Essays on Digital Technologies and Digital Divide

Due to the rise of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), mainly social media, and, on the other hand, the emergence of new economies, like the Sharing Economy, markets are transforming. Ride-hailing services like Uber are among the most well-known new business model in the Sharing Economy, and they have faced both praise and criticism. Most of the researchers studied the motivations and hindrances to the use of shred economies. However, as far as I know, only some researchers have studied the factors affecting people’s motivation to use ride-hailing services like Uber. Therefore, the first aim of the study is to determine the factors affecting the motivation behind their use of ride-hailing services and their heterogeneity. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on 2015 data available at the Pew Research Center, and latent class regression models were used to find the determinants of heterogeneous segments of users. The two primary motivations can be interpreted as economic and social motivations. Additionally, the use of these digital technologies is not distributed equally in society, creating a digital divide among different groups. Therefore, the second aim of this study was to understand to what extent behavioral differences in the use of Uber can be explained by users’ motivation towards digital media, physical access of digital media, and their digital skills, as the resources and appropriation theory proposes. Using logistic regression to analyze data from the Pew Research Center, it was discovered that there is a statistically strong relationship between motivation and using Uber, an influence that is mediated by physical access as the theory predicts but not by digital skills. Concluding that motivated people with physical access are getting more benefits from new forms of personal transportation, but digital skills are embedded into the application, so they do not mediate motivation and physical access. Hence, digital divide is not produced by digital skills but by motivation and physical access. Furthermore, educated, young, and single people play a influencial role in determining the use of Uber. Finally, this study looked at social media use from the viewpoint of Van Dijk’s Resource and Appropriation (RA) theory. Firstly, to analyze the sequential process of RA theory in terms of social media use. Secondly, the study aims to see the impact of positional factors (countries’ digital resources) on social media appropriation. The study discovered that technophobia operates as a barrier to motivation for social media use and that motivation positively impacts physical access, digital skills, and the outcomes of social media use. This was done using structural equation modelling (SEM) and multigroup analysis. Physical accessibility has a substantial favourable impact on acquiring digital skills and the use of social media. According to this study, social media use is significantly influenced by digital skills. According to the study, people in less technologically advanced nations are more heavily impacted by barriers than those in more developed nations. Finally, motivation is more important in obtaining physical access in leader countries as opposed to follower countries. The significant contribution of this study is to extend the literature on the shared economy beyond motivation and barriers by incorporating antecedents of the motivation behind the use of ride-hailing services. Furthermore, a new theoretical framework, (RA) theory, is applied in the field of shared economy for the first time. Additionally, different segments and customer profiles were established with the help of this study. Finally, the literature on RA theory extended beyond just internet use by incorporating its application in the shared economy and the context of social media. In this vein, another variable, barriers to motivation, is also introduced in the sequential model of RA theory.