The Acceptance and Usage Behaviour of the Generation Y on the Subject of Mobile Social Network Advertising in Germany

Abstract

The recent and rapid development of mobile social network advertising (mobile SNA) makes it an interesting research field. However, due to the lack of a clear theoretical model, only limited research in this specific area was carried out to date. For this reason, the present research combines many different models and theories from the acceptance and advertising context and develops a unified model which explains the acceptance and usage behaviour of mobile SNA. The present research tests the unified model by using a quantitative, numerical study. A self-administered internet-mediated questionnaire was sent to German Facebook users who are part of the so-called Generation Y. The data and the model was analysed using an exploratory factor analysis, a confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation modeling. The findings of this research support the unified model. For instance, the model explains 52 percent of the variance in actual interaction with mobile SNA, 65 percent of the variance in behavioural intention with mobile SNA and 83 percent of the variance in attitude toward mobile SNA. The present study further discovered that the behavioural intention to interact with mobile SNA strongly predicts the actual interaction with mobile SNA. Moreover, the study found out that perceived usefulness strongly determines the behavioural intention to interact with mobile SNA. An interesting discovery was that gender did not moderate any relationships inside the model. The study also discusses its theoretical contributions and managerial implications. Last but not least, the study presents the limitations of its research and recommendations for future research.