The influence of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness on trust and intention to use mobile social software

Transcription

1 African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance (AJPHERD), Volume 19(2), June 2013, pp The influence of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness on trust and intention to use mobile social software RICHARD CHINOMONA Faculty of Management Sciences, Department of Logistics, Vaal University of Technology, Private Bag X021, Vanderbijlpark 1900, South Africa. (Received: 09 February 2013; Revision Accepted: 22 April 2013) Abstract Owing to the recent rapid developments of communication technology and wireless network technologies, mobile technology has become more sophisticated and many people now use mobile devices, such as smartphones, to support their personal and professional functions. Furthermore, following, the rampant mushrooming of numerous social media platform witnessed in the past years, mobile phone-based-social-software has been on the increase. However, little attention has been given to the empirical investigation of the antecedents of mobile social software adoption and use among the virtual community in South Africa. Therefore, the principal objective of this study is to fill this gap by examining the influence of users perceived mobile social software usefulness, ease of use on their trust in the mobile social software and eventual use. Using a sample data set of 150 and Smart PLS software to analyse the data, five posited hypotheses were empirically tested. The results supported all the five hypotheses in a significant way. Managerial implications of the findings are discussed and limitations and future research directions are indicated. Keywords: Mobile social software, perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use, trust, intention to use, South Africa. How to cite this article: Chinomona, R. (2013). The influence of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness on trust and intention to use mobile social software. African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance, 19(2), Introduction Owing to the recent rapid developments of computer and wireless network technologies, the combined use of mobile communication and information technology for recreation purposes has been increasing rapidly (Liu, Li & Carlsson, 2010; Jadhava & Sonarb, 2011). Mobile technology has become more sophisticated and many people now use mobile devices, such as smartphones, to support their recreational activities and professional functioning (Johnson, Levine, Smith & Stone, 2010; Hsieh, Jang, Hwang & Chen, 2011). Amounting evidences to date indicate that online social network services, such as Facebook, My Space, Skype, Twitter and WhatsApp have experienced exponential growth in membership in recent years (Barker, 2009). Social network platforms provide

2 Perceived ease of use and usefulness of mobile social software 259 a virtual community a recreation opportunity for people with shared interests to communicate by posting and exchanging information about themselves (de- Marcos et al., 2010; Sandberg, Maris & de Geus, 2011). Internet chat rooms or forums provide users with their own platform to create, build, and share information about activities and interests (Smith & Caruso, 2010). Following, the rampant mushrooming of numerous recreational social media platform witnessed in the past years, mobile phone based social software has been on the increase (Schepman, Rodway, Beattie & Lambert, 2012). An enquiry into the existing spate of literature on computer software indicates that the demand for reliable and qualitative software packages is continuously growing (Shin, 2007; Biel, Gril & Gruhna, 2010; Jadhava & Sonar, 2011; Shen & Reilly, 2012). Since social software is embedded in computer technologies and permeates our daily life, the correct performance of software systems becomes an important issue of many critical systems. In response to meet this growing demand, software firms have been producing variety of software packages that are customisable and tailored to meet specific recreational needs of the social media platforms. Selection of inappropriate software packages adversely affects the recreational functioning of users at a social media platform (Johnson et al., 2010). However, despite the increasing popularity of some mobile devices social software, researches on users motivations when choosing mobile social software on these recreational social platforms are still limited and scanty. Notably, most of the available studies have mainly focused on exploring the benefits of the combination of a software architecture analysis and usability evaluation of mobile application (Biel, Gril & Gruhna, 2010), adoption of mobile note-taking software (Schepman et al., 2012); content synchronisation and retrieval in real-time mobile social software applications (Shen & Reilly, 2012); and reliability assessment and sensitivity analysis of computer software (Lo, Huang, Chen, Kuo & Lyu, 2005) among others. Furthermore, most of the studies that have attempted to investigate the relationships between some of these variables have been conducted in developed countries of Europe and the USA (Shin, 2007; Biel et al., 2010; Schepman et al., 2012) or the newly developed countries of Asia (Jadhava & Sonar, 2011; Shen & Reilly, 2012). Therefore, researches that investigates the antecedents of intention to use mobile social software in the context of developing countries of Africa have largely been neglected, hence the need for the current empirical study. Based on these identified research gaps, this article has three objectives. First, the specific interest of this study was to examine the causal influence of users perceived usefulness of mobile social software and ease of use on users intention to use mobile social software for recreation purposes in South Africa. Second, the paper seeks to present an empirical investigation of the mediating

