Mobile social media marketing: a new marketing channel among digital natives in higher education?

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the characteristics of mobile social media marketing adoption in the context of digital natives via an extended Mobile Technology Acceptance Model. Specifically, mobile usefulness and mobile ease of use were studied together with (1) networks relationship properties: homophily and tie-strength to understand their impacts on innovation diffusion; and (2) social influence properties: social norms and perceived critical mass on innovation adoption intention. Data gathered from 263 university students were analysed using Partial Least Squares based Structural Equation Modelling. Other than the linkage between homophily and behavioural intention, findings revealed that all the paths hypothesised were statistically significant and supported. On top of extending the Mobile Technology Acceptance Model with social media metrics (i.e. network properties, social norms, and perceived critical mass), this study offers valuable insights on the applicability of mobile social media marketing efforts to digital natives.

KEYWORDS:

• Social media marketing
• social networking sites
• mobile marketing
• Structural Equation Modelling
• young consumers

Acknowledgements

This research is a revised and expanded version of a paper presented at the 6th International Conference on Business, Accounting, Finance and Economics, UTAR Kampar, Malaysia, and was then awarded the ‘Best Paper Award'. This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).