Ajzen proposed the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TBP) in 1985 in the attempt of solving the limitation of the theory of reasoned action (Al-Qeisi, 2009). The TBP addresses the behaviours that occur without an individual’s volitional control. The major difference between these theories is based on the variables or the components of the TBP. The first variable is perceived behaviour control that accounts for the situations where a person has less control over a certain behaviour (Al-Qeisi, 2009). According to Ajzen, this component influences the attitude that one has towards a behaviour; thus, it impacts the outcome of behaviour (Greaves, Zibarras, & Stride, 2013). The second component is the normative beliefs that comprise of the beliefs about the normative expectation of others. The third component is attitude, which presents the extent to which a person has positive or negative evaluation towards a behaviour (Nchise, 2012). Therefore, the focus of this paper is to analyse these variables from five quantitative studies addressing the Facebook identity presentation of the males and females in the Saudi Arabia.
A study by Al-Eisa, Furayyan, and Alhemoud (2009) investigated the impacts of self-efficacy, motivation, and supervisor control in the knowledge transfer. This evaluation exploited theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict the behaviour of the learners and supplementing theoretical framework of the supervisory support and self-efficacy during the transfer intentions. Using the TPB, the authors claim that the learning behaviour of a person can be predicted by intention (Al-Eisa, Furayyan, & Alhemoud, 2009). The intention, in this case, refers to the state of mind that directs the behaviour and experience of an individual over a certain object. The study’s independent variables were training transfer and motivation to learn while the TPB’s components were handled as the dependent variables. A major finding of the study was that self-efficacy has a consequence on the transmission of intention of an individual (R2=0.04). This proved self-efficacy to be identical to the perceived behavioural control of TPB. On the other hand, the study found that the response to the supervisory support during the intention transfer depends on the social norms as presented by TPB and expectations of a person (Al-Eisa, Furayyan, & Alhemoud, 2009). This social norm here is used as a dependent variable used to investigate the attitudes of a person towards the supervisory activities and the intention transfer practices. The study also presents the behavioural belief of a person as a dependent variable, which is an important factor influencing the willingness of a person to transfer intention (Al-Eisa, Furayyan, & Alhemoud, 2009). As a way of improving the participation of individuals in transferring intention, the study recommends the use of open communication to influence the behavioural belief during the training program that should be used to change the behavioural belief of a person in a positive way.
Al-Debei, Al-Lozi, and Papazafeiropoulou (2013) carried a study on ‘why people keep on coming back to Facebook’ using the theory of planned behaviour. The study examines the social aspects and features that determine the continuance participation of users on Facebook. TPB is used to facilitate the evaluation where its major components are used to evaluate the user’s behaviour in Facebook; thus, the interest of the study is to the attitude, control beliefs, and subjective norms as well as the continuance participation behaviour of the users (Al-Debei, Al-Lozi, & Papazafeiropoulou, 2013). According to this study, the use of Facebook depends on the user’s social and personal characteristics, in addition to the situational influences. The three components of TPB in this study are used as independent variables that were regressed on the user behaviours in Facebook. These components were found to be significantly and positively associated with the continuous participation of users on Facebook (Al-Debei, Al-Lozi, & Papazafeiropoulou, 2013). The continuous participation intention and perceived value influence the desire of an individual to use Facebook. Nevertheless, the control beliefs did not predict the continuance participation behaviour in Facebook. Therefore, the control belief as asserted by Ajzen in predicting the behaviour is dependent on the actual control of an individual’s behaviour in the continuous use of Facebook. The normative beliefs and behavioural beliefs were found to be direct indicators of continuance participation of the Facebook users (Al-Debei, Al-Lozi, & Papazafeiropoulou, 2013). In consistency with the theory of planned behaviour, these two components revealed that users would always come back to Facebook with the increased value of its usage. Therefore, TPB is efficient in explaining and supporting the post-adoptive behaviours and intentions of using Facebook.
Baker, Al-Gahtani, and Hubona (2007) assessed ‘the effects of gender and age in technology implementation in Saudi Arabia’. The study assessed these effects using the theory of planned behaviour in understanding the behavioural use and implementation of technology in Saudi. The focus of this country is due to the different cultural and social characteristics of the Muslims and Arabs in this region (Baker, Al-Gahtani, & Hubona, 2007). The intention of using technology is the dependent variable of the study while the three components of TPB are the independent determinants of the behavioural intention of implementing and using technology. The study found that the three components of TPB are major determinants of the intention of using technology in Saudi. According to the study, the attitude of workers towards technology are strong especially for a developing country (Baker, Al-Gahtani, & Hubona, 2007). In addition, subjective norm was found significant in influencing the intention of using technology despite the scarcity of the technological facilities. This is true in Saudi where the penetration rate of PC in Saudi was 6.38% in 2002, which influenced its attitudes towards the adoption and the use of technology (Baker, Al-Gahtani, & Hubona, 2007). Besides, the study found that the perceived behaviour control has a positive impact on behavioural intention. This relates to the 37% of the variance in behavioural intention. Therefore, the study assessed the behaviour of the Saudis in implementing and using technology that was facilitated by the use of the TPB.
van Zoonen, Vorhoeven, and Elving (2014) aimed at understanding the ‘work-related use of social media through an extension of the theory of planned behaviour’. This comes along with the urge of understanding the behaviour of using social media for the employees to communicate their work-related issues. The dependent variables for the study were intention and self-identity expressiveness behaviour while the components of the TPB were the independent variables of the study (van Zoonen, Vorhoeven, & Elving, 2014). The study found that there were weak connections between the social norms and control beliefs for the employee’s intention of engaging in work-related issues in social media. In this case, the traditional constructs of using TPB in predicting the usage of social media for the work-related matters is presented as unviable. The behavioural belief, however, has an impact on the behavioural intention to use social media for work-related issues (van Zoonen, Vorhoeven, & Elving, 2014). Elaborating on these findings, the respondents of the study indicated that the perceived user-friendliness in social media together with the familiarity of individuals in these platforms does not impose any motivation or restriction for these individuals to engage themselves in work-related issues in social media (van Zoonen, Vorhoeven, & Elving, 2014). Therefore, the TPB has weak capabilities in relating or explaining the usage of social media in expressing the work-related issues.
Al-Qeisi (2009) discussed the evolution of the TPB from the theory of action (TRA) to other advanced theories such as decomposed theory of planned behaviour (DTPB). The author carried a comparison study of both TPB and TRA in the acceptance of technology in the use of internet banking. The three components of TPB are independent variables of this study. The study found that the intention to use internet banking is better understood by the attitude of users to use this technology (Al-Qeisi, 2009). The attitude of the users to use this services was impacted by the complexity of the technology as well as the advantages reaped from this online service. The control beliefs of using internet banking relied on the self-efficacy, which was found to be a significant determinant. Other facilitating conditions such as government and technical support were found as significant factors that promote the adoption of internet banking services (Al-Qeisi, 2009). This follows the claims of most of the respondents of who confirmed that their past confidence of using the internet was a key cause of their willingness to use internet banking. Moreover, the study identified that the command of the computer skills is another factor influencing the control beliefs of these users in their willingness to use the internet banking (Al-Qeisi, 2009). The study affirms that both control beliefs and attitudinal beliefs can be used to predict the intention of users to adopt internet banking services and not the subjective norms. This is because of the availability of the prerequisite information from banks that make other sources of information unnecessary. Therefore, the study found the significance of the TPB in explaining the user behaviours of adopting internet banking services by understanding their behavioural beliefs, subjective norms, and control beliefs.
References
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