Title: Juxtaposition of favourable and deterrent antecedents on WhatsApp usage optimisation

Authors: K. Sayee Manohar; Siva K.K. Muthaly; Navin K. Veerapa

Addresses: Department of Management and Commerce, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, Muddenahalli, 562101 Karnataka, India ' Melbourne Institute of Technology, 288 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia ' SM Research Pty Ltd., 5 Melva Ct, Sydenham, VIC 3037, Australia

Abstract: This paper ascertains the tenets of usage optimisation 'UO' of WhatsApp as a social media communication platform and the influence of selected aspects on individuals' level of positivity or negativity in context of WhatsApp's usage optimisation (UO). A questionnaire was administered to an audience in South India. The applicability of the conceptual model was first validated and a partial least squares (PLS) SEM based methodology to analyse and interpret the overall findings. Path analysis has also shown the catalytic role of intermediation by favourable elements and aspects of deterrents. The findings in this study are contradictory to the norm with WhatsApp's phenomenal acceptance and its impulsive adoption. Businesses could benefit by incorporating aspects of the antecedents, in designing niche promotional strategies for their targeted segments and will therefore have a renewed opportunity to incorporate strategies to filter repeated messages and irrelevant chats in new value-added WhatsApp platforms.

Keywords: WhatsApp; social media; usage optimisation; favourable; deterrent; antecedents; socialising; partial least squares; juxtaposition.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2024.135997

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2024 Vol.36 No.1, pp.39 - 59

Received: 17 Dec 2018
Accepted: 02 Sep 2019
Published online: 12 Jan 2024 *

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