Student Entrepreneurs’ Intention to Adopt Social Media as a Business Platform: A Sri Lankan Study

Abstract

Social media is one of the major players in today’s social commerce world. Although connecting people around the world to connect and share their interests, it is becoming as a business platform for not only small startup firms but student entrepreneurs too. The purpose of this investigation is to delineate the factors that influence student entrepreneurs’ behavioural intention to use social media as their business platform.  This study used quantitative approach using questionnaire survey. The duration was four months in the year 2019. Responses from 559 student entrepreneurs were included for analysis. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling using SmartPLS 3 software was deployed to validate the measurement and structural model and test the hypotheses. It was found in this study that Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, Facilitating Conditions, Perceived Enjoyment and Perceived Risk were positively and significantly impacting student entrepreneurs’ behavioural intention to use social media as the business platform. This investigation primarily based the well-known UTAUT for the model to study student entrepreneurs’ behavioural intention to adopt social media as their business platform. Findings of this study would put up a foundation for those who design and implement programmes promoting the social media as business platform for not only student entrepreneurs but other startups as well.