Adoption of social network sites among working adults in Singapore.

Abstract

Social network sites (SNSs) are gaining popularity around the world, with millions of users maintaining profiles on these websites. However, little research has been done on the adoption of SNSs. This study looked at the adoption of SNSs among working adults in Singapore. Based on Roger’s (2003) diffusion of innovation theory, this study adapted Chang et al’s (2006) model to find out how adopters’ characteristics, innovation characteristics, technology cluster and perceived popularity of the innovation affected the adoption of social network sites by 4 adopter categories of Continuers, Discontinuers, Potentials and Resistors.

Results from a survey on 238 Singaporean working adults showed that, first, innovation characteristics like relative advantage, compatibility and complexity, and perceived popularity were important in SNS adoption decisions. Second, adopters’ characteristics vary in their influences on different types of adoption decisions. Age was a significant factor in the adoption decisions of early adopters of SNSs while gender and innovativeness were the differentiating factors in the continued use and potential adoption of SNSs respectively. Third, adopters and nonadopters showed significant differences in terms of technology cluster.