Predicting the Intention to Adopt WhatsApp Groups as an Innovative Source of Business Financing: An Application of the Technology Acceptance Model

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the intention to adopt the WhatsApp group as a source of business financing. The study incorporated anxiety, perceived content quality (PCQ), perceived system quality (PSQ), and image into the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to forecast the adoption level in WhatsApp groups based on these variables. Employing a quantitative research approach, data was gathered through an online questionnaire from 362 respondents in Ghana. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed for data analysis using Amos 27. Findings revealed positive effects of image, perceived content quality, and perceived ease of use on perceived usefulness. Additionally, the study identified that perceived system quality had a significant effect on perceived ease of use, while perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness had significant effects on attitude towards use. Also, perceived usefulness and attitude towards use had significant positive effects on behavioural intention. Finally, the study found that attitude toward use played a partial mediating role in the relationships between perceived usefulness and behavioural intention to use. This empirical paper is one of the first to have tested the TAM in the users' intention to adopt the WhatsApp group as a source of business financing.