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Perceived value of social networking sites (SNS) in students' expressive participation in social movements

Juan D. Borrero (Departamento de Dirección de Empresas y Marketing, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain)
Shumaila Y. Yousafzai (Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK)
Uzma Javed (Management Sciences Department, CIIT, Islamabad, Pakistan)
Kelly L. Page (Arts, Entertainment and Media Management, Columbia College Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA)

Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing

ISSN: 2040-7122

Article publication date: 4 March 2014

1847

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine the beliefs that influence university students to use social networking sites (SNS) for expressive participation in social movements.

Design/methodology/approach

The original technology acceptance model (TAM), a quantitative methodological approach, and a survey were used to collect responses from 214 university students in Spain. Structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed relationships.

Findings

Results confirm that the perceived ease of use (PEU) and perceived usefulness (PU) of SNS significantly affect a student's intention to use SNS for expressive social participation in social movements, with use intention significantly affecting actual participation. There was no significant moderating effect of students' gender on these relationships.

Originality/value

Although there is much discussion in the popular press about how people use SNS, there is no published empirical research on the determinants that contribute to a person's intention to use and actual use of SNS in the context of social movements. This paper is one of the first studies to investigate young people's perception of the SNS usefulness and ease of the use for participation in social movements.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank students studying at University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain for their participation. Special thanks to Enrique Ferradás and Alfonso Vargas (University of Huelva) for their help in the rounds of discussion and revision for adapting the concepts to SNS context. The authors are also deeply grateful to lecturer, community manager, and activist friends that participated in the pre pilot-test phase.

Citation

D. Borrero, J., Y. Yousafzai, S., Javed, U. and L. Page, K. (2014), "Perceived value of social networking sites (SNS) in students' expressive participation in social movements", Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 56-78. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-03-2013-0015

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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