Differences In Internet Usage Research Articles

Exploring the Differences in Internet Usage among Rural Elderly Population and its Influencing Factors—An Empirical Analysis Based on CGSS2021 Data

Exploring the Differences in Internet Usage among Rural Elderly Population and its Influencing Factors—An Empirical Analysis Based on CGSS2021 Data

Online information seeking and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination in Germany

Abstract Background A large proportion of the European population seeks information about the COVID-19 vaccination on the internet. The population seems to split into those with positive stance on the vaccination and those with negative stance, but there are still individuals who do not have a final position yet. By now, there is a lack of understanding about the online information seeking behavior in these three groups. The current analysis sheds light on differences in internet usage and requested qualities of online information regarding the COVID-19 vaccination. Methods An online survey with N = 1,000 people (18-74 years) living in Germany was conducted between November 26 and December 8, 2021. The questionnaire included closed questions about frequency, information channels, formats and reasons of online information seeking, as well as one open question about requested qualities of online content. We conducted bivariate analysis for differences in information seeking behavior and content analysis for the requests. Results Information seeking behavior differed significantly by attitude towards the vaccination regarding frequency, almost all types of formats, three of ten listed information channels, and three of six reasons for online information seeking. Undecided participants and those who support COVID-19 vaccination used the internet more often than participants who are against the vaccination. Individuals supporting vaccination preferred reading text contributions (e.g. online articles). Informative videos were more often consumed by those who are undecided or against vaccination. Those who have not decided yet preferred online resources providing full information about side-effects and showing reliable facts by credible sources. Conclusions Our findings support an online vaccination communication that is tailored to target groups with different attitudes towards the vaccination. Overall, online campaigns should focus on transparent, reliable and complete information. Key messages • Online information seeking behavior regarding COVID-19 vaccination varies between individuals with different attitudes towards the vaccination. • Online information about the COVID-19 vaccination should focus on transparency and reliable information.

동영상 플랫폼상의 식품 광고 타겟팅의 효과: PC와 모바일 비교를 중심으로*

1. Introduction With the increasing popularity of video contents, companies are keen on utilizing video content as an advertising space. Targeted advertising is directed towards consumers with certain characteristics (Plummer et al. 2007), and food advertisements are usually exposed to consumers of a certain age at specific times along with popular TV programs favored by the target segment (Soni and Vohra 2014). As such, targeted advertising has received a lot of attention as an effective way for companies to reach potential customers who are more likely to purchase; however, research on targeted advertising still lacks. Therefore, this study focuses on various targeting strategies widely used in video advertisements and examines their effects on advertising effectiveness in the food industry. This study further investigates that these targeting effects vary between devices. Specifically, this study intends to answer the following research questions. First, how do the targeting strategies affect the effectiveness of food advertisement on the video platform? Second, how does the device type moderate the aforementioned effects? 2. Literature Review and Hypotheses Development Companies today have a lot of information on consumer preferences and media habits (Iyer, David and Miguel 2005), so targeted advertising can be executed to increase the interest of specific consumers, thereby increasing advertising effectiveness. Currently, there are three general targeting strategies on video platform: 1) contextual targeting, 2) popular content targeting, and 3) demographic and time targeting which can be classified as audience targeting. According to various targeting strategies, consumers view advertisements with different degrees of relevance to themselves when consuming media. As for devices, PC and mobile have some differences in internet usage. PC is effective for multitasking and thus PC users are exploration-oriented, so new information and interest provided by advertisements are important factors in determining ad completion. Exploration-oriented users are highly open to information that they did not know, and thus show relatively high interest and openness to advertisements that are not relevant to them. However, mobile is less convenient for multitasking than PC and thus mobile users are goal-orientated, so not only new information and interest provided by advertisements but also perceived intrusiveness caused by advertisements are important factors in determining ad completion. Goal-oriented users focus more on their tasks, and thus show relatively low interest and openness to advertisements that are not relevant to them. Based on the characteristics of targeting strategies and devices, we hypothesize the interplay of targeting strategies and devices on the effectiveness of food advertisement as follows: [H1] When watching video content on PC, popular content targeting in comparison with contextual targeting has a positive effect on ad completion. [H2] When watching video content on PC, audience targeting in comparison with contextual targeting has a positive effect on ad completion. [H3] When watching video content on mobile, the PC-based positive effect of popular content targeting compared to contextual targeting decreases. [H4] When watching video content on mobile, the PC-based positive effect of audience targeting compared to contextual targeting decreases. 3. Data and Analysis To verify the research hypothesis discussed above, the authors obtained users

