The Influence of Gender on Smartphone Adoption of Young Adults in Hungary: Extending the UTAUT2 With Brand Awareness

The authors were interested in identifying the influence of gender on smartphone adoption of Hungarian young adults. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the UTAUT2 and widened by the inclusion of a new variable: brand awareness. A survey was conducted among smartphone owners (students and alumni of Szent Istvan University) aged between 16 and 35 using a nonprobability sampling technique. The results illustrate that from the UTAUT2 variables, only hedonic motivation and habit influenced behavioural intention, while at the same time brand awareness had direct influence only on actual smartphone use of Hungarian males. Apart from social influence, the relationships between indicators were significant in the case of females. The study increases the board of knowledge related to the formulation of behavioural intention, and it might be interesting for global smartphone manufacturers to understand factors influencing the actual smartphone usage in Hungary.