Drivers of Global Social Network Adoption: A Technology-Organisation-Environment Perspective

The aim of this study is to explore the drivers of social network adoption at a global level. The focus of past research has largely been placed on social network adoption at the country level with few studies conducted at the global level. Furthermore, the mediating role of ICT access on social network adoption has been given limited attention. To fill this gap, this study employs the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework to investigate factors that may influence global social network adoption. Relying on archival and cross-sectional data from 135 countries and using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling, our findings show that social network adoption at the global level, is positively influenced by ICT access of a county and that ICT regulation and the development of the human resource will not directly influence social network adoption. Though technological, organizational, and environmental factors all together accounted for 55.5% of the variance in social network adoption, the mediating role of ICT access and the effects of human resource development on social network adoption was found to be significant. Our findings provide a fresh insight into the adoption of social network sites at the global level. Our study provides some implications for research and practice.