Gender Differences in Internet Usage among Research Students: A Comparative Study

Gender Differences in Internet Usage among Research Students: A Comparative Study

Internet Usage and the Development of Social Skills Among Youths In Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

The study was carried out to investigate Internet Usage and the Development of Social Skills among youths in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Gender and age differences, differences in the degree of social involvement, social tolerance, patterns of behaviour between internet users and non-users and the relationship between internet usage and social skills development was investigated. Six research questions turned into hypotheses guided the study. The survey research design was adopted. From a population of 9,343 regular year two undergraduates, 500 samples were drawn through stratified random sampling technique at equal gender basis from 5 out of 11 faculties of the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A validated Instrument, Internet Usage and Social Skills Development Questionnaire (IUSSDO) with reliability coefficient of .73 was used to gather data for the study. The t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson's Product Moment Correlation were used to analyze data at .05 level of significance. Results indicated significant gender and age differences in internet usage; significant differences in social skills development, social tolerance and pattern of behaviour between internet users and non-users while a strong relationship was established between internet usage and social skills development. It was concluded that internet usage negatively affected social skills development of youths. It was recommended among other things that parents, guardians, teachers, school counsellors and non-governmental organizations should encourage youths to be self-disciplined and relates to people in the real world in acceptable manners.

The Impact of Pathological Levels of Internet-Related Anxiety on Internet Usage

This article compares the use of the Internet during the first year of university education of students who have pathological levels of Internet anxiety with those who do not. Two hundred and sixteen first year psychology students (females 184, males 32) were surveyed for their levels of Internet-related anxiety, from which 12 (5.6%) were identified as having pathological levels (termed “technophobic”). At the beginning of the year, there were no differences in Internet usage between the two groups. However, at the end of the academic year, the non-technophobic group had increased their Internet usage, while the technophobic group had decreased their Internet usage. For the technophobic group, changes in Internet-related anxiety over the academic year correlated with changes in Internet usage. The technophobic group perceived a greater need for informal (home-based) support and formal (university-based) support than the non-technophobic group, though largely did not receive support. For the non-technophobic group, informal support was related to increased Internet usage. The decrease in usage in the technophobic group was particularly marked in those who did not receive support. Support did not impact upon changes in Internet-related anxiety. As study at university requires an increase in the use of Information Communication Technology, identification of Internet-related anxieties is crucial. Left unaddressed, this study suggests that a student experiencing pathological levels of Internet-related anxiety could become increasingly disadvantaged through their academic studies when Internet-based resources are required for study. These findings are discussed in terms of supporting technophobic students at university.

Becoming Citizens: Youths’ Civic Uses of New Media in Five Digital Cities in East Asia

Asian youths are embracing communication technologies at a burgeoning rate, yet interesting differences in Internet access and use exist among this younger generation. Our empirical investigation provides a rich and comparative look into what Asian youths do online, with an emphasis on an understudied area: their civic uses of new media. Data collected among youths aged between 12 and 17 in Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, and Tokyo in 2007 show that this ‘digital generation’ has grown up with computers and the Internet, with 96% of them being internet users, and having 6 years of computer experience on average. Our results suggest that the Internet may facilitate citizenship among Asian youths although entertainment-related activities such as downloading music or playing games remain the most popular activities online. Sixty-five percent of them read online news, almost half of them have ever cast a vote on the Internet, and every one in five has signed an online petition. Differences in Internet usage and civic behaviors among youths in five cities are presented, suggesting the contextual nature of Internet use influenced by civic culture.The paper concludes with a discussion of differences in Internet use among Asian youths between 2001 and 2007, together with research implications for better understanding this population.

Internet-Usage Patterns of Immigrants in the Process of Intercultural Adaptation

This paper investigates Internet-usage patterns of immigrants, and seeks to identify the correlation between Internet use and intercultural adaptation. The study focuses on mainland Chinese immigrants in Singapore, and was conducted via a nationwide telephone survey. The results show that immigrants tend to change their preferences on Internet use to reflect their residence in the host country. In particular, the longer an immigrant resides in the host country, the less likely they would be to surf their original country's websites and the more likely they would be to communicate with local people via the Internet. More importantly, differences in Internet usage are found to have a significant impact on immigrants' intercultural adaptation. In an online environment, the social communication in the host country is a critical component that can facilitate or impede immigrants' successful adaptation to the host country, whereas ethnic social communication also plays a role at the initial stage of transition.

