Understanding Information and Communication
Technology Behavioral Intention to Use: Applying the
UTAUT Model to Social Networking Site Adoption by
Young People in a Least Developed Country
Bangaly Kaba and Bakary Touré
International University of Grand-Bassam, Gand-Bassam, Route de Bonoua, BP: 564 Grand-Bassam, Cote
D’Ivoire. E-mail: kbangaly@hotmail.com; bstoure@yahoo.fr
According to many studies, social network sites (SNS)
have become some of the most popular online destina-
tions. It has been pointed out that very little is known
about the psychosocial variables that predict people’s
use of these websites. In this article, our general objec-
tive is to understand behavioral intentions to use SNS
employing the well-known unified theory of acceptance
and use of technology (UTAUT), which has been vali-
dated in a number of studies. Data were collected
through a questionnaire survey from a final sample of
1,039 social networking website users in Africa. We have
shown that there are contexts, such as the African
context, in which the UTAUT does not hold up. Explana-
tions are provided to support the findings.
Introduction
Social network sites (SNS) have become some of the
most popular online destinations in recent years in western
countries (boyd & Ellison, 2007; comScore, 2007a, 2007b)
as well as in Africa. Academic researchers have started
studying the use of SNS with a focus on identity construc-
tion and expression (boyd & Heer, 2006), building and
maintenance of social capital (Ellison, Steinfeld, & Lampe,
2007), and privacy concerns (Hodge, 2006). These findings
may not apply to the reality of other countries, especially
those located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, boyd and
Ellison (2007), the pioneers in the area, have clearly indi-
cated that there is a limited understanding of who the users
of SNS are, and for what purpose a social network site is
used outside the United States. It also has been noted that
little is known about the psychosocial variables that predict
Received August 29, 2012; revised July 1, 2013; accepted July 1, 2013
© 2014 ASIS&T • Published online 18 March 2014 in Wiley Online
Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/asi.23069
JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 65(8):1662–1674, 2014
people’s use of these websites (Pelling & White, 2009). Our
research fills this gap by explaining, employing the unified
theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), why
and how people use social networking websites in a selected
African country.
Our objective in this study is to understand behavioral
intentions to use SNS. Specifically, we want to determine the
factors that explain SNS use. The UTAUT provides an
appropriate framework to understanding and predicting peo-
ple’s use of SNS. The aim of this study is to further validate
the UTAUT in the context of SNS use in Sub-Saharan
Africa. The rationale behind using the UTAUT is that it
explains 70% of the variance (adjusted R2) in usage inten-
tion, better than any of the information and communication
technology (ICT) adoption models alone. In this research we
considered—as Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, and Davis (2003)
and Karahanna, Evaristo, and Srite (2005) have suggested—
that contextual factors such as age, gender, and voluntarism
of use can moderate the relations between the intention of
ICT use and prior beliefs.
Finally, SNS is an online virtual community platform, so
knowing psychological factors behind the adoption of these
sites presents advantages, and businesses should consider
virtual communities as a new market place because their
members are current or future customers. According to
Gangadharbatla (2008) and eMarketer (2006), advertising
spending in the social networking area reached $2 billion by
the year 2011, representing almost 8.5% of total online
spending.
There is a need to understand the determinants of
members’ intentions to participate in virtual communities
(Hsiu-Fen, 2006). Understanding users’ behavioral use
intention is important for both scholars interested in
theoretical research and professionals focused on adding
value through user-generated content sites or using these
sites as advertising vehicles (Gangadharbatla, 2008) because
the success of SNS for advertising, business, and social
activism depends on the number of users that subscribe to
the sites.
Many African governments have, or are planning to insti-
tute web-based information and communication technolo-
gies to improve the socioeconomic and political status of
their populations. However, there has not been much
research that explores the effectiveness of web-based tech-
nologies such as SNS in the region. To this end, it is impor-
tant to ascertain the perceived usefulness of ICT from the
users’ perspective. By better understanding these percep-
tions, the results of this study can help policy makers make
informed investment decisions by using these technologies
more effectively. Moreover, it can help tool designers
improve their systems to make them more attractive in an
environment such as Sub-Saharan Africa.
The study helps the key players in the adoption and
diffusion of technologies to understand the main factors that
influence the use of SNS because the nonuse or the underuse
of technological innovations in Africa appears to be the
principal reason for their noncontribution to individual and
organizational productivity increases as well as other
improvements (Anandarajan, Igbaria, & Anakwe, 2002;
Kaba, N’Da, Meso, & Mbarika, 2009; Odedra, Bennett,
Goodman, & Lawrie, 1993). This is important because it is
not the acquisition of technology that provides benefits but
rather its use (Orlikowski, 2000): understanding postadop-
tion behavior is crucial, as benefits from technology occur
through sustained use.
Background
There are a number of mainstream theories of technology
use—such as the technology acceptance model (TAM), the
theory of planned behavior, the decomposed theory of
planned behavior, social cognitive theory (SCT), and task–
technology fit theory—that have made important contribu-
tions to understanding the adoption and use of ICT. In
particular, these theories assess the impact of technology
attributes on the beliefs, attitudes, and behavior of the indi-
vidual in adopting a new ICT.
The classical theories of information technology (IT)
espouse the paradigm of rationality. It is worth mentioning
that human behavior is not exclusively determined by ratio-
nality. According to Simon (1977), people fall short of
achieving high levels of rationality; they have a simplified
view of reality and are prompted to act by immediate stimuli.
In doing so, they rely on incomplete solutions and analysis.
Thus, in this situation, the decision to accept IT is not gov-
erned solely by rational criteria based on the perceived char-
acteristics of innovation. Other factors need to be explored
(Bagozzi, 2007; Venkatesh, Thong, & Xin, 2012).
The classical theories (mentioned previously) do not dis-
tinguish the different factors behind IT acceptance. This
makes it difficult to distinguish between the motivating
factors and those that are simply sources of dissatisfaction
JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY—August 2014
rather than actual obstacles to IT adoption. Such a distinction
is crucial because it determines the factors one should focus
on when deploying IT to save time and money. It is also
important to note that the same IT adoption factors can vary
depending on the circumstances (Markus, 1983). Although
classical theories pay little attention to the influence of the
situation or context of IT adoption decision making, these
decisions can vary depending on environmental or contextual
situations (Chiasson & Lovato, 2001; Gallivan, 2001;
Karahanna, Straub, & Chervany, 1999; Markus, 1983;
Venkatesh & Davis, 2000). Currently, theories that focus on a
specific context and identify relevant predictors and mecha-
nisms are considered to be essential to provide a better
understanding of a phenomenon under study and an oppor-
tunity to meaningfully extend theories (Venkatesh et al.,
2012). Thus, studying UTAUT in SNS acceptance in an
African context represents an opportunity to make an impor-
tant theoretical contribution.
Each classical model mentioned previously focused on a
particular aspect of IT adoption and use. This explain the
necessity of having an integrated view of all the contributions
made by different theoretical models. In the absence of such
a view, there is the risk of ignoring the contribution of other
studies when a particular model is chosen as a theoretical
framework in a given research study or IT adoption project.
Because of this potential problem, Venkatesh et al. (2003)
proposed a unified model of information technology adoption
and use. The main objective was to present a synthetic view of
the contributions of major IT adoption and use models. Their
model took into consideration all the pertinent factors found
in the classical theories.
Venkatesh et al. (2003) proposed a more complete model
for the understanding of the acceptance and adoption of IT.
Their model builds upon and extends the well-established
theory of acceptance model. Our study uses this new
