AN EVALUATION OF STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION TO HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA

ACCOUNTS; EVIDENCE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

By

VANESSA EWURAKUA BOAFO

 CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 RESEARCH BACKGROUND

As a new platform for creating new relationships and maintaining old ones, there has been a

tremendous increase in the number of social media sites and applications over the whole world.

Consequently, there has been an even greater increase in the number of people that make use of

such social media sites to conduct their activities. According to Cocotas (2013), some of the

biggest platforms of social networking such as Facebook and Twitter have users numbering more

than a billion and 200 million respectively worldwide. Judging from the large number of users of

Facebook and Twitter alone, it is safe to conclude that social media is very popular and has

arguably become a part of our daily lives that we cannot do away with. The popularity of social

media is due to its ease of use, its speed and wide reach. Social media as a tool “enables its users

to connect with others within their social and geographic proximity, as well as beyond it” (Kim

et al, 2011).

There are presently hundreds of social networking sites and applications that are available for the

use of basically everyone with access to the internet on either a personal computer, a laptop, a

tablet or a smart phone. These gadgets are so easily available now especially in Africa than they

were a few years back, thus, making internet access and use of social media quite easy. Due to

the increase in “broadband mobile internet coverage, even rural sites in many African countries
now allow young people to connect anywhere with reception” (Pfeiffer et al, 2014). Social media

sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and Instagram have become very popular and more so

among young people in Ghana. An increasing number of university students have been found to

be actively engaged in the use of social media. They are the largest group of people to be

actively engaged in the use of social media. The purpose of this study is to therefore evaluate

students’ motivation to have social media accounts.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Social media is a fairly new platform for communicating, creating and maintaining new

relationships. However, very few studies have been conducted on it despite it gaining such huge

popularity in the country. The few studies that have been conducted on social media only

focused on countries in the West and in Europe ignoring countries in Africa such as Ghana. Also,

most of the studies conducted focused mostly on the effects that social media has on its users.

Even fewer studies have been conducted on students’ motivation to use social media to conduct

their activities. As such, such several questions have been left unanswered with regard to

students and their use of social media. For example, what motivates and attracts students to join

social media and social networking sites? What motivates students to maintain their social media

accounts? How does demographics affect students’ motivations to use social media? These

questions have left a huge gap in literature that needs to be addressed. This study seeks to fill in

this knowledge gap with regard to students and their motivated use of social media.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study seeks to investigate what motivates students to have social media accounts. The

objective of this study is to find out;

1. To find out students’ motivation to have and use social media.

2. To find out how demographic differences affect students’ motivation to use social media.

3. To find out how peer influence motivates students to use social media.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The objectives of this study are;

1. What motivates students to have and use social media?

2. How do demographic differences affect students’ motivation to use social media?

3. How does peer influence motivate students to use social media?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Although social media is a fairly new phenomenon, it has attracted a lot of young people to it

with university students having a very high social media presence. It is therefore necessary to

understand the motivations for their strong social media presence. This study primarily will

contribute data to the existing body of knowledge on social media and will provide fresh insight

into particularly the main motivations for university students to join and maintain their social

media accounts. There is arguably non-existent literature on students’ motivation to have social

media accounts especially in Ghana.

In relation to policy, the study also provides insight to the relevant actors in the education sector.

It will help them to understand to the dynamics of social media usage by students and as such,

formulate policies that will enable or enhance the use of social media for teaching and learning

purposes.

With regard to businesses that use social media to reach their target markets, this study gives

them insight into the use of social media as a marketing tool for promoting their goods and

services. Businesses with university students as their target market will have greater knowledge

and understanding on the social media habits of these university students and will therefore make

informed decisions about their social media advertising. The study also gives an insight to

businesses on which social media platforms will be most effective in conducting their social

media marketing activities.

1.6 CHAPTER OUTLINE

The entire paper is divided into five chapters for orderly presentation and easy understanding.

The first chapter covers the research background, research problem, research purpose, objectives

and research questions, research scope and limitations and the chapter organization. The second

chapter sought to review relevant literature on social media. The third chapter deals with the

methodological approaches that will be used to collect data for the study. The fourth chapter

entails the analysis of the data collected from the respondents and presents the findings of the

survey. The fifth and final chapter include a summary, recommendations and the conclusion of

the study.
 CHAPTER TWO

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter reviews all relevant literature by scholars related to the issues of social media and

the motivations to use social media by university students. The review covers the issues of social

networking sites particularly Facebook and Instagram and their popularity. It also tackles the

main motivations for students to use social media as researched by other scholars and also

discusses how demographics and peer influence motivate students to use social media. The

review goes further to discuss the uses and gratifications theory which the most accepted theory

in the study of communications and social media use.

2.2 POPULARITY OF SOCIAL MEDIA SITES

Social media also known as Social Networking Sites can be defined as “web-based services that

allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile, articulate a list of users with whom

they share a connection and view their list of connections and those made by others in the

system” (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). The nature of these social media sites makes it easy and

convenient to use by all manner of people. All over the world, the usage rate of social

networking sites has increased tremendously. Over 700 million people across the world have

profiles on online social networking sites and these sites have become accepted as the primary
medium for communication and networking (Back et al., 2010). There is currently a wide range

of social media platforms that are available for use by young people and these platforms are

likely to increase in the near future (Sheldon, 2007). Most university students are within the age

range of between 18 and 29 years. This group of people are commonly referred to as young

adults. According to Andrew Perrin of Pew Research (2015), young adults are the most likely

group of individuals to use social media and are arguably the highest consumers of social media

sites with 90% of young adults using social media (Pew Internet, 2015). Gradually, university

students have become that group of people that determine those social media sites that become

popular and those that do not. This paper focuses on arguably the two most popular social media

sites being Facebook and Instagram. According to a ranking done by Statista (2015) based on the

number of users, Facebook ranked first with Instagram ranking seventh.

Currently, the most commonly used social media networking site is Facebook. Facebook “is a

social networking website which, according to nonacademic sources, allows its users to stay in

touch with old friends and those at other schools, to make new “friends,” to join “groups” that fit

their interests, advertise their parties, check how many personal messages/wall posts they

received from their friends, and see other people’s pictures and new features that Facebook

continually adds” (Sheldon, 2008).

It was started as an online platform to facilitate interpersonal communications among college

students but has since evolved into a multidimensional computer-mediated environment that

supports both interpersonal and commercial interactions among known and unknown others
(Hyllegard, Ogle, Yan & Reitz, 2011). Facebook is the largest social networking site available in

numerous languages and can be accessed both on the web and through the use of mobile devices

(Grosseck, Bran, & Tiru, 2011). Facebook users may use the site to communicate with people

they already know offline or to meet new people online (Ellison, Steinfield & Lampe, 2007).

