This paper seeks to contribute to the literature on consumers' online purchasing behavior as an international phenomenon. Specifically, to address consumers' Internet skills, website perceived ease ...of use, and website trust as antecedents of purchase intent. With a cross-national dataset of 788 consumers from different countries, five hypotheses are tested, and a model is suggested. The findings highlight that consumers' Internet skills and website perceived ease of use positively impact purchase intent. Interestingly, trust in the website does not. To overcome the cases where consumers feel a lack of trust, this study highlights the need for website usability and adapting to consumers' Internet skills. The findings also illustrate that online shopping is a global phenomenon, a finding that was made possible by analyzing a large international dataset. Future studies can benefit from an online international purchasing approach, which takes the internationality of consumers' purchasing into account.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
This article reports the results of a stratified sample survey of 2414 unemployed individuals in Germany regarding Internet usage, accompanied by a small sample of qualitative interviews and time-use ...diaries. The Internet serves as a structuring device for individuals during unemployment and helps such individuals maintain social contacts; it fills time with activities for the unemployed that are meaningful from a normative perspective and are perceived subjectively as a good use of time. The Internet enables degrees of interaction that would otherwise not be possible because of financial difficulties. The research suggests that expanded interaction on the Internet for the unemployed would likely be beneficial.
Full text
Available for:
NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Social support can play a critical role in the development of Internet skills. Research on support-seeking for digital media use has primarily considered informal sources such as family and friends, ...and formal sources such as people employed to provide assistance. Yet, people may also seek support online. Social network sites and other online communities are often used to ask questions on a wide range of topics from both friends and strangers. Drawing on a survey of young adults aged 25-26, we find that online question-asking, although used less frequently than informal and formal support, is a relevant source of support, which expands users' available resources and has the potential to improve Internet skills. Results show that Internet skills and social capital explain differences in support-seeking behaviors among young adults informing our understanding of how inequities in social support, and ultimately digital inequalities, manifest themselves in this realm of Internet use.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
While the stereotypical older adult is one who is clueless about technology, research on this age group paints a different picture. Adding to the literature about older adults' varying tech savvy, ...this paper focuses on the technological support-giving abilities of those in later stages of life based on interviews conducted in four countries. Far from being dependent bystanders, some older adults serve as helpful sources of support to their peers. We also find mutual support - support given to each other - an important domain for how people in this age group give and get assistance when they encounter technical problems. That such a prominent amount of support providers exist in this age group implies that peer-led technical support approaches may be especially salient and effective in helping older adults use digital media. While some participants did not provide help with digital technology because they lacked confidence to do so, others believed they could, but were never asked. These individuals have the potential to play a critical role in digital media support that may be more acceptable to their peers than help from other age groups. Further investigation of how to harness this support is warranted.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Given the high cost of traditional survey administration (postal mail, phone) and the limits of convenience samples such as university students, online samples offer a much welcomed alternative. ...Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) has been especially popular among academics for conducting surveys and experiments. Prior research has shown that AMT samples are not representative of the general population along some dimensions, but evidence suggests that these differences may not undermine the validity of AMT research. The authors revisit this comparison by analyzing responses to identical survey questions administered to both a U.S. national sample and AMT participants at the same time. The authors compare the two samples on sociodemographic factors, online experiences, and prosociality. The authors show that the two samples are different not just demographically but also regarding their online behaviors and standard survey measures of prosocial behaviors and attitudes. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for data collected on AMT.
In recent years, several longitudinal studies have transitioned from an interviewer-administered to a mixed-mode design, using the internet as one of the modes of data collection. However, a ...substantial proportion of panelists are reluctant to participate in web surveys when offered a choice in an ongoing mixed-mode panel. We still know little about the characteristics of panel members that drive them to comply with the request to complete surveys via the internet. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating how internet-related characteristics are linked to the willingness of panelists to switch from the mail mode to the web. We use data from multiple waves of the GESIS Panel, a probability-based mixed-mode panel in Germany (N = 5734). A web-push intervention motivated 28% of 1364 panelists of the mail mode to complete the survey online in a single wave and 70% of these 380 short-term switchers to switch to the web mode permanently. We measured indicators of internet use, internet skills, and attitudes toward the internet as potential mechanisms of this short-term and long-term mode switching in the two waves before the intervention. Our results suggest that internet use and internet skills affect respondents’ willingness to switch modes in a single wave. For these short-term switchers, however, none of the internet-related characteristics could explain mode switching in the long term. We also present self-reported reasons by panelists for not accepting the offer to switch modes that correspond to these findings. The results of this study can be used to develop effective push-to-web methods for longitudinal mixed-mode surveys.
