Sharing Information in Groups: Whatsapp Instant Messaging Application Acceptance and use

Abstract

Whatsapp is one of the most popular apps in the world and makes it possible to create groups for different purposes. Thus, investigating the individual’s intrinsic motivations for using this social media can collaborate in online behavior understanding. In this sense, this paper aims to verify the group participation influence in the acceptance and intention to use WhatsApp. For that, a survey was carried out with students from a higher education institution. Two theoretical models were used: the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology II – UTAUT II (Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2012), and the groups participation level (Bronstein et al., 2016). Results show that participation in groups positively influences performance expectation, social influence, hedonic motivation, and habit. The intention to WhatsApp use is positively impacted by the performance expectation, effort expectation, hedonic motivation, and habit.

Keywords

• participação em grupos
• aceitação de tecnologias
• uso de tecnologias