UTAUT to further validate the model and enhance our
understanding of the adoption of SNS. Determining the
factors of SNS adoption which seem to be a success can lead
to understanding the adoption of other ICTs.
Although numerous studies are based on the classical
theories of information technology adoption and use, includ-
ing the UTAUT, it is worth noting that most of them were
limited to testing or confirming the IT adoption and use
models. As a result, the opportunities for contribution to the
IT community are more and more restrained if important
theoretical advancements are not proposed. The classical
theories pay little attention to the influence of the context of
technological innovation acceptance or rejection decisions.
Indeed, those decisions may vary according to contextual or
environmental situations (Chiasson & Lovato, 2001;
Gallivan, 2001; Karahanna et al., 1999; Markus, 1983;
Venkatesh & Davis, 2000) .
Bandyopadhyay and Fraccastoro’s (2007) study exam-
ines the effect of culture through the social influence
variable of the UTAUT model on user acceptance of an
IT-based innovation in India. Social influence represents
societal pressure on users to engage in a certain behavior.
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This social pressure on an individual to adopt a particular
behavior varies by culture. The study confirms the proposi-
tion that culturally based social influence provides addi-
tional explanatory power concerning consumers’ intentions
to use a technology.
Junelee (2002) advises that the problem is not just
sending IT into developing countries; challenges are
raised by the ways IT is managed. He also states that new IT
should be tailored to a country’s culture, regulations, and
population needs. If these conditions are not met, developing
countries will struggle and remain behind developed
countries.
Underresearched geographical areas such as Africa
(Mbarika, Okoli, Byrd, & Datta, 2005) have cultures that
may be considered to be fairly consistent, and users’ IT
acceptance behavior models could not fit its context (Kaba
et al., 2009). It is therefore important for models that may be
affected by cultural differences to be evaluated in nonwest-
ern contexts. Previous research on technology acceptance
behavior has been cautious regarding the applicability of a
western-developed model of technology acceptance in other
cultures (Anandarajan, Igbaria, & Anakwe, 2000; McCoy,
Galletta, & King, 2007; Schepers & Wetzels, 2007).
Consequently, examining technology acceptance models
in nonwestern cultures, especially in this era of advanced
technology, to bridge the gap between the two clusters
(western and nonwestern) is a contemporary issue worthy of
inquiry and research. The current study is undertaken in
Côte d’Ivoire, an example of a nonwestern country.
Although the Internet is a relatively recent phenomenon in
Côte d’Ivoire, its use is spreading rapidly. Also, Cóte
d’Ivoire is among the African countries where a number of
digitalization efforts have been made by both local govern-
ment and international aid agencies. These reasons make
Côte d’Ivoire an ideal test-bed for applying a well-validated
western technology acceptance and use model.
Research Model and Hypotheses
The study by Venkatesh et al. (2003) has many strengths.
It provides an overview and criticism of previous work done
in the field of IT adoption and proposes, after a longitudinal
study, a model that integrates the technology adoption
factors from classical studies that explain a greater propor-
tion of the variance in IT use. The UTAUT captures infor-
mation about social and behavioral control factors. As these
factors are crucial to understanding social networking sites,
the UTAUT serves as an ideal theoretical foundation for our
study focused on understanding SNS adoption in different
sociocultural contexts.
Although the UTAUT model is robust and is widely used
in the field of information and technology, it does not fully
capture the influence of external factors that potentially
inhibit or facilitate the performance of a behavior (Lin &
Bhattacherjee, 2008). According to Venkatesh and Zhang
(2010), the model or theory may perform differently in other
cultures, and some variables could become more or less
1664 JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY—August 2014
DOI: 10.1002/asi
FIG. 1. Unified theory acceptance and use of technology model from
Venkatesh et al. (2003).
important in one culture than in others. Bandyopadhyay and
Fraccastoro (2007) argue that the existing ICT adoption and
use studies such as the UTAUT have not established clear
relationships between cultural variables and IT usage deter-
minants. Even when culture is examined, as in the UTAUT,
it is generally organizational culture that is considered
(Bandyopadhyay & Fraccastoro, 2007). We propose to
examine the effects of one country’s culture on the existing
UTAUT model and test it outside its original setting, the
United States.
The original UTAUT was developed to examine informa-
tion and communication technology adoption in business
organizations. The model’s suitability for predicting general
individual acceptance, especially in SNS adoption in an
African country, needs to be explored because Hong and
Tam (2006) found that the determinants of consumer infor-
mation system adoption are different from employee infor-
mation system adoption. Thus, users do apply different
decision-making processes depending on the context—that
is, the characteristics and usage contexts of the technology
(Orlikowski & Iacono, 2001).
Although the UTAUT is more integrative, similar to
TAM it suffers from the limitation of being predictive but
not particularly useful in providing explanations that can be
used to design interventions that foster adoption (Brown,
Dennis, & Venkatesh, 2010). Brown et al. elaborate by
stating that far less attention has been paid to technology-
specific antecedents that may provide significantly stronger
guidance for the successful design and implementation of
specific types of systems.
Given this backdrop, in the present study we propose to
contextualize the UTAUT for the particular setting of Côte
d’Ivoire. Côte d’Ivoire, a country located in West Africa,
has emerged as a key economic player with substantial ICT
implementation in business and in society.
A graphic representation of a unified model of technol-
ogy acceptance is presented in Figure 1.
 In this study, we are interested in the causal mechanisms
that shape continued intent to use SNS in a volitional use
context. Specifically, the context is one where users have
access to the technology and information about it but also
have direct experience with the use of the technology. These
conditions, then, enable users to form stable behavioral
intentions for continued use in the future. Although
behavioral intention is the best predictor of future behavior
when the behavior is volitional and the individual has the
information to form stable behavioral intentions (Ajzen,
1991; Karahanna et al., 1999), some researchers have
recommended investigating actual behavior (e.g., Kim
& Malhotra, 2005). This may be especially useful when
investigations are concerned with the causal mechanisms,
other than behavioral intention, that influence behavior in
nonvolitional or quasi-volitional contexts or when the focus
is on the consequences of ICT use (Hsieh, Rai, & Keil,
2008). As we have noted previously, however, in the current
study the respondents are freely choosing to adopt SNS for
their own purposes and do not feel pressured to use it.
Therefore we will focus on continued behavioral use inten-
tion rather than actual use.
Furthermore, the UTAUT has four key constructs—per-
formance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence,
and facilitating conditions—that influence behavioral inten-
tion to use a technology and/or technology use. We have
established a direct link between facilitating conditions and
behavioral intention to use which does not appear in the
original UTAUT as developed by Venkatesh et al. (2003).
According to Venkatesh et al. (2012), in the UTAUT, the
facilitating conditions construct is hypothesized to influ-
ence technology use directly based on the idea that, in an
organizational environment, facilitating conditions can
serve as the proxy for actual behavioral control and influ-
ence behavior directly. However, outside of an organiza-
tion, such facilitation is not available to each individual at
the same strength; it varies significantly across users. In
this context facilitating conditions will act more like per-
ceived behavioral control in the theory of planned behavior
and influence intention (Ajzen, 1991; Venkatesh et al.,
2012). This is why in the context of this study, as
Venkatesh et al. (2012), we follow the general theory of
planned behavior model and link facilitating conditions to
behavioral intention.
Below, we define the constructs and state the hypotheses
describing the relationships between the variables defined in
the research model with regard to the context of the current
study.
Performance Expectancy
Performance expectancy is defined as the degree to
which an individual believes that using the system will help
him or her to gain a specific reward (Venkatesh et al., 2003).