3 260 Chinomona role of users trust in the mobile social software in these relationships. Finally, an attempt is made to apply the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) Model in this research context. This endeavour is considered to provide a strong theoretical ground work to the current research. On the whole, the findings of this study are expected to contribute new knowledge to the existing body of recreational activities and mobile social software use literature in addition to providing practical implications to mobile social software developers and mobile social software users in the context of a newly developed African country such as South Africa. The remainder of this article reviews the literature on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) Model, then proposes a conceptual research model and develops the research hypotheses. The study also provides the research methodology, analyse data and present results. Finally, results are discussed, implications provided and limitations and future research directions highlighted. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Model According to Venkatesh, Morris, Davis and Davis (2003), the Unified Theory Acceptance Use Technology (UTAUT) aims to explain users intention to use an information system and their subsequent usage behaviour. The theory holds that four key constructs (performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions) are direct determinants of usage intention and behavior (Venkatesh et al., 2003). The UTAUT is an extension of Technological Acceptance Model (TAM) which is a widely used theoretical model to explain potential users behavioural intentions to access a technology or a new system (King & He, 2006) and is itself based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Bigné, Andreu & Gnoth, 2005). Due to the fact that UTAUT captures other social or emotional motivational factors, its use by researchers has been growing tremendously (King & He, 2006; Wu & Li, 2007). Relating the UTAUT to the current study, this research submits that, users perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of mobile social software influence their trust and intention to use the mobile social software. Conceptual model and hypothesis development In order to empirically test the interrelationships between mobile social software perceived usefulness, ease of use, trust and intention to use mobile social software, a conceptual model was developed premised on the reviewed use and gratification theory and computer software application literature. In this conceptualized model mobile software perceived usefulness and mobile social software ease of use are the predictors while trust in the mobile social software

4 Perceived ease of use and usefulness of mobile social software 261 is the mediator. Intention to use mobile social software is the only outcome variable. Figure 1 depicts this conceptualised research model. The hypothesised relationships between the research constructs are discussed thereafter. Mobile Social Software Perceived H2 H1 Trust in Mobile Social Software H5 Intention to Use Mobile Social Software H3 Mobile Social Software Perceived H4 Figure 1: Conceptual model Perceived usefulness, trust and intention to use mobile social software UTUAT just as the TAM contends that perceived usefulness is one of the basis for predicting end-user acceptance of computer technology. Perceived usefulness is defined as the degree to which an individual believes that using a particular system would enhance his/her job performance (Davis, 1989: 320). This means the user has a perception of how useful the technology is, in performing his/her job tasks, including decreasing job time and ensuring more efficiency and accuracy (Lee, Xiong & Hu, 2012). In the current study perceived usefulness refers to the degree to which a person believes that using particular mobile social software will enhance the use of a certain social media platform. In a study by Venkatesh and Davis (2000) the extended TAM (UTUAT) included social influence and cognitive instrumental processes as determinants of the user's formulation of perceived usefulness (Han, 2007). However, the current study considers mobile social software perceived usefulness as a predictor or antecedent of trust (the emotional and social aspect) and intention to

