Modelling the Effect of Selected Factors on Adoption of Over-the-Top Services in Kenya

Abstract

The adoption rate of Viusasa application in Kenya has been perceived to be low. According to Communication Authority of Kenya (2019), the application had 23,076 active subscribers, a fall from 606,096 subscribers, who had initially signed up. As per the data, 583,020 were inactive subscribers. The biggest challenge facing Viusasa services are lack of free trial time, buffering, inadequacy in content availability, low loading time and crashes. The content of Viusasa cannot be accessed through a website; it is only accessible through Viusasa mobile application; this is not the case of other OTT players in the market. Thus, the general objective of this research was to develop a model for the impact of several factors on OTT adoption in Kenya. The specific objectives were: to determine the impact of individual, technological, organizational, and environmental aspects on OTT utilization in Kenya. This study employed a descriptive research technique. The target population for this study was limited to 23076 subscribers, who were the active subscribers of Viusasa as of December 2018. Simple random sampling was used to sample form the target population. Data collection was done through a structured questionnaire, which was both in soft and hard copy. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS v25.0) was utilized to analyze the responses received from the questionnaire. The study generated and used averages, frequencies, and percentages to present the analysis. The findings revealed that individual factors, technological factors, organizational factors (users) and environmental factors (users) have a positive and significant relationship with the adoption of OTTs in Kenya. Pay TV providers and broadcasting stations that are providing or purpose to provide OTT services to focus on the key individual factors that lead to the adoption of OTT services. Based on the multiple regression findings, the null hypotheses were rejected since the P values were less than 0.05 and thus, there is a significant effect individual factors, technological factors, organizational factors and environmental factors on the adoption of OTT services in Kenya. The understanding assists the providers in improving their relationship with the users and have a bigger market even in terms of the customer base. Likewise, the communication regulators in Kenya such as Communications Authority of Kenya and the Media Council of Kenya are mandated to come up with media policies and programmes that uplift Kenyans through investing in quality local content.