A GENDER COMPARISON OF THE FACTORS INFLUENCING GENERATION Y STUDENT CONSUMERS’ WEARABLE ACTIVITY TRACKER USAGE INTENTIONS

Since its commercialisation around 2009, the smart wearables market experienced significant growth with an expected 105.3 million units to be shipped by 2024. Although the diffusion and adoption of this market has been established, gaps in the literature remain. This study addressed the gap related to the gender differences in relation to consumers’ WAT device perceptions. Three prominent technology adoption models, namely TRA, TAM and TPB, with the inclusion of social image, served as the theoretical underpinning for this study. Following a quantitative, descriptive research design and cross-sectional approach, data were gathered, using self-administered questionnaires, from a non-probability sample of 480 South African Generation Y university students aged 18 to 24 years. Using SPSS version 28 to execute, among other tests, an independent samples t-test and regression analysis that subsequently revealed that, based on mean values, a gender-based difference was only applicable to perceived ease of use. Further, all but one perceptual factor, namely subjective norms, were statistically significant predictors of females’ WAT usage intentions, whereas for males, only their attitude, perceived behavioural control and perceived ease of use were statistically significant predictors of their WAT usage intentions. The findings of this study have several practical, managerial and theoretical implications.