As such, it is quite similar to usefulness in TAM. The per-
formance expectancy construct within each individual IT
acceptance model is the strongest predictor of intention and
JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY—August 2014
remains significant in both voluntary and mandatory settings
(Venkatesh et al., 2003). According to Bolar (2009), social
networking websites are used for their utility. More specifi-
cally, people use those sites for information-gathering and
problem-solving. They are generally seeking, from the right
people, the right information that could be useful in their
work. For example, students look for help in specific com-
munities regarding their assignments. It is worth noting that
there is a distinction between men’s and women’s behavior
(Peluchette & Katherine, 2008). For example, men were
significantly more likely than women to place self-
promoting and risqué pictures or comments (involving
alcohol) on their profile. Barker (2009) reported that men
show more instrumental interest in SNS use for social com-
pensation, learning, and social identity gratification than
women and were more likely to report SNS use for these
reasons.
Awoleye, Siyanbola, and Oladipupo (2008), based on
research undertaken in an African country, showed that about
92% of undergraduate students have embraced the Internet
and are using it consistently. Their analysis revealed that
gender attitude is also an important issue; male students
appear to use the Internet more than their female counter-
parts. From that we can argue that the rationale for explaining
the gender and age differences with regards to performance
expectancy will not be very different from the outcome of the
original UTAUT studies conducted in their original setting.
Thus, we expect that the influence of performance expec-
tancy is moderated by both gender and age. Hence, the
following hypothesis:
H1: The influence of performance expectancy on behavioral
intention is moderated by gender and age, such that the effect
is stronger for men and particularly for younger men.
Effort Expectancy
Effort expectancy is defined as the degree of ease associ-
ated with the use of the system (Venkatesh et al., 2003).
This construct is very close to “ease of use” defined earlier
by Davis (1989). The successful adoption of social network-
ing sites depends on the perceived ease of use (Davis,
Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989), often conceptualized as
Internet self-efficacy for Internet technologies (Daugherty,
Gangadharbatla, & Kim, 2005; Gangadharbatla, 2008). The
finding of Gangadharbatla (2008) implies that users’ inten-
tion to use a SNS is related to their level of Internet self-
efficacy. Females have less positive attitudes toward the
Internet than males and they are less confident in their abili-
ties in using the Internet (Li, Kirkup, & Hodgson, 2001).
Joiner et al. (2005) acknowledged the gender difference in
Internet-based technology use.
In a Sub-Saharan Africa context, ICTs were perceived as
tools for educated elite; gender inequality in terms of edu-
cation and language skills indirectly disadvantages women
(who tend to be less educated and less proficient in English)
in their use of ICTs, which in turn contributes to the gender
digital divide (Geldof, 2011).
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 These gender-based constraints help to explain dispari-
ties in access and use of ICT, as evidenced by men having
better knowledge about, more ownership of, and more
experience with the use of ICT than women (Geldof,
2011).
From the foregoing, we can argue that the basis for
explaining the gender and age differences with regard to
effort expectancy is different from the outcome of the origi-
nal UTAUT studies held in the original setting. Thus, we
propose that effort expectancy is most salient for women,
particularly those who are older and have relatively little
experience with the system.
H2: The influence of effort expectancy on behavioral inten-
tion is moderated by gender, age, and experience, such that
the effect is stronger for women, particularly older women,
and particularly at early stages of experience.
Social Influence
Social influence is defined as the degree to which an
individual perceives that important others believe he or she
should use the new system (Venkatesh et al., 2003). Social
pressure refers to the belief of an individual that he or she
should conform to the practices accepted by those who
enjoy a high social status in his or her environment.
Anandarajan et al. (2002) have shown that social pressures
are among the dominant factors explaining the use of an
ICT in the African context. Subjective norm or social influ-
ence emerge as significant predictors of intention to engage
in high-level SNS use, suggesting that young adults with a
more favorable attitude toward high-level SNS use, and
who feel more pressure from others to use these websites
at high levels, are more likely to intend to engage in high-
level SNS use (Pelling & White, 2009). The Internet is an
extremely social medium, and SNS is all about being
social. It has been demonstrated in many studies that both
men and women adopt and use new technology because of
social pressure.
When it comes to social media, women are more sen-
sitive to social pressure than men, particularly in the
African context. Therefore, we expect to observe more
gender moderating effect on the relationship between
social influence and users’ intentions. Thioune (2003) has
found during research in other African countries that
women felt that ICTs were “instruments not made for
them.” Consequently, women were less likely to be using
these ICTs, as doing so would carry a social stigma
(Geldof, 2011). We can claim that the basis for explaining
the gender and age differences with regard to social influ-
ence is different from the outcome of the original UTAUT
studies conducted in the original setting. Thus, we propose
that social influence is most salient for women, particularly
those who are older and with relatively little experience
with the system.
H3: The influence of social influence on behavioral intention
is moderated by gender, age, voluntariness, and experience,
such that the effect is stronger for women, particularly older
1666 JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY—August 2014
DOI: 10.1002/asi
women, and particularly in mandatory settings in the early
stages of experience.
Facilitating Conditions
Facilitating conditions are defined as the degree to which an
individual believes that an organizational and technical infra-
structure exists to support the use of the system (Venkatesh
et al., 2003). The influence of facilitating conditions upon the
use of ICTs has been widely discussed in the literature through
various models (Ajzen, 1991; Karahanna et al., 1999;
Mathieson, Peacock, & Chin, 2001; Taylor & Todd, 1995;
Thompson et al., 1991). Triandis (1980) states that a behavior
cannot be carried out if the objective conditions of the environ-
ment prevent it. These objective conditions that encourage or
discourage the adoption of a behavior, in our case the use
of SNS, are called facilitating conditions. According to
Mathieson et al. (2001), resources including expertise, the
availability of help in case of problems, money, and documen-
tation such as a user’s guide represent the facilitating condi-
tions for the adoption and use of an ICT. Rogers (1995) names
risk-taking, education, and the quality of the social network as
facilitating conditions for the use of an innovation.
In most cases, an Internet connection in Côte d’Ivoire is
achieved through a sub-marine cable linking Africa to
Europe and Asia. In addition to the service provided by
Internet service providers using a rented link from Côte
d’Ivoire Télécom (the telephone and Internet services pro-
vider) in most cases, there are mobile service companies that
provide Internet access either through a mobile device
(mobile phone or Ipad) or through a computer using a
special device. The existence of infrastructure facilities
along with cost decreases contributed to an increase in Inter-
net subscribers from 160,000 in 2005 to 660,000 in 2008
(CIA World Factbook, 2010). The Internet is a relatively
recent innovation in the Côte d’Ivoire, but it is spreading
rapidly, and people, especially young men, are taking advan-
tage of it. Women are facing more challenges in accessing
and using and therefore in benefiting from these new ICTs
than men are, particularly in Africa. We can point out that
the rationale of explaining the gender and age differences
with regard to facilitating conditions is different from the
outcome of the original UTAUT studies held in its original
setting.
Thus, when moderated by gender and age, facilitating
conditions have a significant influence on behavioral
intention.
H4: The influence of facilitating conditions on behavioral
intention is moderated by age and experience, such that the
effect is stronger for older women, particularly with high
experience levels.
Method
In this section, we define the method and instruments
used to reach our research objectives. More specifically, we
present the questionnaire development processes and the
data collection strategy.
Questionnaire Development TABLE 1. Sociodemographic profile.