As at November 2015, Facebook had a total number of more than 1.55 billion registered

accounts and out of these total registered accounts, Facebook had over 1 billion active users

(Statista, 2015). Facebook was founded in February 2004 by Harvard undergraduate student

Mark Zuckerberg. According to the Facebook website, the primary mission of Facebook is “to

give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected” (Facebook, 2015).

Instagram is a fairly new social networking site. It is a mobile photo and video capturing and

sharing service (Hu, Manikonda & Kambhampati, 2014). The service in February 2013 added a

web interface which enables users to access the service using a web browser. Instagram allows

users to apply filters to their photos and also share 15 second videos to their followers. The

service was created by two Stanford graduates, Kevin Systrom and Mike Kreiger who launched

the service in October 2010. However, in April 2012, Instagram was purchased by Facebook for

approximately one billion dollars.

Instagram is now currently owned by Facebook but managed by the two co-founders of the

service. According to the rankings of Statista (2015), Instagram ranked seventh in their ranking

of the leading social networks, ranked by number of active users. As at November 2015,

Instagram had over 400 million monthly active accounts (Statista, 2015). Statista (2015) again
states that over 40 billion photos have been shared on the app with an average of over 80 million

photos posted per day. More than 75% of the total number of users of Instagram are from outside

the United States and the service has about 3.5 billion likes on a daily basis (Instagram, 2015).

2.3 MOTIVATIONS FOR SOCIAL NETWORKING

Social networking has brought about a revolution in the way that people communicate.

Communication has become much easier and effective. This research focuses on international

social media sites and the motivations for college students to use them. Researchers in the

industry as well as academic researchers have kept with the ever dynamic trends in the

availability and use of social media platforms. Most of the research conducted employed the use

of the quantitative methodology of collection and evaluation of their data (Joinson, 2008; Tosun,

2012; Baek, Holton, Harp & Yaschur, 2011; Lee & Ma, 2012). However, a few researches

employed the use of the qualitative methodology through the use of focus groups (Pai & Arnott,

2012; Hyllegard et al., 2011). The qualitative researches conducted all focused mainly on

Facebook, however, the study conducted by Dunne et al in 2009 specifically focused on the

social networking site Bebo. There is also the undeniable fact that almost all of these past

researches have been conducted only in the Western countries. Past studies have mostly been

conducted in the United States (Ellison et al, 2007; Pempek, Yermolayeva & Calvert, 2009;

Smock, Ellison, Lampe & Wohn, 2011; Special & Li-Barber, 2012). A few studies have been

conducted in Turkey (Tosun, 2012) and the United Kingdom (Dunne, Lawlor & Rowley, 2010),

however very few studies have been conducted in Africa.

Past research conducted on social media has provided numerous reasons why people have social

media accounts. These reasons include but are not limited to the sharing of information,

maintaining relationships and entertainment (Smock et al., 2011; Tosun, 2011). The study

conducted in 2009 by Pempek et al. found that people were motivated to use social media to

communicate and keep up with friends, looking at other people’s posts and for entertainment

purposes. They also found that people used social media to find out and plan events, send or

receive messages through the messaging options that the social media sites provide and also to

get contact information on people that users just met online or already know offline Pempek et

al., 2009). Another study revealed that users of social media preferred to communicate and keep

up with people they met and already know offline that those that they meet online (Ellison et al.,

2007). Another main motivation found by Ellison et al. (2007) was that people wanted to create

and also maintain their social capital which refers to the resources that are acquired through the

relationships among people (Ellison et al., 2007).

Studies conducted by Joinson (2008) found that the most important use of Facebook were the

social searching and surveillance functions. This meant that Facebook users used the search

function of the service to find information about offline contacts and also to track the activities,

beliefs and interests of people and groups that they belong to (Joinson, 2008). Other motivations

found by Joinson (2008) include learning about old friends and maintaining or reconnecting with

old relations which is a major motivating factor for people who may have lost contact with their

friends.
Through their focus group discussions with their respondents, Hyllegard et al. (2011) found two

major motives for people to have social media accounts. These two factors are the organizational

affiliation motives and personal affiliation motives (Hyllegard et al., 2011). Organizational

affiliation motives included the use of Facebook to connect with educational, professional and

social organizations whereas the personal affiliation motives involved the connection with family

and friends (Hyllegard, 2011). Other studies have developed two main reasons why people use

social media accounts as in the case of Hyllegard et al (2001). An example is the study

conducted by Nadkarni & Hofmann (2012). They found that the use of Facebook was motivated

by two primary reasons being; the need to belong and the need for self-presentation.

One major motivation to use social media that run through almost all relevant literature was that

of entertainment in various forms (Pempek et al., 2009; Tosun, 2012; Smock et al., 2011; Dunne

et al., 2010; Baek et al., 2011; Lee & Ma, 2012). Another major motive to use social media was

that of information gathering and sharing (Smock et al., 2011; Baek et al., 2011; Lee & Ma,

2012). Many other studies have found multiple reasons why people have social media accounts.

Aside information sharing and entertainment, studies conducted by Baek et al. (2011) found that

people used social media for such reasons as to pass time, for the purposes of interpersonal

utility, control and promoting work. Tosun (2012) also found that people used social media to

organize social activities, as a form of distraction, to initiate and terminate romantic relationships

and also to engage in active forms of photo-related activities. People also used social media

because it was a cool and new trend, for companionship, for professional advancement and as a

form of escapism (Smock et al., 2011).

The qualitative study conducted by Dunne et al. (2010) on girls aged 12-14 specifically relating

to social media site Bebo found that the girls used the site to maintain relationships, for

entertainment purposes and finally, to communicate with others which facilitates gaining or

maintaining peer acceptance. The findings of the peer acceptance brings to the fore the active

part that peer influence plays in the motivation of university students to have social media

accounts.

2.4 USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY

The Uses and Gratifications theory (U&G) has also been referred to by some as the Needs and

Gratifications Theory. The uses and gratifications theory is one of the most influential theories in

media research and is concerned with the way people use media (Roy, 2009). The theory

explains the way people “adopt and use communication media as a function of their

psychological needs and the gratifications they seek” (Kim, Sohn & Choi, 2011). The approach

of the uses and gratifications theory is one that helps to understand people’s choices in the

selection of particular social media sites on which to have a presence.