5 262 Chinomona use certain mobile social software. The reasoning is that the more the users tend to perceive the mobile social software to be useful in order to partake in a social media platform, the more they are likely to trust that mobile social software and consequently their intention to use it. Prior empirical evidence has also supported the linkages between perceived usefulness and trust in social media relationship (Mallat, 2007; Ondrus & Pigneur, 2006; Johnson et al., 2010) and between perceived usefulness and intention to use technology association (Dewan & Chen, 2005; Teo, Fraunholz, & Unnithan, 2005; Au & Kauffman, 2008). Therefore, drawing from the Unified Theory Acceptance Use Technology (UTAUT) and empirical evidence, this study posits that: H1: Perceived usefulness of mobile social software will have a positive effect on the users trust in the mobile social software H2: Perceived usefulness of mobile social software will have a positive effect on the users intention to use the mobile social software. Perceived ease of use, trust and intention to use mobile social software Davis (1989, 320) defined perceived ease of use as the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system will be free of effort. It involves an individual s assessment of the effort involved in using a system (Lee et al., 2012). In the current study perceived ease of use refers to the degree to which mobile social software is perceived as easy to understand and operate when a user is partaking on a social media platform. It is submitted in this study that when users anticipate effortless experience when utilizing mobile social software on a social media platform, it is likely that they will end up trusting that mobile social software. Besides, the mobile social software perceived ease of use is likely to trigger the intention to use it. Therefore, it can be expected that the more the users anticipate effortless use of the mobile social software, the more they are likely to trust and consequently use the mobile social software. Previous studies have supported a positive relationship between perceived ease of use and trust (Schepers & Wetzels, 2007; Bauer, Reichardt, Barnes & Neumann, 2005: 189) and between ease of use and intention to use (Zhang & Mao, 2008; Oh & Yoon, 2009; Schierz, Schilke & Wirtz, 2010). Moreover, the UTAUT has supported these relationships (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000). Therefore, drawing from the Unified Theory Acceptance Use Technology (UTAUT) and empirical evidence, this study posit that: H3: Perceived ease of use of mobile social software will have a positive effect on the users trust in the mobile social software H4: Perceived ease of use of mobile social software will have a positive effect on the users intention to use the mobile social software.

6 Perceived ease of use and usefulness of mobile social software 263 Trust and intention to use mobile social software As a reflection on the increasing importance of trust in social media platform use, trust is proposed in this study as an antecedent variable to the intention to use a mobile social software on social media platforms. In this study, trust is defined as the belief that mobile social software will perform some activity in accordance with users expectations (Gefen & Straub, 2004; Pavlou & Gefen, 2004). It is posited therefore, that the more the users trust mobile social software to perform an activity on a social media platform, the more the users are likely to use it. Previous studies have also supported a positive association between trust and intention to use (Liu, Marchewka, Lu, & Yu, 2005; Nijite & Parsa, 2005; Au & Kauffman, 2008; Mallat, 2007; Ondrus & Pigneur, 2006; Schierz et al., 2010) and therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed: H5: Perceived trust in mobile social software will have a positive effect on the users intention to use the mobile social software. Methodology Sample and data collection The data for this research were collected from Gauteng Province at Vaal University of Technology and North West University Campus in Vanderbijlpark. The research sampling frame was the list of registered students at Vaal University of Technology and North West University Campus in Vanderbijlpark. In order to ascertain the student status, only research participants with student identification cards were considered for this research. Students from the Vaal University of Technology were recruited to distribute and collect the questionnaires. Of the total of 160 questionnaires distributed, 150 usable questionnaires were retrieved for the final data analysis, representing a response rate of 93.8 percent. Measurement instrument and questionnaire design Research scales were operationalised on the basis of previous work. Proper modifications were made in order to fit the current research context and purpose. All the research constructs were measured using three-item scales. Mobile social software usefulness, Mobile social software ease of use and Mobile social software trust measurement instruments were all adapted from Herna ndez-ortega, (2011) while Mobile social software use intention measurement instruments were adapted from Lee, Xiong and Hu (2012). All the measurement items were measured on a five-point Likert-type scales that was anchored by 1= strongly disagree to 5= strongly agree to express the degree of agreement. Individual scale items are listed in Appendix 1.

7 264 Chinomona Respondents profile Table 1 presents the profile of the participants. The profile indicates that 56.7% of the participating students were female and the remainder were male. 53.5% of the respondents were less than or aged 25 years old while the remainder were above 26 years. Also 71.3% of the respondents were undergraduate students and the remainder postgraduate students. The students from Vaal University of Technology constituted 75.3% of the respondents and the remainder were from North West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus. Table 1: Sample demographic characteristics Gender Frequency Percentage Male % Female % Total % Age Frequency Percentage % % % Total % Academic Level Frequency Percentage Undergraduate student % Postgraduate student % Total % Student University Frequency Percentage Vaal University of Technology % North West University % Total % Data analysis and Results In this study, structural equation modeling (SEM) approach using Smart PLS statistical software (Ringle, Wende & Will, 2005) was used to test the hypotheses in the conceptual research model. Smart PLS is suitable for a small sample size and does not require normal distribution of the manifest variables (Chin, 1998). Since the current study sample size is relatively small (150) Smart PLS was found more appropriate and befitting the purpose of the current study. As recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988), a two stage procedure to hypothesis testing using SEM was utilised in this study. Measurement model assessment was performed first by examining the convergent and discriminant validity of items and constructs respectively, before the testing of the hypothesised causal relationship between the research variables in the structural model.

