Análise dos preditores da intenção de utilizar a rede social Facebook: uma aplicação da teoria da ação planejada

Abstract

Facebook is a social network of great impact, among social networks is the one with the largest number of users in a social network composed of millions of people it is possible to find the most varied behaviors. In this sense, the Theory of Planned Action presents itself as a theory that can aid in the understanding and prediction of behaviors. This dissertation aimed to analyze the determinants of intention to use Facebook, based on TAP. This dissertation is composed of three articles, one theoretical and two empirical, and each chapter is composed of each of these articles. The first article had as objective to discuss, through a theoretical revision, the interfaces between the Theory of Planned Action and the use of Facebook, as well as the contribution that the theory can give to the understanding of this phenomenon. This article concluded that what is perceived is still a small number of studies that investigate the factors related to the use of Facebook, mainly in Brazil. TAP is a theory that can provide more complete data about the use of this social network, results that can be used to serve as a basis in the development of strategies that aim to modify both positive and negative behaviors. The second article was an empirical study, responsible for the first part of this research and aimed to understand the beliefs regarding the use of Facebook in light of the Theory of Planned Action. Interviews were conducted with 29 students from public and private higher education institutions in the city of Maceió, aged between 19 and 37 years. The data were transcribed and transformed into a corpus for analysis in the IRAMUTEQ software. The Descending Hierarchical Analysis and Similitude Analysis were performed. From the descending hierarchical classification (CHD), 281 text segments (ST) were analyzed. It was possible to show, in general terms, that the use of Facebook is linked to the main objective of interconnecting and facilitating communication between people and, secondarily, as news source or search for job openings, for example. The software proved to be useful and effective for content analysis of interviews. The third article aimed to identify the factors that influence the behavioral intentions of using Facebook based on the precepts of the Theory of Planned Action. The first step described in the second article served as the basis for the development of this second stage. The sample consisted of 309 subjects, 63.1% female (n = 195), 36.9% male (n = 114). Age ranged from 18 to 56 years (M = 28.45, SD = 7.515). This stage presents evidence of validity of the ANUF Scale, an instrument composed of 2 factors, the first one corresponds to subjective norms. Positive correlations were found between attitudes favorable to using Facebook and the frequency of weekly access. The subjective norms did not present significant correlations with the use of Facebook. Overall, it was concluded that the use of Facebook is influenced by attitudinal and normative factors. These findings can be used to help understand the factors involved in using Facebook and help create measures to avoid harmful use. From the data obtained through the second defined model, it can be concluded that the determinants of the intention to use Facebook are mainly subjective norms, followed by attitudes. Thus, when carrying out educational interventions with users, it is important that they are aimed at modifying attitude and standards variables. It is hoped that these results can help in creating measures that involve the use of Facebook.