1 Identifying the dimensions of user value of software products: A grounded theory approach Ashish Kakar Texas Tech University ashish.kakar@ttu.edu Adarsh Kumar Kakar Alabama State University akakar@alasu.edu Abstract In this study we identify the independent dimensions of value derived by users from the use of utilitarian software and the impacts on their loyalty. We use the grounded theory approach to generate the initial set of response from software users through focus group sessions. The responses are content-analyzed and after codification of the emerging themes a list of items are generated. The items so generated are subjected to Exploratory Factor analysis to identify the distinctive and independent value dimensions. After the identification of the value dimensions a survey is administered to another group of participants to assess the impact of these factors on user loyalty. This study a replication of our previous study in the context of ecommerce presented at a top conference (Kakar, 2020f) led to the emergence of psychological safety as a new construct that had the highest correlation with loyalty of software users. The findings of the study have important implications for software product development. Keywords User Loyalty, Utilitarian Value, Hedonic Value, Social Value, Quality Value, Epistemic Value, Quality Value, Psychological Safety, User Loyalty Statement of Contribution The key contribution of the study is the identification of Psychological Safety (PS) as one of the value dimensions. We used the nomenclature “Psychological Safety” from a similar construct in work literature (Edmondson (2003). Marketing literature has borrowed constructs in the past too from work literature. Customer satisfaction a popularly used construct inn marketing, was derived from job satisfaction construct in work literature (Pfaff, 1973; Czeipiel, Rosenberg and Akerele, 1974). As in work literature, PS measures the degree of comfort that users feel from not having to face unpleasant consequences of software use. The importance of this construct can be gauged from the finding that it had the highest correlation with user loyalty. These findings can be used by software product managers in developing software that maximizes user value and product loyalty. Introduction The information systems is well familiar with the concepts of Utilitarian value(UV), Hedonic Value (HV) and Social Value (SV) (Davis, 1989, Heijden, 2004; Kakar 2018a,b,c,d,e). However, do UV, SV and HV together comprehensively captures the various values sought by the user from the use of software? In the evolution of the value constructs, studies have used various theories, models and paradigms in their investigation including the expectancy- confirmation paradigm, flow theory, symbolic interactionism perspective and technology adoption model (Blumer, 1969; Guo and Poole, 2009; Koufaris, 2002; Mathwick and Rigdon, 2004; To, Liao and Lin, 2007). In this study we use the grounded theory approach (Corbin and Strauss (2008) to understand directly from software users the various values sought by them. We feel that by using this approach in the study we will be able to more comprehensively capture the various dimensions of value sought by software users. will help software development organizations in developing products that meet the evolving value needs of users of software benefitting themselves and the users as a result. For testing the validity of the value constructs identified using the grounded theory approach we did a correlation with user loyalty (UL) as it not only measures the behavioral intention of the users but also measures their intention not to switch to another software in the same  $0$ :LQWHU $FDGHPLF &RQIHUHQFH 