Risks and motivation in the use of social network sites: an empirical study of university students

DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF COMMERCE IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS TO THE FACULTY OF COMMERCE, LAW AND MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG FEBRUARY 2015Social Network Sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Piniterest and Google+ have made it easy for youth to communicate, produce and share information. Using SNS has become a daily activity for many youth and young adults around the world, including South Africa. The use of SNS by youth may be motivated by needs for safety, belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization, and others such as enjoyment. Yet, the use of SNS by youth may also carry a number of risks. They include risks to violations of privacy, social and psychological risks that may harm the user’s self-image, as well as time and financial risks resulting from excessive SNS usage. The purpose of this study is to understand the tension between risks and motivation in the use of SNS by university students. To do so, this study developed an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Multi-dimensional risk and motivation constructs were examined for their interactions with TAM constructs of perceived ease of use and perceive usefulness and their effects on SNS usage intentions and actual usage were examined. To test the model, a non-probability convenience sampling method was adopted using students from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Five hundred and fifteen students participated in the study. The ages ranged between 18 and 34 years, 26% males and 74% females took part in the study, and included students from 1st year through to 4th year undergraduate or Honours level. Facebook was found to be the most used SNS. Approximately 80% of respondents reported accessing SNS on their mobile phones and 66% reported being always connected. More than 25% of respondents were actively using SNS for more than 3 hours a day, with 35% using less than one hour per day. Interestingly, only 35% reported having public profiles although 10% did not know whether their profiles were public or private, and nearly 40% of respondents knew less than half the “friends” they were connected to on SNS Partial least squares approach to structured equation modelling was used to test the hypothesised research model. Results showed that motivation influences perceived usefulness (β=0.239, p<0.001) and perceived ease of use (β=0.319, p<0.001) positively. The results suggest that when motivations such as enjoyment and need to belong are high, SNS will be perceived as useful and easy to use. Risk was found to have a negative influence on perceived usefulness (β=-0.0764, p<0.05) and perceived ease of use (β=-0.3265, p<0.001). The results show that when risks are considered high, users are likely to increase their vigilance and consequently will report SNS as less easy to use. Moreover, as a result of risk users may find the SNS less useful. Perceived usefulness (β=0.295, p<0.001) influences intention to use SNS positively. This suggests that when SNS is useful to users, they will have intentions to use it. Intention to use SNS is also influenced by perceived ease of use (β=0.0396, p<0.01). An easy to use SNS will make users want to use it, as opposed to one considered more complex and requiring more effort. Motivation (β=0.281, p<0.001) was found to have more of an effect than risk (β=-0.071, p<0.05) on intentions to use. Respondents thus appear to recognize some risks associated with SNS use, but they appear to be driven more by motivations and less by risk avoidance when deciding on SNS usage. The study will have implications for researchers, SNS providers and users. The results of the study have implications for how researchers conceptualize risk and motivation. The study shows how different dimensions of risk and dimensions of motivation affect the overall risk and overall motivation construct respectively. Currently SNS providers may not have deep understanding of the risks which hinder the use of SNS and motivations which drive the use of SNS. Providers will be better informed to design SNS that are less risky and where possible mitigate the risks. Results also show that SNS providers should not only mitigate risks but also provide online social networks that better fulfil motivational needs of youth. Users will be aware of different risks they are exposing themselves to by using SNS. Since users will be aware of the different types of risks, they can be vigilante when using SNS.MT201

Understanding Unfolding Change and the Value of Strategic Unification in Recent USU Information Technology Functional Realignment

This is a qualitative case study of the 2005-2008 Utah State University Information Technology reorganization from the perspective of key change advocates. The study identified and documented the unfolding change process involved in the reorganization in terms of dissatisfaction, executive changes, internal executive strategic planning, implementation and initial impacts, and continuous in situ strategic planning. The study also answered a set of supporting concluding questions indicating increased value to the institution in areas of customer service and confidence, organization, financial resources, planning and policy, security, and increased/improved services and service functions

