Role of Communication and Information Flow In The Adoption And Use of Mobile Technology By Women Entrepreneurs In Machakos County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to to investigate the role of communication and information flow in the adoption and use of mobile technology by women entrepreneurs in Machakos County, Kenya. The study adopted the use of Uses and Gratifications theory. Mixed method design was used. Systematic random sampling was used to select 350 respondents. Survey method was used to collect quantitative data. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and then presented in tables, figures and bar graphs. Purposive sampling was used to select 8 key informants and participants in the focus groups discussions. In-depth interviews and interview guide were used to collect qualitative data. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically and presented in narrative form. The study established that interpersonal communication is the media which is commonly used by women entrepreneurs to get information about adoption and use of mobile technology services at 45.1% followed closely by mobile service providers at 31.6%. The findings show that women entrepreneurs regularly consult family members, business colleagues and other business stakeholders. The findings further revealed that service providers were the strong campaigners of adoption and use of mobile phone technology services at 41% while county government did the least campaigns at 4%. Voice communication on the mobile phone at 52% was the service of the mobile phone technology that was mostly used by the women entrepreneurs in Machakos County. The least rated service was e-banking at 4%. On the area of empowering women entrepreneurs in Machakos County, the findings show that 23% of the women entrepreneurs have acquired new skills by using their mobile phones in business, 27% indicated that they have grown their business to higher levels even opening new branches while 31.6% attested to increasing their sales revenue. These findings show that when properly harnessed, mobile phone technology can create a very great impact in the empowerment of women entrepreneurs. The study concluded that mobile phone usage supports women entrepreneurs in their enterprises but it cannot replace face-to-face transactions which remain crucial among women entrepreneurs more particularly for meetings of group micro finance. It was recommended that communicators should come up with communication strategies which will aid in information flow in the adoption of any technology. They also need to come up with gender based theoretical frameworks to gather knowledge in the operation of enterprises which will add knowledge to the adoption process of technology and especially mobile phone technology.