문적으로 디지털 그림자 노동에 대한 이해의 폭을 확장하였다는 점에서 의의가 있다. 또한 디지털 그림자 노동이 경영관리 측면에서 고려해야 할 사항임을 부각시켰다는 점에서 실무적 의의가 있다.

In nowadays, individuals should do their unpaid labors in the form of self-service, which is so called by involuntary digital shadow work, even though they have enjoyed automated and intelligent digital services due to the advancement of digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data. In order to explore the essentials of such unique behaviors, we have aimed to identify individuals’ psychological mechanism which governs involuntary digital shadow work. By using the grounded theory methodology, we have conducted in-depth interviews with 12 individuals who have prior experiences on doing involuntary digital shadow work such as changing passwords, updating applications and deleting spam-mails. By analyzing the interview manuscripts, we have extracted 69 concepts in the coding steps and ultimately developed 6 key categories by either comparing or incorporating similar concepts from the initial concepts. In this grounded theory-based study, we found that there are two types of decision making such as decision making for formulating shadow work intention and decision choices for completing the shadow work during the interactions between human and digital technologies as trigger of initiating shadow work. This study has also found that there are two types of unique attitudes during the digital shadow environments such as negative attitude when performing shadow and attitude toward the phenomenon that occurs when individuals do not do shadow work. Finally, we have presented three types of psychologically controllable drivers such as the degree of adherence to individuals’ own unique digital technology management approach, the degree of cognitive effort required for shadow work, the degree of individuals’ perception of what to do for either facilitating or inhibiting individuals’ shadow work. The implications of our findings for both theory and practice are discussed.

The objective of this paper is to present how to use Grounded Theory Methodology for conducting a literature review that produces new insights and conceptualizations. In this paper, we have employed Wolfswinkel et al.(2013)’s method, which is called by Grounded Theory Literature-Review Method, for a r igorous l iterature r eview. We h ave u tilized t his m ethod t o c apture t he c oncept a nd i nsights of individuals’ shadow wok in digital environments. By analyzing the relevant literature based on Wolfswinkel et al.’s guide, we have extracted 73 codes in the coding steps and finally showed 12 categories by incorporating similar concepts from those codes. Based on the categories, we end this paper by developing the academic definitions of shadow work in digital environments.