Baazeem, Rami (2020) How religion influences the use of social media : the impact of the online user’s religiosity on perceived online privacy and the use of technology in Saudi Arabia. (PhD thesis), Kingston University, .
Abstract
Religion has a significant effect on people’s lives. It impacts human behaviour, thoughts, morale standards, attitudes and values. The literature shows that religiosity has an effect also on consumer behaviour. However, the concept of religiosity has been under-researched due to the sensitivity of religion (Swimberghe, Flurry, & Parker, 2011). According to Vitell (2009) there is still a need to develop a vigorous theoretical understanding of the impact of religiosity on the consumer behaviour. This thesis contributes to that knowledge by developing a model to explain the effect of the religiosity of the online user on their use of social media. Current research does not fully explain the specifics of religious influences on online user behaviours. This thesis main goal is to build a model that can measure the effect of intrinsic religiosity on the use of social media. The proposed model uses the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) along with Privacy concern to measure the effect of religiosity on the use of social media. This thesis empirically tests the proposed model linking religiosity, privacy concerns, technology acceptance and the use of social media. Allport and Ross' (1967) religious orientation scale (ROS) is used to measure the intrinsic religiosity. Xu et al's., (2011a) model of privacy concern is used to measure privacy concerns when using social media. Venkatesh, Thong and Xu's (2012) unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) is used to measure the user acceptance of social media. Using partial least square structural equation modelling, intrinsic religiosity (ROS), and privacy concerns along with technology acceptance are shown to influence the use of social media. The results show that religion has an indirect effect on the use of social media through privacy concerns and technology acceptance. The results also show that the model can predict the effect of intrinsic religiosity on the use of social media to share and disclose information. The implications from this study are significant both for policy and practice for social media companies as well as users. Information from this study will help social media companies to maximize users’ involvement with social media. It will also benefit the industry and the literature by providing a sound model that can measure the impact of religion on the behaviour of users.
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