The theory asks the question "What do people do with the media?" rather than, "What do the

media do to people?" (Katz, 1959). The theory also states that users are responsible for the media

that they choose to satisfy their needs (Giannakos, Chorianopoulos, Giotopoulos & Vlamos,

2012). The primary objective of using the uses and gratifications theory in research is to find out

people’s motivations for the media they choose to use to satisfy their needs, the factors that

influence those motivations and the subsequent behavioral outcomes of the media that they
choose to use (Baek et al., 2011). This implies that people are conscious about their choice of

media to use and also that they are able to identify their reasons for making particular media

choices (Hyllegard et al., 2011).

With research conducted on the uses and gratifications theory dating as far back as the 1940’s,

the theory has since then been subject to various disagreements, criticism and scrutiny by

communication scholars and critics (Ruggiero, 2000). Nevertheless, the uses and gratifications

theory provides the best and most useful conceptual framework or paradigm used in the

examination of the adoption and use of emerging and new media (Kim et al., 2011). The theory

has been used to conduct earlier researches on various media such as radio, reading, quiz

programs, comics, serious music and newspapers (Ruggiero, 2000; Dunne et al, 2010).

According to Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch (1973), the uses and gratifications theory has five main

assumptions: 1) the audience is thought to be active and goal oriented; 2) the choice of media to

meet a need gratification lies with the audience member; 3) media competes with other sources

of need satisfaction; 4) most of the goals of mass media use is derived from data provided by

individual users; and 5) exploration of audience orientation should be free from value judgement.

Beaudoin (2008) also says the uses and gratifications theory has four main tenets being: 1) the

audience is active and goal oriented; 2) motivations help in explaining media use; 3) people form

intentions and expectations for media use; and 4) people choose a medium based on the motives

they seek. Joinson (2008) explains uses and gratifications as the motivations of specific uses and

the satisfaction that people gain from those uses which can be divided into two; those based on
the content of the media (content gratifications) and those based on the actual experience of

using the media (process gratifications).

In the early days of communication research, researchers applied the uses and gratifications

theory in their studies of various media. Some of the earlier critics of the theory argued that the

theory was effects-oriented; was more interested in sociological and psychological factors; was

mainly behaviorist and individualist in its methods; relied heavily on self-reports and didn’t pay

much attention to the social origins of media needs (Ruggiero, 2000).

Seeing as the uses and gratifications theory provides the best framework for the study of various

media, the theory has been applied in many different studies by various scholars. It has

especially been used to study the motivations of people to engage in the use of new and

emerging social media sites with Facebook being the focal point of many of these researches

(Giannakos et al., 2012; Baek et al., 2011; Hyllegard et al., 2011; Pai & Arnott, 2013; Tosun,

2012). There have been a few other studies that have focused on other social media sites as Bebo

(Dunne et al., 2010). Just as have been done by these former researches, this study also seeks to

incorporate the uses and gratifications theory in the evaluation of university students’ motivation

to have social media accounts.

2.5 DEMOGRAPHICS

Demographic factors and peer influence are two very dominant determinants that influence

university students to use social media sites. The way people act and the choices they make are

determined based on certain characteristics and attributes as their age, gender, nationality,
educational level and their outward appearance (Giannakos et al., 2012). So it is with people and

the choices they make to use social media or not as well as the type of social media platforms to

use, that is, if they do decide to use any. This means that demographic factors play a huge role in

people’s motivation to determine whether to use social media.

Hargittai (2008) goes on to emphasize the important role that a person’s gender, race and

ethnicity play in their determination to use social media as per her studies. Studies conducted by

Glynn, Hoffman & Huge (2012) also show that the age and gender of a person is positively

correlated to their use of social networking sites and how they tend to use them. Another

research conducted by Valenzuela, Park & Kee (2008) found that a person’s age and year in

school was a very strong predictor of whether or not they would use Facebook which is the

biggest social media platform in the world.

In light of this, various studies conducted in the past have recognized the importance of

demographics and have proceeded to use demographics as the all-important metric it is in the

study of motivations to use of social media as well as other general studies concerning social

media use. The study conducted by Teo (2001) focused on the influence of demographic factors

on the motivation to conduct internet related activities. There however, have been more studies

specifically targeted at finding out the influence of demographics on motivation to use social

media in particular (Pfeil, Arjan & Zaphiris, 2009; Valenzuela et al., 2008; Hargittai, 2008).
In a web-based survey of 2,603 undergraduate students aged 18 to 29 in two large public

universities, Valenzuela et al. (2008) found that younger users of Facebook had more presence

on the social networking site than older users did. These findings are similar to those found by

Glynn et al. (2012) who found that younger people are more likely to have social media

accounts. Valenzuela et al. (2008) also found that over one third of the respondents who used

Facebook were male; however, despite males having more than a third of the presence on the

social networking site, it was also found that females were rather more likely to have accounts on

Facebook. These findings have been found to be consistent with the outcomes of many other

researches. Budden et al. (2007) also found that female users spent more time on social media

sites than male users. Similar findings have also been found by studies conducted by Giannakos

et al. (2012).

Despite these findings which support the popular perception that females use social media than

men, there have been a few studies which found that on the contrary, males were more prone to

using social media than females. Hargittai (2008) states that men had been shown to spend more

time online and had more high level technological skills than women. Budden et al. (2007) also

found that males spent more time on such social sites as YouTube than females. Giannakos et al.

(2012) found that men were more likely to use Facebook to search for something. Other studies

have found that there may not be much difference after all between the uses of social media by

females and males. Gerlich, Browning & Westermann (2010) found that there was no significant

difference between males and females in their internet or social media usage. This finding goes

to show the dynamic nature of demographics and also emphasizes the importance of

demographics as an important factor in the study of social networking sites.

2.6 PEER INFLUENCE

When it comes to peer influence, research has shown that adolescents or people in their teens are

more susceptible to peer influence. This bracket of individuals very much includes students in

the university. Due to the need to feel accepted by their friends in their age group, students are

more prone to falling victim to peer pressure. This is more evidenced when it comes to social

media presence and usage. Studies have shown that many students are likely to have social

media accounts because their friends have social media accounts and also that they use the social

media accounts to keep up with their friends and thus feel accepted and recognized by them.

According to studies by Lin & Lu (2011) peer influence was a major contributing factor for

continued use of social media for women than men. Barker (2009) found in her studies that the

most important motivation for students to use social networking sites was to communicate with

members of their peer group.

In this age of social media frenzy among teens, it is very rare to find a student that does not have

a presence on any social media network at all. With smartphones flooding the internet and

mobile data becoming cheaper and even free in some cases, every student is bound to have at

least one account on the very numerous social networking platforms. Studies conducted by Pfeil

et al. (2009) concluded that people of different age groups have different types of social capital

with .younger people having larger social networks than older people. With a larger network of

friends, younger people are bound to be more influenced by their peers in order to stay trendy

and up-to-date. Another important finding of Barker (2009) was that people who felt insecure

and disconnected from their peer groups sought to find compensation and companionship on
social networking sites. More specifically, women are found to be more prone to falling victim to

peer influence as pertaining to the use of social media; men on the other hand were found to be

more rational than emotional and as such were less prone to peer influence (Lin & Lu, 2011).