The data for this study were collected through a ques- Items Frequency Percentage
tionnaire survey adapted from Venkatesh et al. (2003). A Gender Males 509 52.8
section of the questionnaire was devoted to each variable of Females 388 40.2
the research model: performance expectancy, effort expec- Missing values 67 7.0
tancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, and the Age <15 years 18 1.9
behavioral continued use of the users. A 7-point Likert scale 16–21 615 63.8
22–27 237 24.8
(1 = strong disagreement and 7 = strong agreement) was 28–33 16 1.7
used to measure all the variables of the model, except the 34–39 7 .7
moderator variables such as age, sex, experiences, and vol- >46 2 .2
untariness of use. The items to measure those variables were Missing values 69 7.2
inspired by Venkatesh et al. (2003) and adapted to the Experiences <1 year 121 12.6
in using Internet 1–2 177 18.4
context of this study. The measures consist largely of inter- 2–3 127 13.2
val scales composed of multiple items. 3–4 101 10.5
A pretest of the questionnaire was performed to ensure its 4–5 80 8.3
content validity before its final distribution to the respon- >5 293 30.4
dents. First, we designed a preliminary version of the ques- Missing values 65 6.7
Education level University 287 29.8
tionnaire from the Venkatesh et al. (2003) study. This High School 619 64.2
version was translated into French and retranslated back Technical 19 2.0
into English to ensure its content validity. Then the French Missing values 39 4.0
version was given to researchers in the field of IT and infor-
mation systems and to industry experts familiar with the
African context. Each individual provided some comments
on the formulation, the syntax, and the number of items
included in the questionnaire. Taking into account the
investigators met with the respondents in their classrooms or
various comments, we made minor changes to the question-
on their campuses to invite the students to voluntarily com-
naire. The comments also permitted us to eliminate biases
plete and return the questionnaire.
that could exist in the questionnaire. We conducted face-to-
face interviews with to ensure that the meaning or content
of the questionnaire was well understood before we
Analysis and Results
administered at a large scale. This pretest allowed us to
clarify and refine the meanings of questions that were not The administration of the survey produced responses
well understood. from a total of 1,350 questionnaires distributed. Of the
received responses, 20 were dropped from the sample for
various reasons, among them incomplete responses and
Data Collection selection of more than one indicator for the same item.
Therefore, a total of 1,030 responses were used in the sta-
There are many ways of administering a questionnaire:
tistical assessment of the hypotheses for this study. This
direct contact, postal mailing, telephone, and online. To the
represents a response rate of 77%.
best of our knowledge, there were no listings of all SNS
The statistical analysis for this study employed the SPSS
subscribers in Côte d’Ivoire from which we could have
statistical software (SPSS 12.0.1) and the partial least
identified their mailing addresses and contacted them by
squares (PLS) statistical analysis method as supported by
mail. The investment required to compose such a list was
the SmartPLS software (Ringle, Wende, & Will, 2009)
beyond the scope of this study. Due to these limitations, the
running on a personal computer. The assessment of the col-
survey in this study was conducted using the direct contact
lected data’s descriptive statistics was performed using
method. We carefully chose 10 investigators who were
SPSS features, and the study’s hypotheses analysis, con-
attentive to the demands of precision and rigor in this study.
struct validity, and testing of the indicators’ reliabilities were
These individuals were trained to perform the survey’s
conducted in PLS. PLS provides for the simultaneous testing
tasks.
of the measurement model and the structural model that
We used a random stratified sampling. The strata were the
articulate the research hypotheses (Chin & Todd, 1995;
public or government schools and private and semiprivate
Ringle et al., 2009; Wixom & Watson, 2001).
schools. We selected randomly the constituents from each
group. More specifically, we randomly chose 27 high
schools and four universities where we contacted respon-
Descriptive Statistics
dents. A student sample is justified because SNS users fit the
demographics of college students between the ages of 18 to As shown in Table 1, the sociodemographic variables
30 years (Gangadharbatla, 2008). The researchers and the examined in this study are gender, age, experience using the

