373 Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies Vol. 6, No. 5, pp. 373-385, May 2014 (ISSN: 2220-6140) A Theoretic Extension and Empirical investigation of conducting Business Online Social Network: The Continuance Intention Phenomenon * Akwesi Assensoh-Kodua, Lawrence Mpele LEKHANYA Durban University of Technology, South Africa * mannie1111@yahoo.com Abstract: Online Social Network (OSN) is a web 2.0 enabled technology that permits OSN participants to interact with both old and new friends initially. This model of OSN ventured into conducting business activities on platforms, which resulted in many springing up but not surviving, yet the explosion of business activities on these platforms continuous to grow. It is therefore important that OSN practitioners and researchers understand the key determinants of OSN business transaction and continuance intention propellants. The purpose of this paper is to establish the factors that determine OSN participant’s continuance intention to do business on OSN platform. The research framework is grounded in an extended expectation-confirmation model (ECM). An online survey model was used to collect 300 valid responses from OSN participants who have ever conducted business using OSN. A partial least square version 2.0.M3 (PLS) and Warp PLS 4.0 were deployed to perform CFA analyses and structural equation modelling, respectively. The emerging results provide significant evidence in support of the five out of nine factors tested against the hypotheses proposed, namely: Perceived Behavioural Control (0.01), Satisfaction (0.14), Expected Benefit (0.15), Social Norms (0.24), and Habit (0.31), as the main determinants of OSN continuance intention. Keywords: ECM, Online Social Network (OSN), SNS, Participants, Continuance Behaviour 1. Introduction OSN has become a $1.8 billion industry, with 246 social media networks up and running (Engeldinger, 2011). It is considered the fourth most popular activity on the Internet, meaning that more than 66% of the global on-line population visit and participate in social networks and blogs (Nielsen, 2010). Furthermore, Nielsen Online (2009) estimates that, globally, 67% of Internet users accessed social network sites or blogs in 2008. According to the 2009 Youth net report (Hulme, 2009), 75% of 16 to 24 year olds claimed they could not live without the Internet; 82% of the young people surveyed said they had used the Internet to look for advice and information for themselves, and 60% stated they had looked for information for someone else. This kind of scenario is increasingly becoming common, with studies indicating that since early 2009, Internet users were spending more time on social networking services than email (Nielsen Online, 2009). It goes without saying from the above scenario that OSN platforms have become the new avenue for business opportunities, and a good investment in this regard promises to pay off. However, the extent or amount of time that people will continue to rush into this new business venture is a big question that keeps occupying the minds of researchers. This is because fighting for a share of the market through OSN entails investment and cost. While the term ‘‘OSN’’ is used to describe this phenomenon of buying and selling on social networks, the term ‘‘social network(ing) sites-(SNSs)’’ also appears in public discourse, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. SNSs are virtual communities where users can create individual public profiles, interact with real-life friends, and meet other people based on shared interests (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). The growth of OSNs, in terms of membership and use, has been very impressive over just a few years. For instance, it is reported that 79% of adults (30 years above) who use the Internet, use social network sites and nearly half of adults (47%), or 59% of Internet users, use at least one SNS(Hampton, Goulet, Rainie & Purcell , 2011). This growth certainly presents a huge business opportunity for the digital age, which, if properly dealt with, can address the economic downturn we experience today. It comes as no surprise that, this phenomenon is currently undergoing intense research in social sciences (Cachia, Compañó & Da Costa, 2007) and information systems in particular, with private sector companies also trying to investigate OSNs, in order to learn about emerging lifestyles that may affect traditional business models (Cachia et al., 2007). For example “online repurchase intention” (Lee, Eze & Ndubisi, 2011) “Online Continual usage” (Al-hawari & Mouakket, 2012), “customer intention to return” (Kim, Ferrin & Rao, 2009), and