This goes to emphasize the importance of peer influence as a dynamic in the study of university

students’ motivation to use social media.

As is evident in the literature review, this study applies the uses and gratifications theory in

evaluating university students’ motivation to have a social media account. The study will focus

on three main motivations namely; entertainment, acquisition of information and interpersonal

utility. Though the first two motivations may be commonly understood, understanding of the

third motivation, interpersonal utility may not be as such. Interpersonal utility is defined as such

needs as affection, inclusion, companionship and expression (Papacharissi & Rubin, 2000; Price,

Leong, Ryan & Cowan, 2005). This motivation involves people trying to be part of a community

and trying to feel accepted by others through the use of social networking sites. The study will

also incorporate the dimensions and roles that demographics and peer influence play in

motivating students to use social networking sites.

Based on the literature review, and the use of the uses and gratifications theory, the following

hypotheses have been formed:

H1: Students are highly motivated to use social media for entertainment purposes.

H2: Demographic factors have an effect on students’ motivation to use social media
H3: Peer influence has an effect on students’ motivation to use social media
 CHAPTER THREE

3.0 METHODOLOGY

3.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter focuses on the method and the type of research design that was used to collect the

relevant data for the study. Research design is defined by Malhotra and Birks (2007), as the

procedural framework within which a research is conducted. The chapter also focuses on the

study area, study population and sampling techniques of the study, data collection procedure,

unit of analysis, ethical considerations, data analysis and the survey limitations of the study.

3.2 RESEARCH PROCESS

Every research paper is required to follow certain laid down processes and steps in order to

obtain a good end product and results. These steps and processes may vary depending on the

type of research being conducted. The research being conducted could either be a qualitative

research or a quantitative research. However, whether or not the research is qualitative or

quantitative, Malhotra and Birks (2007) have grouped the entire research process into six broad

stages. These stages include the problem definition, development of the research approach,

development of the research design, fieldwork or data collection, preparation of the data

collected and analysis and then finally, the report preparation and presentation.
Figure 1. Simple description of research process

Stage 1:
Problem definition

Stage 2:
Research approach
developed

Stage 3:
Research design developed

Stage 4:
Fieldwork or data collection

Stage 5:
Data preparation and
analysis

Stage 6:
Report preparation and presentation

Source: Malhotra and Birks (2007)

This study strictly makes use of the quantitative research process. As such, a survey through the

use of distributed questionnaires on the campus of the University of Ghana was used to collect

data for the purposes of the study. The data collected from the distribution of the questionnaires

is referred to as primary data. Primary data is specific data that is collected by a researcher for a

particular study. The study not only makes use of primary data but also employs the use of

secondary data which is relevant to the research topic. Secondary data refers to data that has

already been collected by previous researchers and provides a good source of understanding of

the research topic at hand. It also helps to appropriately compare and analyze trends and

important issues pertaining to the research topic.

3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN

A research design forms the blueprint or framework for conducting a research project (Malhotra

and Birks, 2007). There are broadly two main types of research design. They are the exploratory

research design and the conclusive research design (Malhotra and Birks, 2007). Exploratory

research is the type of research that is very flexible and is an evolving means of understanding

certain happenings or phenomena. This type of research is mostly used in studies where the

subject to be studied cannot be measured using quantitative instruments. Conclusive research on

the other hand is defined by Malhotra and Birks as that type of research that is used to describe

particular phenomena or to test hypotheses and to critically examine specific relationships. The

figure below illustrates the classification of research designs (Figure 2).

Figure 2. A classification of research designs

Research design

Exploratory design Conclusive design

Qualitative Quantitative Descriptive Causal research

exploration exploration research

Cross-sectional Longitudinal design

design

Single Multiple
cross-sectional cross-sectional

Source: Malhotra and Birks

As is evidenced above, exploratory research design and conclusive research design are two very

different types of research designs. Both types of research designs are further sub-divided into

two. Exploratory design is divided into quantitative and qualitative research designs. The

conclusive research design on the other hand is divided into descriptive and causal research

designs. Descriptive research is that type of research that answers questions that are mostly

factual in nature whereas causal research tests hypothesis, explains why something happened and

helps to show cause and effect relationships (Greener and Martelli, 2015). Again, the descriptive

research is further sub-divided into cross-sectional design and longitudinal design (Malhotra and

Birks, 2007).

There are very distinctive differences between exploratory and conclusive research designs. The

major differences between these types of research designs are summarized and shown in the

table below in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Major differences between exploratory and conclusive research designs

Exploratory Conclusive

Objectives To provide insights and To test specific hypotheses

understanding of the nature and examine relationships
of marketing phenomena
To measure
To understand
 Characteristics Information needed may be Information needed is
loosely defined clearly defined

Research process is flexible, Research process is formal

unstructured and may evolve and structured

Samples are small Sample is large and aims

to be representative
Data analysis can be
qualitative or quantitative Data analysis is quantitative

Findings/results Can be used in their own right Can be used in their own
right

May feed into conclusive

research
May illuminate specific
conclusive findings
May feed into exploratory
research
May set a context to
exploratory findings

Methods Expert surveys Surveys

Pilot surveys Secondary data
Secondary data Databases
Qualitative interviews Panels
Unstructured observations Structured
Quantitative exploratory observations
multivariate methods Experiments

Source: Malhotra and Birks (2007)

This research paper which seeks to explore university students’ motivation to have social media

accounts will employ the use of the conclusive research design method in the collection of

relevant data for the purposes of the research. The decision to use the conclusive research design

is informed by the characteristics that are outlined in the table in Figure 3 which clearly

differentiates between exploratory and conclusive research design. The conclusive research

design is used to test specific hypotheses as is the case for this research. The information that is

needed for the research is clearly defined and the research process is also formal and structured.

Again, the mode of data analysis in this research is a quantitative one and the research also

makes use of a sample that is large enough to make the findings representative of the study area.

The research further adopts a cross-sectional design which is a type of conclusive research

design. The nature of this research is both descriptive and exploratory. It is exploratory in the

sense that it seeks to explore a little known area that is students’ motivation to have social media

accounts. The study is also descriptive in the sense that it seeks to systematically describe the

motivation of students to have social media accounts.