8 Measurement model Perceived ease of use and usefulness of mobile social software 265 To ensure convergent validity, the researcher checked if items are loaded on their respective constructs with loadings greater than 0.6, while discriminant validity was checked by ensuring that there was no significant inter-research variables cross-loadings (Chin, 1998; Chin & Newsted, 1999). As can be seen (Table 2), all items have loadings greater than 0.6, with no cross-loadings greater than 0.638, while t-statistics derived from bootstrapping (200 resamples) suggest all loadings are significant at pb As such, this confirms that all the measurement items mostly converged well on their respective constructs and therefore are acceptable measures. Table 2: Accuracy analysis statistics Research Construct MSU LV Index Value R- Squared Value Cronbach s α value C.R. Value AVE Value Communality Factor Loading B B B C MSEU C C MST D D D E MSUI E E Note: MSU= Mobile Software Use; MSEU =Mobile Software Ease of Use; MST=Mobile Software Trust; MSUI=Mobile Software Use Intetion ; C.R.: Composite Reliability; AVE: Average Variance Reliability; * Scores: 1 Strongly Disagree; 3 Neutral; 5 Strongly Agree According to Chin (1998), research variables should have an average variance extracted (AVE) of more than 0.5 and a composite reliability of more than 0.7 (convergent validity), and inter-construct correlations should be less than the square-root of the AVE (discriminant validity). As can be seen (Table 2), all constructs exceed these criteria, with AVE and CR generally equal or greater

9 266 Chinomona than and , respectively, and the square-root of the AVE being at least greater than the inter-construct correlations (Table 3). In general, these results confirm the existence of discriminant validity of the measurement used in this study. Table 3: Correlations between Constructs Research constructs MSU MSEU MST MSUI MSU MSEU MST MSUI Note: MSU= Mobile Software Use; MSEU =Mobile Software Ease of Use; MST=Mobile Software Trust; MSUI=Mobile Software Use Intetion Structural model Figure 2 and Table 4 present the current study s results of the PLS analysis. The standardized path coefficients are expected to be at least 0.2 and preferably greater than 0.3 (Chin & Newsted, 1999). Bootstrapping (200 re-samples) is utilised to assess the reliability of each coefficient. The results provide support for three (H3, H4, and H5) out of the five hypotheses that had path coefficients are above the recommended T-statistics of 1.96 and significant (pb0.001). As indicated in Figure 2 and Table 4, the path coefficients are 0.098, 0.121, 0.590, and for H1, H2, H3, H4 and H5, respectively. Table 4 provides the path coefficients and T-statistics for the hypothesised relationships. Two of the proposed hypotheses have T-statistics that is less that the recommended threshold of 2 (i.e. H= and H2=1.1715). This further confirms the statistical significance of the posited relationships and therefore, all the hypotheses are supported.

10 Perceived ease of use and usefulness of mobile social software 267 Figure 2: Measurement and Structural Model Results Note: MSU= Mobile Software Use; MSEU =Mobile Software Ease of Use; MST=Mobile Software Trust; MSUI=Mobile Software Use Intention Table 4: Results of structural equation model analysis Proposed Hypothesis Relationship Hypothesis Path Coefficients T- Statistics MSU MST H Rejected / Supported Supported MSU MSUI H Supported MSEU MST H Supported MSEU MSUI H Supported MST MSUI H Supported Note: MSU= Mobile Software Use; MSEU =Mobile Software Ease of Use; MST=Mobile Software Trust; MSUI=Mobile Software Use Intetion Overall, R² for MST and MSUI in Figure 2, indicate that the research model explains more than 30% of the variance in the endogenous variables. Following formulae provided by Tenenhaus, Vinzi, Chatelin & Lauro, (2005), the global goodness-of-fit (GoF) statistic for the research model was calculated and the GoF is 0.56, which exceed the threshold of GoF>0.36 suggested by Wetzels, Odekerken-Schröder and van Oppen (2009). Thus, this study concludes that the research model has a good overall fit.