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TABLE 2. Composite reliability.
Variable Composite reliability
Effort expectancy 0.76
Facilitating conditions 0.85
Intention 0.77
Performance expectancy 0.78
Social influence 0.81
Voluntariness 0.86
Internet, and education level. Of the respondents, 52.8% are
males and 40.2% are females. Respondents are relatively
young, almost 65.7% younger than 28; more than 58% had
been using the Internet for 3 or more years.
Testing for Validity
A construct validity test ensures that the scale measure-
ments of the questionnaire provide a good representation
of the phenomenon measured. In other words, it tests the
ability of the instrument (questionnaire) to accurately
measure the concepts and variables targeted in the study.
Churchill (1979) and Peter (1981) recommend testing reli-
ability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity in
assessing construct validity. This was done following the
rules suggested by Nunnally, (1967), Fornell and Larcker
(1981), and Wixom and Watson (2001).
Reliability of measurements. In PLS, the psychometric
properties of the scales used to measure the hypothesized
model’s reliability and the validity of its constructs are mea-
sured and articulated by the measurement model. Measures
of reliability include the composite reliability of each con-
struct’s indicators. The results for the composite reliability
of each individual construct are presented in Table 2. The
composite reliability value for each latent variable was
above the threshold value of 0.7 recommended for empirical
research (Nunnally, 1967).
Convergent validity. The tests for convergent validity are
(a) that each construct’s Average Variance Extracted (AVE)
needs to be greater than or equal to 0.5 (Fornell & Larcker,
1981; Wixom & Watson, 2001)—Table 3 provides these
results—and (b) that each item’s loading onto its respective
construct should be greater than or equal to 0.5 (Wixom &
Watson, 2001).
Discriminant validity. The objective of this test is to assess
the independence of the variables. The AVE for each con-
struct was assessed in order to determine the model’s dis-
criminant validity. A model’s discriminant validity is
satisfactory if the AVE of each construct in the model is
1668 JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY—August 2014
DOI: 10.1002/asi
TABLE 3. Convergent validity.
Variables AVE
Effort expectancy 0.52
Facilitating conditions 0.54
Intention 0.53
Performance expectancy 0.54
Social influence 0.59
Voluntariness 0.675
greater than the variance shared between the construct and
other constructs in the model (Fornell & Bookstein, 1982).
As is evident in Table 4, the AVE of each construct except
facilitating conditions is greater than the construct’s corre-
lations. Therefore they have satisfactory discriminant valid-
ity. Furthermore, we calculated item cross-loadings based on
the procedure suggested for PLS (Gefen & Straub, 2005).
We see in Table 5 that each item loaded higher on its
principal construct than on other constructs. Therefore all
constructs have satisfactory discriminant validity.
Assessment of the Structural Model
The PLS procedure has become popular among IS
researchers in recent years (Aubert, Rivard, & Patry, 1994;
Compeau & Higgins, 1995) because of its ability to model
latent constructs under conditions of nonnormality (Chin,
Marcolin, & Newsted, 2003). According to Chin et al., PLS
as a modeling technique is similar to regression, but it simul-
taneously models the structural paths (i.e., theoretical rela-
tionships among latent variables) and measurement paths
(i.e., relationships between a latent variable and its indica-
tors). In this sense, PLS is preferable to techniques such as
regression which assumes error-free measurements.
To validate the research model in Figure 1, the PLS algo-
rithm was performed to evaluate item weight, and bootstrap-
ping was performed to evaluate t statistics (Ringle, Wende,
& Will, 2005). A two-tailed t test is considered with 1.645,
1.96, and 2.576 as critical values of t at significant levels (P
value) 0.1, 0.05, and 0.01, respectively (Chin & Todd, 1995;
Nunnally, 1978; Ringle et al., 2005).
The results for assessing the research model in this
article are graphically presented in Figure 1, and the sta-
tistical information pertaining to the hypotheses are sum-
marized in Table 6. As shown, the path coefficients of all
hypothesized relationships except the influences of perfor-
mance expectancy and the interaction of social influence
and voluntariness on intention are rather weak. This was a
surprising finding given the extensive validation of the
UTAUT in different contexts. We address the probable
reasons for lack of support in the Data Analysis section.
Tables 6 and 7 reveal that only two of four hypotheses
have been partially supported. The collected data enabled us
to evaluate the relative influence of performance expectancy,
effort expectancy, and social influence on intention to con-
tinue to use SNS. Table 7 addresses various aspects where
TABLE 4. Assessment of discriminant validity.

