MEDIATING ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY AWARENESS ON SOCIAL INFLUENCE – BEHAVIOURAL INTENTION RELATIONSHIP

Abstract

Behavioural intention has received a tremendous attention in the technology adoption literature. Thus empirical studies have found a number of factors as influencers of behavioural intention, which included Social Influence, Technology Awareness among others. However, there is sparse of literature that examine the mechanism through which Social Influence predicts Behavioural Intention, especially given the fact that previous studies have resulted in conflicting findings. This study proposed and examined themmediating role of Technology Awareness on the aforementioned relationship. Available data from owners and managers of Nigerian retail industry, on the use of Point of Sale terminal, were analysed using Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling technique, with SmartPLS 2.0 software. Measurement model was assessed based factor loading, average variance extracted and composite reliability using standard PLS algorism, while the structural model was assesses based on coefficient of determination, effect sizes and predictive relevance using bootstrapping procedure and blindfolding. The direct effect was significant, but absorbed when the mediating variable was introduced, therefore we assessed the mediating effect based on variance accounted for. Technology Awareness was found to have significant mediating effect on the relationship between the two constructs; hence we offer recommendations to stakeholders, highlight limitations of the current study and chart way for future research.

Keywords: Retail, Mediating Role, Technology Awareness, Behavioural Intention, PLS – SEM