Title: Exploring the factors associated with weblog usage acceptance: evidence from Cyprus

Authors: Dimitrios I. Maditinos; Georgios N. Theriou; Elissavet Keisidou; Lazaros Sarigiannidis

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, Kavala Institute of Technology, School of Business and Economics, Agios Loukas 65404, Kavala, Greece. ' Department of Business Administration, Kavala Institute of Technology, School of Business and Economics, Agios Loukas 65404, Kavala, Greece. ' Department of Business Administration, Kavala Institute of Technology, School of Business and Economics, Agios Loukas 65404, Kavala, Greece. ' Department of Production and Management Engineering, School of Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Library Building, Kimmeria, 67100, Xanthi, Greece

Abstract: In the past many studies have been conducted regarding the internet, yet not enough attention was given on web blogging and the factors that influence users to participate in a weblog. By expanding the theory of reasoned action, an attempt was made to understand the reasons why users take part in a weblog. A survey, involving 102 blog users, was conducted to examine the research model. The results revealed that technology acceptance factors (ease of use and enjoyment) and knowledge sharing (reciprocal benefit) were positively related to attitude towards participating in a blog. On the other hand, social influence factors (community identification and social norm) were positively related to user's intention in regard to blog usage. The findings of this study are compared to the results found by Hsu and Lin (2008) in a similar study and also provide implications to practitioners for understanding and promoting blog usage.

Keywords: social networking; weblogs; theory of reasoned action; TRA; technology acceptance; knowledge sharing; social influence; Cyprus; blogs; blog usage; ease of use; enjoyment; reciprocal benefit; community identification; social norms; web-based communities; virtual communities; online communities.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWBC.2012.046258

International Journal of Web Based Communities, 2012 Vol.8 No.2, pp.196 - 212

Published online: 20 Aug 2014 *

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