3.4 QUANTITATIVE VS. QUALITATIVE

There are two main methods of conducting research. The research method could either be a

quantitative research method or a qualitative research method. Whereas qualitative research

employs the use of such research instruments as interviews, focus groups and observation, the

techniques used in quantitative research are rather straightforward, for example, the use of

questionnaires in conducting a survey. Also, quantitative research is focused on being able to

make generalizations of the findings about the entire population aside from the study sample

(Blackstone, 2012).

In the bid to generalize the findings of this research even though a small sample was used, this

research will employ the use of the quantitative method to conduct a successful study. This

method is also faster and easier to use and is also easier to analyze.

3.5 DATA COLLECTION

There are many different ways and sources from which data can be collected. The data source

could either be primary or secondary. With primary data collection, data can be collected from

such sources as surveys and questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observations and

experiments. Secondary data on the other hand refers to data that has already been collected and

which the researcher did not collect directly from himself from respondents (Greener and

Martelli, 2015). The mode of data collection for the research was by the quantitative data

collection method. As such, the research employed the use of a survey in collecting data. A

questionnaire set was therefore designed in order to collect the necessary information needed for

the study.

Malhotra and Birks (2007) defines a research technique as a type of technique based on the use

of structured questionnaires which are given to a sample of the population being studied as a

means of collecting data. The questionnaire mostly asks the respondents about their behaviors,
intentions, attitudes, awareness, motivations, demographic and lifestyle characteristics (Malhotra

and Birks, 2007). Questionnaires are made up of either open-ended questions, close-ended

questions or both. Open-ended questions are those questions to which the respondents are to

provide their own responses whereas close-ended questions are those questions to which there

are fixed response alternatives from which the respondent is supposed to choose from (Malhotra

and Birks, 2007). The questions in a questionnaire may be asked and responses acquired either

verbally, written on a paper or through the use of a computer. The main modes by which

questionnaires are administered are through personal interviews, mail interviews, electronic

interviews and telephone interviews. The survey mode of collecting data possesses many

advantages which led to the method being selected for the purposes of evaluating students’

motivation to use social media. Questionnaires first of all are very simple and easy to administer

to the selected sample (Malhotra and Birks, 2007). They are also very easy to answer and helps

to ensure that the data that is being obtained is consistent since the respondents are only limited

to the alternatives provided. Last but not least, questionnaires are easy to code, analyze and

interpret the findings of the data collected (Malhotra and Birks, 2007). This makes

questionnaires the ultimate choice to be used when conducting quantitative research.

The questionnaire designed for this research made use of mainly close-ended questions and

attached a few close-ended questions to those questions where respondents could give alternative

answers to those provided. The questionnaires were distributed to respondents who either filled

them on the spot or took them away with them for later collection. This was the best and most

appropriate way of reaching our respondents who are the students of the University of Ghana and

this gave us a high response rate. In addition to the primary data collected from the students of
the University, other secondary data sources were analyzed and formed the basis for the

literature review.

3.6 STUDY POPULATION AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

The main source of data needed to conduct this research was the University of Ghana. Since the

focus of the study is to find out students’ motivation to have social media accounts, the

population of this research was composed of the students of the University of Ghana. It is

however impossible to collect data from the entire student population of the university. It is

therefore necessary that a sample of the total population is determined and the data collected

from this sample of students. This sample should be representative of the total population

Malhotra and Birks (2007) define a sample as a subgroup of the elements of the population

selected for that particular study.

There are two main techniques of sampling. They are non-probability sampling and probability

sampling. Non-probability sampling is dependent on the judgement of the researcher and does

not take chance into consideration when selecting a sample. Probability sampling on the other

hand relies on probability to select samples. This research made use of the non-probability

sampling technique due to several reasons. Unlike the judgmental sampling which is purely

based on the judgement of the researcher, the quota sampling which is a two-stage judgmental

sampling and the snowball sampling which thrives on referrals from initial respondents, the

convenience sampling focuses on selecting samples of convenient elements of the population

(Malhotra and Birks, 2007). Due to the time and effort saving attribute of the convenience
sampling, the research made use of the convenience sampling technique due to the small amount

of time required to complete the research. The sample consisted of 170 students of the University

of Ghana. Each student was required to have at least a Facebook and Instagram account before

responding to the questionnaire.

3.7 UNIT OF ANALYSIS

The unit of analysis of this research was the individual students in the University of Ghana who

had social media accounts on at least Facebook and Instagram. This meant the individual direct

users of the social media networks were those that the research targeted. As such, the main focus

in the selection of respondents of the questionnaires was the fact that they had some form of a

presence on at least one of the most popular social media or social networking sites, that is,

Facebook and Instagram.

3.8 QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

As the main instrument for collecting data in a survey, a questionnaire was appropriately

designed and then distributed to collect the required data for the purposes of the study. The

questionnaire was developed and adapted from previous researches that have been conducted in

the same area of study. The importance of a questionnaire in a research cannot be over

emphasized enough and the questionnaire must be properly prepared and should be of relevance

to the main objectives of the research. Care was taken to ensure that the questions in the

questionnaire were easy to understand and encouraged the respondents to give the appropriate
answers to the questions which in turn will increase the response rate and significantly decrease

errors. The questionnaire also mad use of Likert scales which are used in the testing of attitudes

and are known to be highly reliable (Crouch and Housden, 2012). The Likert scale was primarily

used to analyze the attitudes of respondents towards their motivations to use social media.

Accordingly, 5 point Likert scales were used in the questionnaire to test the students’ motivation

to have social media accounts. A side the Likert scales, the other questions had specific options

from which the respondents could choose from or were given the opportunity to give alternative

responses.

3.9 DATA ANALYSIS

The analysis of the data collected from respondents was done using the Statistical Package for

Social Science (SPSS) software. After data has been collected, it is crucial that a codebook is

prepared to assist in the smooth entry and analysis of data especially when the researcher is using

the SPSS software in the data analysis. Pallant (2011) defines a codebook as “a summary of the

instructions you will use to convert the information obtained from each subject or case into a

format that SPSS can understand”. Malhotra and Birks (2007) also refer to coding as breaking

down the quantitative data into groups or chunks and attaching references such as numbers to

those groups of data. This aids in the easy retrieval, organization and interpretation of data.

In light of this, the data collected from the respondents was accordingly coded to make the entry

and analysis of the data easy. To further aid and make the analysis easy, the answered

questionnaires were numbered chronologically from 1 to 159 as they were being entered into the
software. This reduces the number of errors made and helps to easily retrieve the particular

questionnaire that the wrong entry was made from for quick and easy corrections. Graphs, tables

and other analytical tools as provided by the SPSS software were used to graphically represent

the results of the data analysis.

