Clarifying the Impact of Social Escapism on Users’ Smartphone Addiction Based on Technology Acceptance Model

Abstract

In the recent decades, smartphone addiction has been addressed its importance in daily life. With smartphones, people can use the Internet even more easily. People can also use smartphones at any time in any place. Nevertheless, the psychological causal variables for smartphone addiction are still not clear. Furthermore, people with low self-esteem are shown to reveal more personal information online for social compensation. It is also unclear what causes the social compensation. This study is therefore motivated to clarify users’ smartphone addiction based on the technology acceptance model (TAM). Survey method was adopted. Data of one hundred and seventy-one valid respondents who used smartphones were gathered online. Factor analysis and regression analysis were adopted for data analysis using SPSS 18.0. The regression path analysis results indicate that perceived escapism, increased by perceived enjoyment, significantly associates with users’ smartphone addiction. The results also show users’ different smartphone addiction patterns under different perceived usefulness of smartphones. The results facilitate users’ self-management of smartphone use via increasing perceived usefulness and the cure of smartphone addiction.