UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE THROUGH THE LENS OF TAM: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF FACEBOOK USERS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

The high growth of social networking sites (SNSs) has revolutionized the way people interact, exchange information, and run business. Facebook is one of those mediums that are central in Pakistan not only in the personal interactions but also in journalism. This paper deploys and expands the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to research the factors that influence the Facebook use behavior of Karachi-based and Hyderabad-based working journalists in Pakistan. The quantitative, explanatory research design was applied to collect the data in the form of structured questionnaire with 309 respondents. The model comprised the classical TAM variables - Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Ease of Use (EU), and other variables - Trustworthiness (TW), Playfulness (PP), Capability (CP) and Critical Mass (CM). The SPSS was used to examine data on descriptive statistics and reliability test, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with Smart PLS was employed to test the measurement and structural models. Findings affirmed that PU and EU had a great impact on Behavioral Intention (BI) in line with other studies conducted on TAM basis. TW and PP were used as a mediator which indicated that trust and enjoyment played an important role in enhancing adoption behavior. There were also significant roles of CP and CM, with the focus on the influence of digital competence and peer pressure. The TAM was found to be quite robust in a non-Western and developing country context, as it accounted for a very large percentage of variance (R 2 > 0.60) in Facebook usage. This research has a theoretical contribution in the form of making extensions of TAM by introducing contextual constructs as well as an empirical contribution in the form of offering insights into Facebook adoption by Pakistani journalists. In a practical sense, it highlights the importance of user-friendly design, a high level of privacy, and meaningful user experiences to increase the use and retention of a platform. Further SNSs and the qualitative method should be used to gain a better insight into the user motivation in future studies.