The adoption of Web 2.0 services: An empirical investigation

The paper investigates the factors associated with the intensity of use of three Web 2.0 services - video sharing, social networking and social bookmarking - by looking at the users characteristics and at the technological features. It relies upon a theoretical framework that combines the diffusion of innovation model with the technology acceptance model. However, it goes beyond them by focusing not simply on the determinants of adoption, but on the determinants of the intensity of use, and by introducing variables related to the social influence. The empirical analysis is based upon a survey of 300 users of Web 2.0 services. We find that the compatibility with users' needs and behaviours plays an important role for the intensity of usage of both video sharing and social networking services, while the ease of use positively affects the intensity of usage of social networking services, but has a negative effect on the intensity of usage of video sharing services. Extrinsic job-related motivations are important drivers of the intensive usage of social bookmarking and social networking services, while sharing contents is relevant for video sharing and social networking services. Finally, individual characteristics such as age, education and IT endowment also play an important role. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.