3.10 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The issue of ethics cannot be understated enough. In order to conduct a good research work,

various ethical issues must be considered. First of all, it was ensured that the respondents had at

least one social media account, that is, either Facebook or Instagram. Secondly, the due consent

of all the respondents were first sought before they were supplied with the questionnaires. The

respondents voluntarily gave their responses to the questionnaires and were not coerced into

responding to the questionnaires. They were also made aware of the aims and objectives of the

research so that they could provide appropriate and relevant data to the study. Most importantly,

the confidentiality and privacy of the respondents’ identity and the information they provided

was made a priority. Steps were taken to ensure that no respondent was harmed in any way

during the conduction of the research.

3.11 SURVEY LIMITATIONS

A few limitations were encountered in the survey design and distribution of questionnaires. First

of all, because the research was specifically targeted at students with accounts on social media,

those students who did not have a social media presence could not participate in the survey. It
was also very involving to find only students who had social media accounts to participate in the

survey. A lot of time and effort was spent to ensure that only students who had social media

accounts responded to the questionnaires. Also, as with most respondents, some respondents

were skeptical about giving out their personal information for the purpose of the research.

However, respondents were taken through the aims and objectives of the research and were

assured that the information they gave out would be kept confidential and would solely be used

for academic purposes.

 CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter seeks to present and provide a detailed analysis and representation of the data that

was collected from the study area through the survey.

4.2 PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS

4.2.1 GENDER DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS

A total of 159 valid response questionnaires were collected and used in the final analysis of the

study. Out of the 159 valid respondents, 84 were male and 75 were female. This meant that the

majority of the respondents were male with a total percentage of 52.8% and the female were the

minority with a total percentage of 47.2%. Figure 4.1 shows the gender distribution of the total

number of valid respondents.

Figure 4.1 Gender Distribution of Respondents

4.2.2 AGE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS

The table 4.1 shows the age distribution of the respondents. As has been represented in the table,

the ages were divided into five main groups; ages 18 to 20, 21 to 23, 24 to 26, 27 to 29 and then

30 years and above. The respondents in both the age groups of 27 to 29 and 30 and above were

only two. This meant they each had a percentage of 1.3% making it a total of 2.6%. Next, the 24

to 26 age group had 12 respondents (7.5%). Those within the age group of between 18 to 20

years accounted for 17% with 27 respondents. Finally, the largest age group was 21 to 23 which

had 116 respondents and constituted 73% of the total respondents.

Table 4.1 Age Distribution of Respondents
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid 18-20 27 17.0 17.0 17.0

21-23 116 73.0 73.0 89.9

24-26 12 7.5 7.5 97.5

27-29 2 1.3 1.3 98.7

30 and above 2 1.3 1.3 100.0

Total 159 100.0 100.0

4.2.3 EDUCATIONAL LEVEL AND COLLEGE

It was found from the analysis that most of the respondents were level 400 students. The table

4.2 shows that 106 of the respondents constituting 66.7% of the total respondents were in level

400. The uneven nature of the distribution of respondents in the various levels is mostly due to

the convenience sampling method used in the collection of the data. This reason is also

responsible for why the college of Humanities has a larger number of respondents than the rest of

the colleges. The college of Humanities alone had a total of 78.6% of the total respondents. The

Table 4.3 shows the distribution of students in the various colleges of the university.

Table 4.2 Educational Level Distribution of Respondents

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid 100 3 1.9 1.9 1.9

200 23 14.5 14.5 16.4

300 27 17.0 17.0 33.3

400 106 66.7 66.7 100.0

Total
159 100.0 100.0
Table 4.3 Colleges Distribution of Respondents
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent

Valid Basic and applied sciences 25 15.7 15.7 15.7

Education 3 1.9 1.9 17.6

Health science 6 3.8 3.8 21.4

Humanities 125 78.6 78.6 100.0

Total 159 100.0 100.0

4.2.4 NATIONALITY AND RESIDENTIAL STATUS

Majority of the student population of the University of Ghana are Ghanaians. This is evidenced

in the data that was collected. Table 4.4 shows the number and percentages of the respondents

who are either Ghanaian or not. As earlier stated, the Ghanaian student population carried most

of the distribution. Ghanaian students were a total of 98.1% whiles the non-Ghanaian student

respondents constituted 1.9% of the study population. When it came to the residential status of

the respondents, majority of them were resident on the main campus of the university. There

were 20.1% of the respondents who were non-residents. The remaining 79.9% of respondents

were all resident on campus. Table 4. 5 shows the distribution of resident and non-resident

respondents.
Table 4.4 Nationality Distribution of Respondents

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid Ghanaian 156 98.1 98.1 98.1

Non-Ghanaian 3 1.9 1.9 100.0

Total 159 100.0 100.0

Table 4.5 Residential Status

Cumulative
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Percent

Valid resident 127 79.9 79.9 79.9

non-resident 32 20.1 20.1 100.0

Total 159 100.0 100.0

4.3 RELIABILITY TEST

To test the reliability of the scale, it is important to test the scale’s internal consistency. The

internal consistency refers to the “degree to which the items that make up the scale hang

together”, that is, whether the items in the scale are all measuring the same underlying attribute

(Pallant, 2011). It helps to know whether they are all using the same internal construct. The

Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is the most commonly used coefficient in checking the internal

consistency. Values of the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient range from 0 to 1. DeVellis (2003)

stated that ideally, that the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of any scale should be above 0.7. The

values of the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient are also dependent on the number of items that are on

the scale. This means that, scales with items less than 10 are expected to have smaller

Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, for example, 0.5 (Pallant, 2011). In such cases, it is better to use
the mean inter-item correlation for the items. The ideal range for the inter-item correlation is 0.2

to 0.4 (Briggs & Cheek, 1986).

The table below shows the summary of the Cronbach alpha coefficients for the three main

motivations found under the uses and gratifications theory.

Table 4.6 Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficients

CRONBACH’S NUMBER OF
ALPHA ITEMS
COEFFICIENT
ENTERTAIINMENT 0.638 4

INFORMATION 0.683 3
GATHERING
INTERPERSONAL 0.847 7
UTILITY

From the table, it is evidenced that the motivation of entertainment has a Cronbach’s alpha

coefficient of 0.638. This is an acceptable coefficient considering the fact that there were only 4

items. The motivation of information gathering also had a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.683

when paired with only 3 number of items. This is also an acceptable coefficient since it is higher

than 0.5. The motivation of interpersonal utility had the highest interpersonal utility of 0.847.

This is however expected as it has the highest number of items. There were 7 items and its

Cronbach’s alpha coefficient indicates a good internal consistency reliability.

4.4 MEASUREMENT OF INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

The independent variables (entertainment, information gathering and interpersonal utility) are

examined in relation to the dependent variable (social media). These are used to test the

following hypothesis:

H 1: Students are highly motivated to use social media for entertainment purposes.

