Acceptance of Sustainable Menstrual Choices among Youth: An Analysis Using UTAUT Perspective

Abstract

Social media applications like Instagram have the potential to promote menstrual products and provide sustainable choices. The objective of the study was to determine the influence of Instagram on sustainable menstrual choice use intention. The research heavily relies on the self-efficacy of the consumers managing menstruation by using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology Model (UTAUT 3). A purposive sampling technique was used to select respondents from menstruating females willing to fill out the questionnaires. The questionnaire was divided into three sections and each item was scored on a 5-point Likert scale, (1) strongly disagreed and (5) strongly agreed. A statistical analysis method based on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) Partial Least Squares (PLS) was used for data analysis. The respondents were 310 female college students from government and private universities of Lucknow City, Uttar Pradesh and Noida City, National Capital Region of India. The conclusion drawn from the study suggests that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, habit, and personal innovativeness play a crucial role in the user’s Behavioral Intention (BI) and Use Behavior (UB). The study recommends that the information related to sustainable menstrual choices on social media applications like Instagram can help achieve menstrual equity by empowering women to make choices regarding their menstrual health and well-being.