A Comparative Study on South African Users’ Perception to Use, Choose, and Purchase a Smartphone Device through the Lens of the Social Shaping of Technology (SST) Theory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24203/ijcit.v10i2.80Keywords:
Mobile communication; mobile technology device; smartphone device; socio-networking sites; social shaping technology; social capital; social influence; perceived mobility value; social networksAbstract
Mobile technologies are increasingly making important contributions to the lives of many users. Various factors are said to influence the decision of users to remain connected and be in constant interaction with other users from the same or different social networks. This paper used the Social Shaping of Technology (SST) theory to assess the influence of users’ social networks on their decision to use, choose and purchase a smartphone device. The study used a quantitative research method to analyse data. Data were collected from a sample of young adults aged between 15 and 35 years residing in Durban, South Africa. The study revealed that social networking sites influence users’ decision to use, choose, and purchase a smartphone device. The findings also revealed factors that are perceived as influential in the perceptions of users about their social networks and their interactions with users from the same social networks.
References
Albane, A., Hampshire, K., Mashiri, M., Munthali, A., Porter, G. & Tanle, A. (2012). Youth, mobility and mobile phones in Africa: Findings from a three-country study, Information Technology for Development. Information Technology for Development, 18(2), 145-162.
Ayal, A. (2011). Freedom of Choice: Lessons from the Cell Phone Market. Laws and Contemporary Problems, 74(91).
Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: Principles, Methods and Practices (2ndEd.). Florida. Jacobs Foundation.
Bijker, W.E. (1995). Of Bicycles, Bakerlites, and Bulbs: Toward a Theory of Sociotechnical Change. Cambridge, Massachusetts, The MIT Press.
Birke, D. & Swann, P. (2010). Network Effects, Network Structure Consumer Interaction in
Mobile Telecommunication in Europe and Asia. Journal of Economics Behavior & Organization, 76(10), 152-167.
Boateng, R. & Duncombe, R. (2009). Mobile phones and financial services in developing
countries: A review of concepts, methods, issues, evidence, and future research directions. Third World Quarterly, 30(7), 1237-1258.
Bode, W.F., Franks, D.W. & Wood, A.J. (2012). Social networks improve leaderless group
navigation by facilitating long-distance communication. Current Zoology, 58(2), 329-341
Bougie & Sekaran, U. (2010). Research Methods for Business: A Skill Building Approach
(5th Ed.). Chichester: Wiley.
Brown, R. & Mercer, D. (2009). The Social Shaping of Technology: Lessons for Eco Innovators. Australian Journal of Information Systems, 16.
Cao, X., Gu, J., Guo, X., Liu, H. (2015). The role of social media in supporting knowledge
integration: A Social capital analysis. Information Systems Frontiers, 17(2), 351-362.
Dauda, Y.S. & Lee, J. (2014). A conjoint analysis of consumers’ preferences on future online
banking services. Information Systems, Volume 53, Pages 1-15.
Davis, R., Laszlo, S. & Chandhri, A. (2011). Do Consumers Trust Mobile Service Advertising?
Contemporary Management Research, 7(4), 245-270.
Edge, D. & William, R. (1996). The social shaping of technology. Research Policy, 25(1996), 865-899.
Feng, X. & Zhu, A. (2010). A Social Network Solution Based on Mobile Subscriber
Contact-Books. Bell Labs Technical, 15(1), 53-66.
Frels, L. & Onwuegbuzie, H. (2013). Demystifying Mixed Methods Research Design: A Review
of the Literature. Melvana International Journal of Education (MIJE). Vol.3 (2), pp.112-122.
Garcia, E., Hoveyda, P. K & Melanie, Z. (2012). South African Mobile Generation:
Study on South African Young People. Digital Citizen Safety.
Gladerev, B. & Markku, L. (2008). Social networks and cell phone use in Russia: local
consequences of global communication technology. New Media Society, 10(273).
Gunopulos, D., Kotzias, D. & Lappas, T. (2016). Home is where you are friends: Utilizing the
social graph to locate twitter users in a city. Information Systems, Volume 57, Pages 111-128.
Ibrahim, M.A. (2012). Thematic Analysis: A Critical review of its Process and Evaluation.
Academic conference proceedings. WEI International European.
Jorgensen, M. S. & Jorgensen, U. (2009). Green Technology Foresight of High Technology: A Social Shaping of Technology Approach to the analysis of hopes and hypes. Technology
Analysis & Strategic Management, 21(3), 363-379.
Kalkbreaner, J. & McCampbell, A. (2011). The Advent of Smartphones: A study on the effect
of handheld electronics on personal and professional productivity. Journal of Applied Global Research, 8(2011).
Levy, D. M., Nardick, D.L., McWatters, L. & Turner, J. W. (2011). No Cell phone? No Internet? So Much Less Stress. Chronicle of Higher Education, 57(36).
Lewis, P., Saunders, M. & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research Methods for Business
Students (5th ed.): Pitman Publishing Imprint.
Lu, Y. & Zhoo, T. (2011). Examining Post adoption of Mobile Services from a Dual Perspective
of Enablers and Inhibitors. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 27(12), 1177-1191.
Mackenzie, D. (1996). Knowing Machines: Essays on Technical Change. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Mackenzie, D. & Majcman, J. eds. (1999). The Social Shaping of Technology, 2nd ed., Open University Press, Buckingham, UK.
Molapo, M. E. & Mukwada, G. (2011). The Impact of Customer Retention Strategies in the
South African Cellular Industry: The Case of Eastern Free State. International Journal of
Business, Humanities and Technologies, 1(2).
Ngai, W.T., Moon, K., Spencer, S. & Tao, C. (2015). Social media research: Theories, constructs,
and conceptual frameworks. International Journal of Information Management, 35(1), 33-44.
Statssa (see Statistics South Africa). Retrieved from http://www.statssa.gov/?page_id=4286&id=10350. Accessed on 2016-12-03.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Lufungula Osembe
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The articles published in International Journal of Computer and Information Technology (IJCIT) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