H 2: Demographic factors have an effect on students’ motivation to use social media

H 3: Peer influence has an effect on students’ motivation to use social media

DATA ANALYSIS

Due to the fact that the respondents had more Facebook (156) accounts than Instagram (100),

more attention was given to Facebook and the information collected on Facebook was what was

used in the analysis. The first hypothesis seeks to find out the most predominant motivations for

university students to use social media sites Facebook and Instagram. The three motivations that

were identified under the uses and gratifications theory include entertainment, information

gathering and interpersonal utility. In order to test the hypothesis, a Pearson’s product-moment

coefficient test was conducted on each of the motivations in order to test their correlations with

the frequency of use of Facebook. This will help to understand which motivation in particular

influences the students to use social media. The summary of the Pearson’s correlation

coefficients are shown in the Table 4.7 below.

It was found that entertainment had the strongest correlation to the frequency of use of Facebook

(r = 0.338, p = 0.000, N = 156) than interpersonal utility (r = 0.162, p = 0.043, N = 156). The

least correlated motivation to the frequency of use of Facebook is that of information gathering (r

= 0.138, p = 0.086, N = 156). This means that university students are most motivated to use

social media for entertainment purposes, the next highest motivator to use social media is

interpersonal utility and then information gathering with information gathering being the least

motivator to use Facebook. This goes to support the first hypothesis that says that entertainment

is the main factor for social media use.

Table 4.7 Correlation Coefficients of Motivations and Frequency of Use of Facebook

Frequency of use of Facebook

ENTERTAINMENT Pearson Correlation .338**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 156

INFOMATION GATHERING Pearson Correlation .138

Sig. (2-tailed) .086

N 156

INTERPERSONAL UTILITY Pearson Correlation .162*

Sig. (2-tailed) .043

N 156

The second hypothesis which deals with the effect that demographic factors have on university

students’ motivation to use social media was analyzed using MANOVA. The demographic

factors were broken down into three major components. They include the gender, age and level
of study of the students. In order to test the hypothesis, these gender and level of study were

individually analyzed as against the three major motivations to use social media. The dependent

variables therefore were; entertainment, information gathering and interpersonal utility. The

independent variable were gender and level. Age was analyzed using Pearson’s correlation. The

summary of the MANOVA coefficients is given in the Table 4.8 below.

Table 4.8 MANOVA Coefficients of Gender and Level of study

WILK’S F P PARTIAL ETA

LAMBDA SQUARED

GENDER 0.95 2.99 0.032 O.O6

LEVEL OF STUDY 0.93 1.13 0.337 0.02

4.4.1 GENDER AND MOTIVATIONS TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA

As stated earlier, the demographics was broken down into three main factors. The first of these

factors is gender. The MANOVA test found that there was a significant difference between

males and females on their combined dependent variables which are the motivations to use social

media F (3,155) = 2.99, p = 0.032; Wilks’ Lambda = 0.95; partial eta squared = 0.01. To be

significant, the p value must be less than 0.05. The p value of 0.032 is less than 0.05, as such,
there is a statistically significant difference. However, upon further analysis of the between-

subjects effects on the dependent variables, none of the factors showed a significance difference.

Entertainment (F (1,157) = 2.11, p = 0.148, partial eta squared = 0.01), Information Gathering (F

(1,157) = 0.07, p= 0.790, partial eta squared = 0.00) and Interpersonal Utility (F (1,157) = 2.33, p

= 0.129, partial eta squared = 0.015) all had p values of greater than 0.017. This implies that even

though there is a significant difference amongst females and males when it comes to the overall

motivations, there is no significant difference amongst females and males pertaining specific

motivations.

4.4.2 LEVEL OF EDUCATION AND MOTIVATIONS TO USE SOCIAL

MEDIA

The MANOVA tests conducted on the independent variable; level of study and the dependent

variables; entertainment, information gathering and interpersonal utility show that there is no

statistically significant difference between the level of study and the motivations to sue social

media (F (9,372.51) = 1.13, p = 0.337; Wilks’ Lambda = 0.93; partial eta squared = 0.02). The p

value, p = 0.337 is greater than 0.05. This implies that there is no significant difference between

the level of study and the motivations. As such, no further tests were required to be performed as

there is no difference.

4.4.3 AGE AND MOTIVATIONS TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA

To find the relationship between age and the motivations to use social media, a Pearson’s

correlation test was performed. A summary of the correlations coefficient is found in the Table

4.9. From the Table 4.9, it is observed that the demographic factor age has a positive correlation
with the entertainment motive to use social media. A coefficient of 0.077 was obtained from the

Pearson’s correlation. The coefficient is less than 0.1 and connotes and very weak relationship

between age and the entertainment motive. It indicates that younger students are less likely to use

social media for entertainment purposes.

With information gathering, a weak negative relationship with a coefficient of -0.015 was

obtained from the Pearson’s test. This coefficient however indicates that younger students were

associated with high levels of using social media for information gathering.

Similar to the information gathering, there was a weak negative relationship (-0.028) found

between the age of respondents and the motivation of interpersonal utility. The coefficient also

indicates that younger users were associated with high levels of use of social media and

interpersonal utility.

Table 4.9 Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient of Age and motivations to use social media

ENTERTAINMENT INFORMATION INTERPERSONAL

GATHERING UTILITY

AGE 0.077 -0.015 -.0.028

The third hypothesis which says that students are motivated by peer influence to use social media

will be analyzed using Pearson’s Correlation test. Table 4.10 provides a summary of the

correlation coefficients between peer influence and the three motivations to use social media. It

was found that all the motivations had positive correlations to peer influence. This means that,

there is a strong correlation between peer influence and the motivations to use social media.

However, as can be seen in Table 4.10, interpersonal utility had the highest correlation

coefficient of 0.523. This makes interpersonal utility the motivation that is most influenced by

peer influence. The next highest motivation which is influenced by peer influence is information

gathering with a correlation coefficient of 0.431. The least motivation to be influenced by peer

influence is entertainment. The correlation coefficient of entertainment is 0.407.

Table 4.10 Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient between Peer Influence and Motivations to
use social media
MOTIVATIONS PEER INFLUENCE

ENTERTAINMENT Pearson Correlation .407**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 159

INFOMATION GATHERING Pearson Correlation .431**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 159

INTERPERSONAL UTILITY Pearson Correlation .523**

Sig. (2-tailed) .000

N 159

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 DISCUSSION

5.1 INTRODUCTION
The main purpose of this study is to find out University students’ motivation to use social media.

The study was conducted on students of the University of Ghana. With reference to previous

literature, the hypotheses and questionnaire were developed. The hypothesis sought to find out

the ultimate aim of the study and was developed with the three main motivations in mind;

entertainment, information gathering and interpersonal utility. The profile of the respondents was

also taken into consideration as it helped to understand the relationship between the demographic

features of the respondents and how that influenced the students to use social media. The effect

that peer influence had on students’ motivation to use social media was also analyzed.

