Testing the inter-relations of factors that may support continued use intention: The case of Facebook

• Published in: Social Science Information Vol. 53; no. 3; pp. 293 - 310
• Main Authors: Bonsón, Enrique, Escobar, Tomás, Ratkai, Melinda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.09.2014; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Attitudes; College Students; Discriminant analysis; Enterprises; Europe; Facebook; Influence; Information systems; Interest Groups; Mass Media; Organizational Effectiveness; Platform; Satisfaction; Social Influence; Social media; Social networks; Stakeholder; Universities; University students; User behavior; Europe; media sociaux; modèle de continuation; utilité perçue; confirmation; intention de poursuite d’utilisation; satisfaction; perceived usefulness; continued use intention; continuance model; influence sociale; Facebook; social influence; social media; attitude
• ISSN: 0539-0184; 1461-7412
• DOI: 10.1177/0539018414525874

Information systems (IS) may not improve organizational and/or companies’ performance if they are not used by stakeholders. Understanding why people continue or discontinue use of IS is crucial in increasing users’ acceptance. This article aims to analyze what is needed to perpetuate use of Facebook as a social media channel. Factors such as confirmation, perceived usefulness, social influence, satisfaction and attitude were tested for their impact on continued use intention in relation to Facebook. The inter-relations between the aforementioned constructs are tested with empirical data collected from 732 European university students. We found that social influence essentially had no effect within the model, so it seems that intention to continue using Facebook is affected mainly by stakeholders’/users’ attitude toward using this platform. Although we based the research on the IS Continuance Model, this article has extended its dimensions by incorporating (1) social influence and (2) attitude, offering the first investigation of continued use intention in relation to Facebook by testing the inter-relations between the aforementioned factors.