Authors:
Eleni Dermentzi
;
Savvas Papagiannidis
;
Carlos Osorio
and
Natalia Yannopoulou
Affiliation:
Newcastle University, United Kingdom
Keyword(s):
Academics, Social Media, Academic Engagement, Social Networking Sites, Theory of Planned Behaviour, Gratifications Theory.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Social Networks and Organizational Culture
;
Society, e-Business and e-Government
;
Web Information Systems and Technologies
Abstract:
Although Social Networking Sites (SNS) have become popular among scholars as tools for engagement within academia, there is still a need to examine the motives behind academics’ intentions to adopt SNS. This study proposes and tests a research model based on the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour and Gratifications Theory with a sample of 370 academics around the world in order to address the objective set. Our findings suggest that while attitude and perceived behavioural control are the main drivers of academics’ intentions to adopt SNS for engagement, the effect of social norms on intentions is not significant. In addition, networking needs, perceived usefulness, image, and perceived reciprocity affect attitude, while self-efficacy affects perceived behavioural control. Implications for SNS providers and universities that want to promote and encourage online engagement within their faculties are discussed.