UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE ON ENGAGEMENT IN IOT SPORTS TECHNOLOGY: A MEDIATION ANALYSIS

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a major revolution that is transforming the world of sports and enabling athletes to improve their physical performance. The use of IoT devices for sports is based primarily on the sharing of athletes' achievements online and the interaction between them, which allows them to motivate and encourage each other to improve their physical performance. Our research analyzes the influence of family and friends (INF_SOC) on engagement (ENGAG) in the ongoing and long-term use of these IoT devices and studies the mediating effect of perceived control (CP), perceived provider credibility (CRD), and trust (CONF) in this relationship. The population is the athletes who use IoT to measure their performance. Convenience sampling was deployed to collect the data using a questionnaire. 313 respondents participated in this study. To analyze our theoretical model, we used the method of partial least squares under SmartPls. The results confirmed all the theoretical hypotheses introduced and validated the mediating effects. They allowed us to generate interesting recommendations for IoT providers and users to reinforce engagement in the use of the Internet of Things for sports.