Full text
Available for:
NUK, OILJ, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Not only algorithms influence people, but also people influence algorithms.•Cluster analysis identified different types of user engagement with algorithms.•Internet skills and political efficacy ...affect user engagement with algorithms.
This study investigated the responses of social media users encountering algorithms. Surveying 3441 Americans, four types of users were identified through latent class analysis: 1) the disengaged who don’t exhibit much conscious responses; 2) the negative curators who mainly unfollow and block connections to consume less news; 3) the positive curators who mainly follow and add connections to consume more news; 4) the activists who attempt to challenge the algorithms. It is also found that the users’ level of Internet skills and political efficacy influenced their engagement with algorithms such that those with higher Internet skills and political efficacy were more likely to be classified as activists. The findings of this study resonate with the existing digital divide research that suggest human psychology and capacity determine meaningful technology use. Overall, this study’s focus on users shifts the understanding of algorithms from a technical force to a social and personal one.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Digital skills are increasingly important for labour market outcomes and social participation. Do they also matter for academic performance? This paper investigates the effects of digital literacy on ...educational outcomes by merging data from the Italian National Assessment in secondary schools with an original data-set on performance tests of Internet skills for tenth-grade students. Our identification strategy relies on a rich set of individual, family, school and classroom control variables that are not commonly available in previous studies. The findings indicate that, overall, Internet skills have a positive impact on academic achievement. This effect is stronger for students with low academic performance or low family background. It is also stronger for students in technical or vocational schools.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, NUK, PILJ, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Differences in the impact of ICT in households are analyzed.•Specific index have been designed based on the ICT Development Index (IDI).•The regions are grouped through cluster analysis based on ...previous indices.•The results indicate a strong polarization in the development of ICT.•Mediterranean and Northeast areas are better positioned.
The promotion of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) among the population has been shown as an important matter of public policy to avoid the digital divide. In this paper differences in the impact of ICT in households are analyzed, and main demographic characteristics are considered. Based on the ICT Development Index (IDI), proposed by the United Nations, a regional index (RIDI) is developed to evaluate the comparative impact on different Spanish regions. Subsequently, the regions are grouped through cluster analysis, based on indices measuring their ICT development. Household characteristics were examined by calculating a discriminate regional Index (DIRIDI). It is composed of highly disaggregated indicators concerning socio-demographic characteristics of households and municipalities, and only those which have shown to be different between regions have been selected. The results indicate a strong polarization in the development of ICT, favorable to Mediterranean and Northeast areas, for both indices calculated. The differential profiles of households point to household size and municipality as well as the age of household members. It highlights the usefulness of designing general policies for particular types of homes, combined with different regional policies, taking into account the benefits of the social networks and collaborative learning.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Purpose
The role of information and communications technology (ICT) has been tested in various contexts of online shopping and the results show that ICT has successfully transformed the way of doing ...business. This study aims to propose that if women have adequate internet skills, namely, operative, informational and creative skills, their entrepreneurial intentions will be high.
Design/methodology/approach
This is descriptive research. The data was collected from 246 university students and analyzed using PLS-SEM.
Findings
The results of the study show that students belonging to entrepreneurial backgrounds have a positive attitude toward entrepreneurship. The impact of internet skills was mixed on the relationship of entrepreneurial attitude and entrepreneurial intention.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was not generalized as the sample consisted of urban and internet-using women. Future research can test the model for rural women entrepreneurs or usage of m-commerce for the same.
Practical implications
The results of the study show that women having the skills to operate the internet have higher intentions to become an entrepreneur. Thus, the e-commerce web-space can use the results to influence women of the new generation to use available tools in their journey of entrepreneurship.
Social implications
Women are an indispensable part of society. Empowering them will not only improve their confidence but will also strengthen the pillars of society.
Originality/value
Extensive research work has been done in the context of women entrepreneurship. The study is a novel attempt to test the effects of internet skills on entrepreneurial intention among new generation women. The results will be very much useful for future research and will extend the body of academic literature.
PDF
