Analysis of the Determinants of Digital Social Media Usage in a Sub-Saharan African Country

This study analyses the determinants of digital social media usage in Cameroon, employing a Trivariate Probit model on data from the PRANOME survey (2021) conducted in the Centre and Littoral regions. The results reveal significant interdependencies among the three main groups of digital social media discussion, publication, and content with positive and statistically significant correlation coefficients at the 1% level, indicating strong complementarity. The discussion group is the most widely used, with a marginal probability of 74.9%. Motivational factors such as interactivity, mobility, entertainment, enjoyment, and content creation positively influence usage across all groups, while advertising positively affects discussion and publication media but negatively impacts content media. Furthermore, findings highlight a persistent issue of unauthorised consumption of copyrighted works, as variables related to legal awareness show limited deterrent effects. These results underscore the growing importance of digital social media in everyday life and the need for strengthened legal frameworks to protect intellectual property in the digital sphere.