Variables Effort expectancy Facilitating conditions Intention Performance expectancy Social influence Voluntariness

Effort expectancy 0.52

Facilitating conditions 0.39 0.55
Intention 0.42 0.44 0.53
Performance expectancy 0.45 0.39 0.49 0.54
Social influence 0.49 0.56 0.42 0.38 0.59
Voluntariness 0.36 0.57 0.37 0.35 0.43 0.67

TABLE 5. Assessment of construct discriminant validity using loadings of indicators onto respective constructs.

Construct Indicator Original sample Sample mean Standard error t statistic

Behavioral intention to use Intend to use 0.62 0.47 0.35 1.79

Plan to use 0.68 0.63 0.29 2.28
Predict to use 0.86 0.80 0.24 3.61
Effort expectancy Ease to use 0.65 0.60 0.26 2.51
InteraClear 0.79 0.71 0.21 3.72
Learning 0.71 0.65 0.25 2.83
Facilitating conditions Assistance 0.83 0.76 0.28 2.90
Financial resources 0.83 0.73 0.31 2.73
No restrictions to use 0.81 0.73 0.31 2.59
Resources 0.62 0.56 0.30 2.05
Performance expectancy Getting friends 0.74 0.69 0.25 2.96
Stay in touch 0.72 0.65 0.24 3.01
Useful 0.75 0.69 0.26 2.85
Social influence People important 0.72 0.66 0.28 2.57
People influence 0.83 0.79 0.23 3.59
People support 0.74 0.68 0.26 2.89
Voluntariness of use Not expected 0.85 0.81 0.17 5.02
Not required 0.74 0.71 0.25 2.93
No obligation (not obligatory) 0.86 0.80 0.20 4.38

the results diverged from the UTAUT’s original predictions.
As can be seen, the primary outcome of continued intention
to use is explained by performance expectancy and the
interaction effect of social influence and voluntariness. The
remaining paths or hypotheses framed in the original
UTAUT were not validated in the current study. The expla-
nations are provided below.
Discussion
The results showed that performance expectancy has a
positive influence on behavioral intention but the interac-
tion of performance expectancy, gender, and age was not
significant as theorized in the original UTAUT. Indeed,
more than 90% of the respondents in this study are younger
than 28 and nearly half have been using Internet-related
technologies for at least 4 years. Similar to other young
people around the world, they are more technology-ready
and sensitive to new trends, so they are less likely to be
influenced by technology characteristics and referents’
opinions than older users. Based on the data collected, the
analysis shows that SNS users’ continued use intention
behavior was influenced by their perceived performance
expectancy. Previous research has most often supported the
conjecture that perceived usefulness, similar to perfor-
mance expectancy, is a major determinant of users’ inten-
tion to use a new ICT across technologies and cultures. The
results of this study of SNS continued use intention in a
different cultural context do not challenge the traditional
view of the role of perceived usefulness. We may then con-
clude that perceived performance expectancy transcends
national culture.
The hypothesis related to the relationship between facili-
tating conditions and behavioral intention was not supported.
Humans have an innate desire to communicate, and this
desire drives them to communicate with whatever means/
technology is available. The Internet is a relatively recent
innovation in the Côte d’Ivoire, but it is spreading rapidly and
the barriers to using it, such as connection cost, are narrow-
ing. The majority of the respondents get their connection
either at cyber cafes or school facilities where there are
people who provide them with assistance when they need it.
These facts explain why facilitating conditions are no longer
issues that impact SNS continued use intention.
The effects of effort expectancy and its moderators on
behavioral intention were not significant. The results showed

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DOI: 10.1002/asi
TABLE 6. Statistical analyses of hypothesized relationships.