11 268 Chinomona Discussion The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of mobile social software usefulness (MSU) and mobile social software ease of use (MSEU) on mobile social software trust (MST) and mobile social software use intention (MSUI). In particular, five hypotheses were postulated. To test the proposed hypotheses, data were collected from students at Vaal University of Technology and University of North West campus in Vanderbijlpark. The empirical results supported in a significant way three out of the five posited research hypotheses. Important to note about the study findings is the fact that mobile social software usefulness had a weak influence on the student trust in the mobile social software (0.098) and their intention to use mobile social software (0.121). However, mobile social software usefulness had a slightly stronger effect on the mobile social software use intention (0.121) than mobile social software trust (0.098). Notably too, the relationships between students perception of mobile social software ease of use and their intention to use mobile social software (0.253), and as well as with their trust in mobile social software (0.590), are positive and significant. However, the perceptions of mobile social software ease of use strongly influence their trust in the mobile social software more than their intention to use mobile social software. Interesting to note also is the robust relationship between the student s trust in the mobile social software and their intention to use the mobile social software (0.303). By implication, this finding indicates that mobile social software ease of use can have strong influence on the student intention to use the mobile social software via their trust in the mobile social software. Perhaps this could be due to the fact that the students regarded trust as an important antecedent of their intention to use mobile social software. Implications of the study Given the continuous growth in the demand for reliable and qualitative social software packages by mobile social media users (Shin, 2007; Biel, Gril & Gruhna, 2010; Jadhava & Sonar, 2011; Shen & Reilly, 2012), the current study undertook a research in an often most neglected context but yet an important issue among the virtual community and social software developers. Therefore, the findings of this empirical study are expected to provide fruitful implications to both practitioners and academicians. On the academic side, this study makes a significant contribution to the social media and recreational studies literature by systematically exploring the impact mobile social software usefulness and mobile social software ease of use on mobile social software trust and use intention in the context of South Africa.

12 Perceived ease of use and usefulness of mobile social software 269 Overall, the current study findings provide tentative support to the proposition that ease of use and trust should be recognised as significant antecedents for continuance intention in the context of mobile social software in South Africa. On the practitioners side, important influential role of mobile social software ease of use to the student virtual community is highlighted. This study therefore submits that developers of mobile social software can benefit from the implications of these findings. For instance, given the robust relationship between mobile social software ease of use and mobile social software trust (0.590) and eventually the intention to use the mobile social software (0.303), mobile social software developers ought to pay more attention to the social software s ease of use function in order for the student virtual community to trust it and intend to use the social software for their recreational activities. Limitations and future research In spite of the contribution of this study, it has its limitations which provide avenues for future researches. First and most significantly, the present research was conducted from the student perspective at two universities in South Africa. Perhaps if data collection is expanded to include other virtual community members who utilize mobile social software, the research findings might be more insightful. Future studies should therefore consider this recommended research direction. Second, the current study was limited to students in South Africa s Gauteng Province. Subsequent research should contemplate replicating this study in other provinces of South Africa or even other African countries for results comparisons. Finally, further research could also investigate the effects of other constructs such as perceived enjoyed from mobile software use as a possible predictor the intention to use mobile social software for recreational activities. All in all, these suggested future avenues of study stand to immensely contribute new knowledge to the existing body of social media and recreation activities literature, a context that happen to be less researched by some researchers in Africa. Conclusion This academic inquiry highlighted the important role that mobile software usefulness and mobile software ease-of-use have on the students mobile software trust and use intention. Evidence to this effect was provided. Mobile software developers should therefore seriously consider designing software that is particularly ease to use to the student community.

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16 Perceived ease of use and usefulness of mobile social software 273 Zhang, J & Mao, E. (2008). Understanding the acceptance of mobile SMS advertising among young Chinese consumers. Psychology & Marketing, 25 (8), Appendix 1: Measurement Instruments Mobile Social Software Perceived Usefulness The mobile social software are (would be) useful for me The mobile social software (would) make me more efficient The mobile social software (would) make my life easier Mobile Social Software Perceived Ease of Use The mobile social software are (would be) easy to use Learning to use the mobile social software is (would be) easy for me It is (would be) easy to get the mobile social software to do what I want to do Mobile Social Software Trust I believe I can trust the mobile social software I believe the mobile social software is reliable I believe the mobile social software provides good service Mobile Social Software Use Intention I will frequently use the mobile social software in the future I will use the mobile social software on a regular basis in the future It is most likely that I will continue using the mobile social software