Using the Consumption Values Theory to Analyze the Relationship between the Motives for Facebook Use and Its Perceived Usefulness for University Students

Abstract

The usage of Facebook among university students is more and more widespread. Students are using Facebook anywhere and anytime, sometimes too much. Several researchers questioned the usefulness and the motives for its use. This paper aims to analyze the relationship between the motives for Facebook use and its perceived usefulness from the perspective of consumption values theory. The motives for Facebook use have been conceptualized as a formatively measured construct that impacts two drivers of the intention to use: the perceived usefulness and the perceived ease of use. This approach has the advantage of using a small set of indicators corresponding to the main categories of motives. The model has been tested on a sample of 182 university students from a technical faculty. The results show that the perceived usefulness is relatively low, a little bit over the neutral value. As regards the motives for using Facebook, the estimation results revealed four motives: keeping in touch with known people, finding information and resources, socialization, and entertainment.