“I'm concerned; I'll stop warning!”: U-shaped curvilinear relationships between ESN constructive voice and employees' digital concerns

Purpose This study aimed to demonstrate that when organizational members' use of enterprise social network (ESN) for constructive voice falls behind or exceeds a certain threshold, they will experience heightened impression and privacy concerns, leading to their ESN fatigue and finally discontinuous usage intention. To explore this gap, this study assessed U-shaped curvilinear relationships between employees' use of ESN for expression of constructive voice and their digital concerns, including impression and privacy concerns. Additionally, the influence of these concerns on ESN discontinuous usage intention for constructive voice, mediated by ESN fatigue, was investigated. Design/methodology/approach The study employed the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model, communication visibility and uncertainty reduction theories to support the proposed conceptual framework. To validate the model, quantitative data were collected from 254 employees across 11 organizations in Iran that use ESN. Data were analyzed using PLS-SEM with the assistance of Smart-PLS 4.0 software. This study conducted 17 semi-structured interviews to take a mixed study approach for providing much more reliable insights. Findings The results showed that there are U-shaped curvilinear relationships between employees' use of ESN for constructive voice and their impression and privacy concerns. Impression and privacy concerns are positively associated with ESN fatigue, which results in ESN discontinuous usage intention for constructive voice expression. Originality/value This study's primary contribution is its demonstration that employees' concerns regarding impression management and privacy increase significantly when they either underuse or overuse ESN to express their constructive voice. This study extends the application of advanced theories, namely the S-O-R model, communication visibility and uncertainty reduction theories, within the domain of employees' use of ESN for constructive voice expression.