Determinants of internet banking adoption in Thailand

Increasingly competition in the financial services sector is forcing service providers to develop and utilise alternative delivery channels (Daniel, 1999). Within the sector, banking has always been a highly service intensive activity that relies heavily on technology to acquire, process, and deliver services and information to consumers (Tan & Teo, 2000). The emergence of the Internet has provided a way for banks to improve the efficiency of their service delivery and to gain a competitive advantage by reducing the number of brick-and-mortar branches. The study investigated the adoption of lnternet banking services in Thailand and is based on the premise that consumers\u27 perspectives have a greater impact on adoption than those of banks who are the service providers. Data was therefore collected from potential Thai consumers of lnternet banking services by using a questionnaire survey. The response rate was high (84%) which resulted in 506 valid questionnaires being collected. The study\u27s key findings were presented to a group of Internet banks in Thailand to establish their concurrence and to develop and recommend appropriate strategies to them. To gain insight into consumer behaviour, theories on the acceptance of innovation were examined. This study is based on the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour by Taylor & Todd (1995) which was developed from Ajzen & Fishbein\u27s (1980) Theory of Planned Behaviour. These theories provide a well-accepted intention model that has been shown to be successful in predicting and explaining human behaviour across three domains: attitude, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms. Also considered in this study is the Innovation Diffusion Theory by Rogers (1983). This theory explains that the rate of innovation adoption is affected by an individual\u27s perception of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability. Tile study found that the intention to adopt Internet banking by Thai consumers is encouraged by altitudinal factors and impeded by a perceived behavioural control factor, but not by subjective norms (i.e. the \u27Culture\u27 factor). The attitudinal factors that were found to encourage the adoption of Internet banking in Thailand most are ‘Features of the Web Site\u27 and \u27Perceived Usefulness\u27, while the most significant impediment to adoption is a perceived behavioural control, namely \u27External Environment\u27. In relation to the lnnovation Diffusion Theory, only relative advantages (identified as \u27Perceived Usefulness\u27) and complexity (\u27ease of use\u27, an item of \u27Features of the Web Site\u27) were found to be significant to adopting Internet banking. The significant moderating factors influencing the adoption of Internet banking by Thai consumers are gender, educational level, income, Internet experience and Internet banking experience, but not age. It was found, however, that the stand out moderators are income and Internet experience as they each affect the most significant encouragement and impediment factors. As to what strategies Thai banks should adopt to facilitate Internet banking, both supplier \u27push\u27 and market \u27pull\u27 strategies need to be implemented. As encouragement factors are factors that banks can control, Internet banks should \u27push\u27 consumers\u27 positive perceptions of internet banking, thereby increasing the rate of service adoption. Potential impediments to Internet banking adoption should be reduced although they cannot be directly controlled by banks. Banks should attempt to influence the Internet banking market in order to enhance this service in Thailand through market \u27pull\u27 strategies. Previous research has mainly focused on innovation adoption in the context of North America and Europe and to some extent other developed countries such as Singapore. This study extends the research on IT adoption to a developing country. The study is one of few that have applied adoption theories in an Internet environment. In addition, the study is useful in the specific research domain. It was successful in establishing key factors in the adoption of internet banking in Thailand. Internet banks can use this knowledge in their quest to increase their online customers. Non-Internet banks can consider their abilities and readiness based on these findings before moving into the Internet banking arena

The impact of social network applications on societies of the MENA region (Egypt as a case study)