Gender, age and income differences in internet usage among employees in organizations

This paper reviews and discusses Internet issues and reports the findings of a survey concerning the impact of gender, age and income on employees’ Internet usage in Turkey. Internet usage was categorized in two empirical factors, namely usage profile (reason for using the Internet, average daily use of the Internet) and usage patterns (average daily use of the Internet for communication/e-mailing/chat, information access/downloading/entertainment and electronic services). The survey was conducted among 200 employees from public and private sector organizations. The results indicated that gender has a positive impact on average daily time spent on the use of the Internet for communication/e-mailing/chat and information access/downloading/entertainment. Age has a positive impact on average daily use of the Internet in general and a negative impact on the use of the Internet for information access/downloading/entertainment. Income was not found to have an impact on empirical factors. Finally, gender, age and income do not have any significant impact on average daily use of Internet for electronic services such as e-commerce/e-shopping/e-banking/e-government.

Urban–Rural Differences in Internet Usage, e‐Commerce, and e‐Banking: Evidence from Italy

ABSTRACT By reducing the cost of performing isolated economic activities in remote areas, information technology might serve as a substitute for urban agglomeration. The paper assesses this hypothesis using data on Italian households' usage of the Internet, e‐commerce, and e‐banking. The results do not support the argument that the Internet reduces the role of distance. Internet usage is much more frequent among urban consumers than among their non‐urban counterparts. The use of e‐commerce is basically unaffected by the size of the city where the household lives. Geographically remote consumers are discouraged from purchasing goods by the fact that they cannot inspect them beforehand. Leisure activities and cultural items (i.e., books, CDs, and tickets for museums and theaters) are the only goods and services for which e‐commerce is used more in isolated areas. Finally, e‐banking bears no relationship to city size. In choosing a bank, non‐urban customers give more importance to personal acquaintance than do urban clients, partly because bank account holders in remote areas are more likely to have taken out a loan from their bank.

Beyond gender differences: Self-concept orientation and relationship-building applications on the Internet

Research concerning gender differences in Internet usage suggests greater interest among females in applications with relationship-building implications, and commonly refers to agentic and communal gender roles to explain such behaviors. However, a regression analysis of Web-based survey data collected from 386 respondents concerning their use of such Internet applications found that usage was better predicted when agentic (Self-Orientation) and communal (Other-Orientation) self-concept characteristics were measured rather than assumed from biological sex. With the exception of instant messaging, Other-Orientation was a positive predictor of usage rates for relational applications including email, greeting cards, and finding new friends or relationships. Furthermore, Other-Orientation either added to or superseded the prediction afforded by biological sex.

Study on utilization status of internet and needs assessment for developing nutrition education programs among elementary school children

This study was to investigate utilization status of internet, health/nutrition websites among children, and to assess the needs for developing nutrition websites and education programs for children. The survey questionnaire was administered to 5-6th grade students (n=434) at two elementary schools. About 32% used the internet every day while 19.5% used it whenever they needed, showing significant differences in internet usage by gender (p<0.01). Although the subjects used the internet frequently, those who used health/nutrition websites were 23.3%. The purpose of using these sites were mainly 'to obtain health/nutrition information' (55%), 'to get information regarding weight control' (17%). Fifty-six percent of the users were satisfied with the nutrition websites, but only 30% said that they were helpful. The preferred topics in developing nutrition websites were assessment of obesity, exercise methods, weight control methods, nutrition information (e.g., diet for stature growth), dietary assessment and food hygiene. Girls showed more interest in these topics than boys (p<0.05). For school nutrition education, girls showed more interest than boys in topics for cooking snacks (p<0.001) and selecting snacks (p<0.05). In nutrition websites, subjects wanted to have information and game/quiz, as well as getting information using Flash animation. The favorite colors for screen and text were slightly different by gender (p<0.01). In school nutrition education, 89.5% of subjects liked to have activities (e.g., cooking, exercise, game). They also liked materials using computers, video and internet than printed materials. If nutrition education was done at schools, subjects wanted to receive 5.7 times of education per semester on average (mean length: 42.6 min./session). This study suggests that nutrition websites and education programs for children should include the topics such as assessment of obesity or diet, weight control and special information (e.g., diet for growth) as well as general information. In designing nutrition websites and programs, methods including game, quiz, Flash animation and activities (cooking, exercise) could be appropriately used to induce the interest and involvement of children.

