Gratification Factors’ Influence on Mobile Phone Technology Use Levels among Public University Students in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

This study investigated the gratification factors influencing mobile phone technology use levels by public university undergraduate students in Nairobi, Kenya. The objectives of the study were; (1) To investigate the influence of cognition on undergraduate university students’ use levels of mobile phones, (2) To assess the influence of diversion on undergraduate university students’ use levels of mobile phones, (3) To examine the influence of social utility on undergraduate university students’ use levels of mobile phones (4) To establish the moderating effect of demographic characteristics on the independent variables of cognition, diversion, and social utility in undergraduate university students’ use levels of mobile phones. Uses and gratifications theory and media technological determinism theory were employed in the study. The study target population was 246,871 undergraduate university students in public universities in Nairobi, Kenya. The study design was mixed, that is, both quantitative and qualitative designs were used. The research used self-administered questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions as data collection tools. The sampling technique that was employed in this study was multistage together with systematic sampling to get a quantitative sample size of 573 undergraduate students. The qualitative sample size was 12 informants. The data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics and then processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. Findings showed there was a correlation between extent of mobile phone technology use and cognition activities among undergraduate universities students. Secondly, the study revealed that mobile phone technology has become essential in diversion activities among undergraduate university students and thirdly, the study found that social utility influences mobile technology use among undergraduate university students. The study concluded that the higher the need for cognition, diversion and social utility, the higher the need for mobile phone technology use among undergraduate university students. The study recommended, first to software developers that they could develop a specific mobile phone software for university students to use for cognition, diversion and social utility. In addition, further research could be carried among post graduate students and also among private universities in Kenya to find out the gratification factors influencing mobile phone technology use levels.