The aim of this chapter is to discuss the findings of this research which will add up to the

existing literature and knowledge on social media use. In addition to contributing to literature,

this chapter also highlights the limitations and challenges that were encountered in the

conduction of the study. The chapter also gives recommendations for future research on the

topic. The final part of the chapter is a conclusion of the study.

5.2 PROMINENT MOTIVATIONS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA USE

The main aim of this quantitative study is to find out the primary motivations for university

students to use social media. The three motivations that were examined in this study are

consistent with those found by Ancu & Cozna (2009) who found entertainment, information

seeking and social interaction as the main gratifications that users sought from the use of social

media. In similar studies, Valenzuela et al (2009) found four motivations for participating in
Facebook groups which include, socializing, entertainment, information and status seeking.

Respondents were asked questions in the form of questionnaires which sought to find the main

motivations for students to use motivations. In consistency with past studies, the motivations

were grouped into three; entertainment, information gathering and interpersonal utility.

In order to test this, a Pearson’s correlations test was conducted on the three motivations and the

frequency of use of Facebook. It was found that entertainment was the highest motivation to use

Facebook. This finding is consistent with numerous studies that have been conducted on

motivations of internet usage. It was found that students who spent more time on Facebook were

more likely to do so for entertainment purposes. As social media has become home of interaction

and other online activity, it is not a surprise that users of social media seek entertainment in order

to occupy their time.

The next highest motivation to use social media was interpersonal utility. In recent times, people

are faced with very little to almost no direct interpersonal interaction with others. All activities

are centered online and on social media. It is therefore not surprising that the motivation of

interpersonal utility is the next highest motivation to use social media. In essence, individuals are

using Facebook to express themselves, create their own identities and to see how other people

react to the things that they post on Facebook. They also use social media as it makes them feel

like part of a community and also helps to make other people understand who they are.

The third motivation for social media use is information seeking. Individuals sought information

on social events and other gatherings such as parties and also used social media to search for

people they met offline and also to keep in contact with people. This finding is consistent with

studies conducted in the past by Chung & Nah (2009) and King (2009). The findings also show
that Facebook is the home for vast information about Facebook users and social events and

social gatherings.

5.3 DEMOGRAPHICS AND MOTIVATIONS TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA

The second research question sought to examine how demographics influence students to use

social media. The three main demographic factors used in analysis were gender, age and level of

education. On the issue of gender, the findings suggested that there was no significant difference

between females and males and their motivations to use social media. Both females and males

were almost equally motivated to use social media. This is not surprising as both young females

and males are highly involved in the use of social media to conduct their various activities.

With regards to the age of the respondents, it was found that respondents in the younger age

groups were more motivated to use social media. The younger respondents were found to be

more motivated to use social media for entertainment purposes, information gathering and

interpersonal utility. This goes to show that younger people are more involved and motivated to

use social media to conduct their activities than older people

When it came to level of education, it was found that there was also no statistical difference

between the levels of education of students and their motivations to use social media. This study

focused on university students as the study population. This population of university students is

mostly consisted of people within the ages of 18 to 26 and the study found 97.5% of respondents

to be within this age bracket. This shows that the students of the university are mostly young

people who are highly motivated to use social media irrespective of their level.
In all, it can be found that the demographic features of the population does not have much of an

influence on the motivation of university students to use social media except for age. This means

that despite the gender and the level of education of the respondents, the respondents still were

highly motivated to use social media.

5.4 PEER INFLUENCE AND MOTIVATION TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA

In addition to finding the main motivations to use social media and how demographic factors

influence these motivations, we found how the influence that peer influence had on the

motivations to use social media. In order to analyze the effect of peer influence on motivations to

use social media, respondents were asked if they used Facebook because their friends used

Facebook, if they compared themselves to their friends on Facebook and whether they used

Facebook because they were curious as to what their peers were up to.

It was found that there was a strong relationship between peer influence and the motivations to

use social media. This shows how much of an influence peer influence has on motivations to use

social media. However, interpersonal utility is the highest motivation that is influence by peer

influence. This is due to the fact that most young people spend more time on social media using

their phones. This has reduced direct face-to-face contact that young people have with each

other. It is therefore not surprising that they seek to find this interpersonal utility on social media.

The next motivation most influenced by peer influence was found to be information gathering.

This implies that aside interpersonal utility, university students are influenced by peer influence

to use social media for the gathering of information. Finally, amongst the three motivations peer

influence has the least effect on entertainment.

5.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

As with the conduction of any research, this study was faced with some limitations. First was the

narrow scope of the population that was studied for the research. The study was limited to only

the students of the University of Ghana. Although the students of the University of Ghana are

suitable to be used as the focus of this research, the data collected on them and the findings may

not be representative of the overall population of students in tertiary institutions in Ghana.

Generalization would require data collection from a large section of students from the different

universities in the country.

Also, because of the use of convenience sampling in the collection of data, it was realized that

majority of the respondents were students in level 400. This does not give an accurate

representation of the views of the entire student population in the university.

There was also the limitation of time. There was little time to collect large amounts of data from

a lot of students and to critically analyze the data collected.

Even though the study hoped to study both Facebook and Instagram as they are the most popular

social media sites amongst university students, it was found that respondents who had Instagram

accounts were fewer as compared to Facebook. The analysis of data was therefore only limited to

Facebook.

5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

In order to have a comprehensive understanding of university students’ motivation to use social

media, future research should include other students from other universities in the country. This

will give a wider basis for the analysis of university students’ motivations to use social media.

Data collected should also should be evenly representative of students in all levels of their

university education.

In addition, future research should focus on collecting larger number of questionnaires from

respondents so as to get a good reflection of their motivations to use social media. Future

researchers should also consider researching on other motivations to use social media aside

entertainment, information gathering and interpersonal utility.

Future research should also take into consideration other popular social media sites aside

Facebook. This will give a more holistic and broader understanding of motivations to use social

media since a number of studies have already been conducted on Facebook. This will give us a

chance to explore other popular and emerging social media platforms.

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Facebook Profiles Reflect Actual Personality, Not Self-Idealization. Journal of

Psychological Science, 21(3) 372–374

Baek, Kanghui, Holton, Avery, Harp, Dustin, & Yaschur, Carolyn. (2011). The links that bind:

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