An analysis of regional and demographic differences in United States Internet usage

The Pew Internet and American Life Project collects data on overall Internet usage in the United States. This study reviews data gathered by Pew in December 2002 and tests the overall premise that regional differences exist in Internet usage in the U.S. today. Through Chi–square analysis this report tests whether observed regional and demographic differences in Internet usage are statistically significant. The report first reviews regional and demographic differences separately and finds significant variation across twelve defined regions and ten separate demographic categories. It then reviews demographic differences within regions and tests a series of null hypotheses proposing no significant differences between regions based on the demographic factors. Most of these hypotheses are rejected with noted difference. The report explores other limited hypotheses on the data and concludes with a call for further study to refine the impact of regional and demographic differences in Internet usage in U.S. society.

Teenagers on the Net

ABSTRACT Both in business and in academic research, the Internet and electronic commerce grow exponentially. Attention has predominately been directed to developing the companies' capabilities and systems, while the consumers' perspective in contrast has received much less attention. This paper takes this perspective and focuses on online behavior of specifically 16- to 18-year-old teenagers. This particular segment tends to open to new things and know a great deal about using computers and the Internet. A questionnaire conducted among students in a high school in southern Finland showed that the overwhelming majority had computer and Internet access at home. Most of the young respondents had already used the Internet for various purposes and intend to do so even more in the future. For the young, information search and communication were the main purposes of using the Internet, and lower-value products related to mobile phones were the main products being bought online. At the same time they had different concerns that influence their behavior and, somewhat surprisingly, reported a slightly negative attitude towards electronic commerce. In line with previous studies, privacy and security issues were the primary concerns for the young Internet users. Gender aspects also emerged from the data since there were several differences in Internet usage and online purchasing between girls and boys. Based on the findings, the paper ends with implications and recommendations for companies attempting to approach teenagers in order to build relationships with them.

A cross‐cultural comparison of Internet buying behavior

This research attempted to examine differences in Internet usage, Internet innovativeness, perceived risks of Internet buying, and Internet buying behaviors between Korea and America, and to identify a model for factors influencing Internet buying behavior, explained by Internet usage, perceived risks, and innovativeness on a cross‐cultural basis. Results showed that there were significant differences in Internet usage and the perceived risks of Internet shopping, but no significant differences in Internet buying intentions or online buying experience between Korean and American consumers. Nonetheless, analyzing a regression model of factors influencing Internet buying behavior, and cultural differences in effects of Internet usage and perceived risks on Internet buying behavior were found. While there were main effects of Internet usage and perceived risk on Internet buying behavior, these effects were weaker or even opposite to those related to Korean samples. The implications of the study are discussed and further research was suggested.

Using the Locus of Control Personality Dimension as a Predictor of Online Behavior

Since the 16th century, the availability of communication technology has advanced the level and accessibility of commerce and personal freedoms. The advent of the computer as a personal communication tool has given individuals new power in their ability to communicate, gain information, and make decisions. A major paradigm shift has been in the control that the individual now has in a consumer role. The internet has provided consumers a vehicle by which they can actively participate in the decision-making process – from need recognition to post-purchase evaluation. Little research has been done to explore the personality characteristics of internet users. This study examines one aspect of personality, locus of control, and internet behavior. Research findings reveal substantial differences in internet usage and attitudes between a consumer's internal or external locus of control orientation. Results and future research relative to this study are discussed.

Gender differences in the perceived risk of buying online and the effects of receiving a site recommendation

This article examines how men and women differ in both their perceptions of the risks associated with shopping online and the effect of receiving a site recommendation from a friend. The first study examines how gender affects the perceptions of the probability of negative outcomes and the severity of such negative outcomes should they occur for five risks associated with buying online (i.e., credit card misuse, fraudulent sites, loss of privacy, shipping problems, and product failure). The second study examines gender differences in the effect of receiving a recommendation from a friend on perceptions of online purchase risk. The third study experimentally tests whether, compared to men, women will be more likely to increase their willingness to purchase online if they receive a site recommendation from a friend. The results suggest that, even when controlling for differences in Internet usage, women perceive a higher level of risk in online purchasing than do men. In addition, having a site recommended by a friend leads to both a greater reduction in perceived risk and a stronger increase in willingness to buy online among women than among men.

Gender differences in internet usage and task preferences

Although there has been much publicity about the Internet, empirical research focusing on it is still relatively sparse. Much of the existent research on the internet has been predicated upon data collected in Europe and America. To date, there is a dearth of published studies on the internet in the Asian context. This study examines gender differences in internet usage in Singapore, a small island of 650 square kilometres in south-east Asia. Data were collected on internet users via a questionnaire survey placed on the World Wide Web. 1370 usable responses were received, of which 89% were males and 11% were females. Gender differences in terms of the demographic profile of internet users, usage patterns, task preferences and factors affecting an enjoyable Internet experience are examined.