Paths Paths coefficient Standard error t statistics

Age → Intention 0.00 0.24 0.01

Effort Expectancy → Intention 0.10 0.09 1.07
Effort Expectancy * Age → Intention 0.10 2.50 0.04
Effort Expectancy * Experiences → Intention 0.11 1.26 0.09
Effort Expectancy * Gender → Intention −0.09 2.67 0.03
Experiences → Intention 0.00 0.07 0.04
Facilitating Conditions → Intention 0.03 0.09 0.28
Facilitating Conditions * Age → Intention 0.00 0.94 0.00
Facilitating Conditions * Experiences → Intention 0.04 0.84 0.05
Gender → Intention 0.00 0.22 0.02
Performance Expectancy → Intention 0.26 0.12 2.22*
Performance Expectancy * Age → Intention −0.06 4.23 0.01
Performance Expectancy * Gender → Intention −0.02 4.27 0.01
Social Influence → Intention 0.07 0.14 0.48
Social Influence * Age → Intention 0.00 6.76 0.00
Social Influence * Experiences → Intention −0.15 1.12 0.14
Social Influence * Gender → Intention −0.12 6.75 0.02
Social Influence * Voluntariness → Intention 0.44 0.27 1.65#
Voluntariness → Intention −0.06 0.05 1.16

Path coefficient is significant at: *P < 0.05; #P < 0.1.

TABLE 7. Statistical analyses of hypothesized telationships
Paths or hypotheses
Not supported in this study
Age → Intention
Effort Expectancy → Intention
Effort Expectancy * Age → Intention
Effort Expectancy * Experiences → Intention
Effort Expectancy * Gender → Intention
Experiences → Intention
Facilitating Conditions → Intention
Facilitating Conditions * Age → Intention
Facilitating Conditions * Experiences → Intention
Gender → Intention
Voluntariness → Intention
Performance Expectancy * Age → Intention
Performance Expectancy * Gender → Intention
Social Influence → Intention
Social Influence * Age → Intention
Social Influence * Experiences → Intention
Social Influence * Gender → Intention
Supported in this study and UTAUT
Performance Expectancy → Intention
Social Influence * Voluntariness → Intention
that the majority of the respondents have embraced the Inter-
net and are using it consistently. The average respondent’s
experience with Internet use is between 3 and 5 years. ICT is
easy to master for a young person when compared with the
elderly who are apt to have less ability to learn new systems.
Researchers and practitioners should also be aware that as
Internet communication technology usage is so common
today, usability and social aspects are now less important in
shaping attitudes, intentions, and behavior.
Regarding the social influence variable, we have theo-
rized the same relationship as is assumed in the original
UTAUT. Only the moderating role of voluntariness was
verified in our study. This is inconsistent with the finding of
Anandarajan et al. (2002), who indicated that social pressure
is the main driver of ICT technology adoption and use. The
social influence captured in the original UTAUT is based on
organizational culture, which may sometimes differ from
national or societal culture. Also, the social influence on an
individual to perform a behavior varies by culture. A pos-
sible partial explanation of the nonvalidation of social
influence in the setting of the current study may be the
differences between U.S. culture and African culture.
Bandyopadhyay and Fraccastoro (2007), after theorizing
the social pressure or social influence based on Indian
culture, confirmed that social influence based in national
culture provides additional explanatory power concerning
users’ intention to use a technology outside of the work-
place. In the same vein, theorizing social influence based on
African culture could lead to a stronger influence on users’
IT acceptance.
On the other hand, previous studies, such as work by
Karahanna et al. (1999), have established the influence of
time on IT adoption and use behavior in preadoption and
postadoption periods. These authors found that social influ-
ence impacts ICT use only at the early stage. Because we are
studying the SNS postadoption occurred, our results tend to
confirm that social influence would be significant in the late
stages of adoption and use, if there is a context free of any
mandatory action.
In comparing our results to the original UTAUT where
the explained variance was 70%, it appears that the UTAUT
explained only 42.10% of the variance in behavioral inten-
tion to use SNS. The discrepancy in the explained variance

