Information and communication technology use continuance behavioral intention: Differential effect based on socio-economic status

Abstract

In the global information society, the importance of the Internet cannot be overemphasized. Unfortunately, a case in point is Africa, where, as per 2017 statistics, only 9.4 % of the population use the Internet [25]. While tremendous efforts have been made to address global Internet penetration, recent studies and statistics still indicate the digital inequality still exists today (Yu et al, 2016) and it prevents some individuals to benefit from the digital opportunities. The aim of this paper is to understand the difference in Internet use continuance by people of different economic status. The finding showed that satisfaction is the strongest precursor for Internet use continuance and it affects stronger the socio-economically advantaged groups than the socio-economically disadvantaged people. The results imply that different strategies should be adopted to bridge the digital inequality basis of socio-economic status more specifically income levels.