Despite the importance of promoting socially responsible citizenship in Internet age with the global massive spread of IT consumption, there is a paucity of research for scrutinizing the impact of ICT tools such as Social Networking Sites on citizens of the Middle East and North Africa region and/or investigating their tendency toward digital transformation. In the information age, Internet and its applications are creating a ‘network state’ due to the continuous interaction of SNS by people on their daily personal and professional lives; which made it a rich data bank for researchers to analyze and predict people’s behavioral, cultural and societal change. This research focused on the digital impact of SNS on various aspects of life in the society of Egypt and the forecast of its subsequent normal progression over time. The research questions were; what are the factors affecting the usage of SNS and its impact on the society of Egypt? In addition to, How SNS usage and IT developments are likely to affect future changes in Egypt’s culture and societal behaviors in the arena of human computer interaction and information communication technology? Hence, the research investigated those questions on recent years where there is still not enough complete specialized analysis nor mature socio-technological researches have been developed about the online society of Egypt. In specific, it concerned with studying the interaction of human practices with information network applications and the latter role in changing human cultures and societal behaviors from personal, governmental and business perspectives. This study is an example of interdisciplinary research, linking cultural theories and social networking phenomena with human-mediated informational technology and communication studies contributing to the emerging field of Internet studies. Therefore, this research’s best matching philosophy is interpretivism, the research approach is inductive and the utilized research strategy was grounded theory and surveys through four employed quantitative and qualitative research methods over two phases. Phase one implemented observational study, survey questionnaire and focus group sessions; while interviews were accomplished in phase two. Outcomes are reached through applying descriptive statistics of structural equation modeling via using SPSS 20.0, AMOS 20.0.0, Tableau 10.4, and MS 2010 Excel; in addition to, qualitative content analysis using NVivo 11. Findings of interweaved data collection methods supported in investigating the research questions and testing the hypotheses of the research proposed SDR model. Consequently, these research findings deduced that the Egyptian online society is affected by SNS forming a pre-digitalization stage. In addition to the research’s major offering of the SDR model, there were four others emerged contributions to knowledge base. One of the main challenges of research in this domain is the dynamic pace of both technological developments and users’ preferences. Hence, this research study impacts the growing knowledge repository with five contributions about the significant role of SNS in transforming people’s daily activities which can shed lights of more novel questions for other neighboring countries as well as regarding other ICT tools for future studies

The Social Media Bubble: An Examination of Social Media User Motivations and Their Implications for Future Users and Communication Technologies

This research project focuses on examining social media user motivations and their impact on future users. Analysis of previous communication technologies is included in this paper to show how human behavior has changed in the past century. A survey was conducted among current communication students to study social media behaviors and to help new developments for social media. Populations of social media users, such as small businesses and students, were also looked at to determine the strength of their social media presences. A website, TheSocialMediaBubble.com, was developed to accompany this project to provide free tips, advice and research to small businesses, students, and educators. The SocialMediaBubble.com was designed as resource to advance the ideas of how social media is evolving and affecting other technology advancements

Shifting the digital skills discourse for the 4th industrial revolution

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Consumer motivations for social media usage and its impact on customers' trust and long-term relationships

New challenges and opportunities have recently arisen for companies’ relationships with customers as a result of the increasing prevalence of social media. By enabling companies to build online communities, social media allow marketers to access information about consumers, identify consumers’ needs, and gain direct consumer feedback. Thus, social media can be a very important and helpful tool for interacting and communicating with customers. In order to sustain such relationships for the long term, however, efforts must be centred around building consumer trust and commitment.This study investigates the role of social media based communities in building relationships with consumers, and the influence of such communities on consumers’ attitudes and behaviours. Specifically, the study investigates whether such influences can lead to trust, commitment, and loyalty towards the organisation. Drawing on Uses and Gratification Theory, Consumption Values Theory, and the Commitment-Trust Theory, the study examines the relationship between consumers using social media channels, trusting these channels, and trusting the organisation that owns these channels.Adopting a positivist deductive approach, quantitative data was collected via a survey strategy. A questionnaire targeting telecommunications company fan pages users in Saudi Arabia was distributed through Twitter and Facebook with help from people who have many followers/likes such as celebrities. More than 700 responses were collected, of which 522 were usable for factor analysis.Based on the results, a cognitive behavioural model was established in relation to social media uses and gratifications, perceived values of social media fan pages, organisational trust, commitment, and loyalty. Users who perceived utilitarian benefits from following a company’s fan pages were likely to trust these pages, whereas perceived hedonic and social benefits did not have an influence on trust towards organization’s fan pages. The findings additionally indicated that consumers who trusted the organization’s fan pages were likely to trust the company. Therefore, telecommunication companies’ fan page users who perceived trust were expected to be committed and loyal to the company, which would consequently, lead to more frequent and larger purchases. The findings contribute to marketing theory and suggest ways in which marketers can tailor companies’ web presence for more effective communication and relationship-building with customers