1670 JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY—August 2014
DOI: 10.1002/asi
suggests that there may be additional factors relevant to SNS
behavioral intention to use that deserve further consider-
ation. Such factors may include perceived media richness
and perceived personal network (PPN).
Perceived media richness is related to the ability of the
communication medium to convey feelings and emotions
(the presence of multiple indicators: tone of voice, gestures,
oral and written language). In a high-context culture such as
the Ivorian culture, words transmit only a portion of the
meaning of a message. The rest of the message must often be
inferred or interpreted according to the situation, body lan-
guage, location, and relationship between people communi-
cating. Communication media such as SNS seem to
facilitate that communication requirement in a high-context
culture, which may contribute to explaining their adoption
and use.
Indeed, given that social influence does not hold in all
adoption contexts, we recommend adding PPN exposure to
the UTAUT. PPN exposure is different from social influence
in that it captures the proportion of the adopters in a person’s
network. The SNS is an Internet-based technology like other
types of collective or interactive ICT; for a person to adopt
them requires the existence of other adopters or users. Thus,
the adoption and diffusion of these technologies is not only
explained by the attributes of the system, as indicated by a
number of theories in the literature. The larger the number of
persons using an interactive technology as SNS in a person’s
network, the greater the person’s willingness to adopt and
use the technology.
In line with critical mass theory, we may suppose that
the greater the degree of the personal exposure, the higher
the probability of the person’s willingness to continue to
use SNS.
Social networking websites as virtual tools can be con-
strued as hedonistic systems where users experience
pleasure or fun when using the system (Al-Shafi &
Weerakkody, 2009). Such uses may include socializing,
romantic encounters, shopping for desirable personal items,
customizing one’s personal appearance, playing games,
fantasy, the creation of an alter ego (Hemp, 2006), and other
experiences that may, for example, contribute to building
self-esteem, social bonding, and self-actualization (Al-Shafi
& Weerakkody, 2009). To have a pleasurable experience,
individuals often seek sensations on multiple sensory chan-
nels (Van der Heijden, 2003), and clearly virtual systems
such as SNS are equipped, by design, to provide such mul-
timedia experiences (Al-Shafi & Weerakkody, 2009). Unfor-
tunately, an information systems adoption and use theory
such as the UTAUT is built primarily on the utilitarian
paradigm of providing instrumental value to the user. The
recent study by Venkatesh et al. (2012) has indicated strong
support for use intentions driven by both utilitarian and
hedonistic values of the system.
We may reasonably think that cost could be viewed as an
issue for using an SNS even though the cost is decreasing in
Côte d’Ivoire. Furthermore, Internet connection charges in
Côte d’Ivoire are not cheap when compared to the average
JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY—August 2014
per capita income. It would then be appropriate to consider
cost issues related to social networking adoption and use as
Venkatesh et al. (2012) proposed.
Theoretical and Practical Contributions
According to our results, it seems that the UTAUT did
not address all the weaknesses of the well-known, and criti-
cized, technology acceptance models. We are recommend-
ing going beyond the UTAUT by adding additional factors
for a more powerful explanation of ICT acceptance and to
address ICT continued use issues.
TAM, as does the UTAUT, suggests that individuals’
beliefs about the features offered by the information systems
explain their adoption and use. According to these theories,
the totality of a person’s beliefs serves as the informational
base that ultimately determines the user’s intention and
behaviors. Humans are considered as essentially rational,
using the information at their disposal to make judgments,
form evaluations, and make decisions. According to the
findings of this research, when it comes to social media, the
conventional parameters for adoption do not hold up well.
Perhaps this is because the technology (social media) is
synonymous with the web and the web is already widely
accepted. Perhaps it is because the motivators to use social
media technology are not only technological; rather, they are
more related to social interaction and human needs to com-
municate. The use of social networking websites strengthens
social relationship ties. In a high-context culture such as
African, information technologies which are facilitating
message transmission are adopted even though traditional
attributes such as those defined in the adoption model are
unfavorable.
Unfortunately, the research to date on ICT adoption, use,
and dissemination has focused on IT characteristics rather
than taking into consideration the information and interac-
tion aspects involved in the use of a system such as an SNS.
The use of such a system requires the exchange of verbal and
nonverbal messages conveying emotion and information.
Thus, research needs to consider the implications of both the
informational and technology aspects of a communication
technology adoption and use decision. With the convergence
of telecommunications, computing, and multimedia applica-
tions, new social networking technologies are offering new
perspectives for a number of innovative applications in a
global and culturally diverse world.
The UTAUT, as developed and used by Venkatesh et al.
(2003) in a workplace context, espouses a systematic
approach based on a balance of efficacy (productivity gain)
and efficiency (effective use of resources including time). It
may not apply to ICT adoption in a nonwork setting where
the goals are not always productivity and efficiency. In the
work place, performance expectancy means that no one
makes the decision to acquire new IT if it is not offering any
benefit, while social influence refers to pressure from col-
leagues and supervisors, and effort expectancy is the degree
to which a person believes that using new IT would be easy. In
1671
DOI: 10.1002/asi
the organizational context, people tend to use IT, regardless of
favorable or unfavorable attitudes toward it, if they believe
that it offers certain advantages, such as getting a promotion
or increasing productivity. That statement makes sense in
today’s work environments which require flexibility and
achieving results in limited time. The fact that IT has the
possibility to enrich a job and ensure efficiency increases its
probability to be used. The results presented here clearly
show that the UTAUT does not hold in all the adoption
contexts and it may not be used cross-culturally, outside its
original country and language of origin.
Finally, our study contributes to IS research on culture. It
has been highlighted that the role of culture in ICT adoption
and use is not totally understood. Our research not only
shows the cultural differences, it also indicates the cultural
similarities with regards to ICT adoption and use behavior,
by demonstrating that performance expectancy resists
culture difference in SNS use. The study suggests that
culture and context are contingency factors that should be
taken into account.
Study Limitations
As is typical, this research has limitations. It is possible
that the data collected on the SNS are not easily generalized
to other ICTs, and the UTAUT should be tested on other
technologies to assess the external validity of the study.
Another limitation of the study is that it is cross-sectional,
and thus does not reflect the evolution of the variables
studied over time. In this sense, it would be advisable for
future research to conduct a longitudinal study to examine
the evolution of beliefs and intention over time (before,
during, and after the adoption of a technology), as was the
case with the original UTAUT study.
Conclusion
The aim of this study was to further validate the
UTAUT in the context of SNS use and adoption. We tested
the determinants or factors from the UTAUT that explain
the use of SNS by young students in Côte d’Ivoire. This
helps to further provide researchers and policy makers with
prescriptive directions to address ICT adoption and diffu-
sion in Côte d’Ivoire, creating the basis for sustainable ICT
development. Previous research has undertaken some work
to cross-culturally validate and culturally extend technol-
ogy acceptance models, such as the TAM. However, the
UTAUT, a more recent instrument, which combines exist-
ing models of technology acceptance including TAM, has
been validated in few studies outside of its original
context. This study addressed this shortfall by applying the
UTAUT to a contemporaneous technology in a different
cultural context. We have shown that there are contexts,
such as Africa, in which the UTAUT does not hold up. The
findings also indicate that the adoption process differs
from one technology and society to the next. ICT adoption
and implementation projects should take that specific
1672 JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY—August 2014
DOI: 10.1002/asi
finding into consideration. More efforts are needed to find
the factors that do truly explain intention to use new com-
munication platforms such as social media. Future research
on ICT adoption and use in Africa should address this
problem so that individuals can benefit from the full poten-
tial of those tools and raise socioeconomic standards on
the continent.
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