The use of social media for work-related knowledge sharing by construction professionals

Abstract

ABSTRACT Use of social media for work-related knowledge sharing (KS) by professionals has become widespread globally. The extent, nature and patterns of this use have been little explored to date in the construction industry. This paper aims to investigate the frequency, nature and determinants of social media use for KS among the construction professionals. The objectives are to measure the current level of use of the three major social media platforms by the construction professionals for KS; and to empirically validate an extended version of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) that identifies the impact factors of adoption of social media for work-related KS by the construction professionals. Survey data were collected from 120 construction professionals in Australia and were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) techniques. Findings show that Facebook and LinkedIn were used by almost half of the survey respondents. Passive KS was the most common type of KS activity. Performance Expectancy (PE), and Knowledge Sharing Self-Efficacy (KSSE) had positive impacts on the construction professionals’ intention to use (IU) social media. IU and Facilitating Conditions (FC) had positive direct impacts on the use of social media for work-related KS. The findings shed light into the potential ways of improving social media use for KS by the construction professionals.