A Contextualization of the Technology Acceptance Model to Social Media Adoption Among University Students in Cameroon

The outbreak of the world wide web and of Web 2.0 technologies, coupled with various increased forms of social interaction on globalized digital networks, has not spared higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through social media, students can share points of view and ideas on common themes, unite around communities they have created sharing the same interests and the same ideology. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of social media on student performance using an extended technology acceptance model (TAM). The data collected from 460 students and analyzed using SmartPLS software and structural equation modeling revealed that (1) perceived satisfaction, attitude, intention to use have a significant influence on academic performance and that (2) agreeableness and openness significantly contribute to perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness. This research adds to the existing literature by modeling and evaluating a social media and personality traits-based model, thus offering a holistic approach to understanding social media use in higher education.