Investigating parental intention of using internet filter software

Abstract

The objective of this study is to survey the usage of internet filter software for blocking inappropriate web contents in Taiwan, and also to investigate the precedent factors for adopting such a prevention tool. We surveyed 417 households with children/adolescents (aged below 16) and home internet access. Participants answered questions which were designed based on the framework of the decomposed theory of planned behavior. The structural equation model was implemented to find out the relationships among constructs. Results show that only one in seven families currently uses internet filter software for blocking inappropriate web contents in Taiwan. Furthermore, this study also shows that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control are all key factors to affect parental intention of adopting internet filter software. More specifically, compatibility, peer’s influence, self-efficacy, and facilitating conditions are four major precedent variables to influence parental intention via attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control. Results obtained in this study suggest the urgency of prompting the use of filter software especially when no similar alternatives are available in the market. In addition, focusing on the promotion of product’s compatible features, the use of teachers’ opinions, and the establishment of supporting resources will highly increase parental intention of using internet filter software.