我国农村居民的互联网采纳的探索性研究

Chinese Rural Residents' Adoption of and Attitude toward the Internet:An Exploratory Research

互联网在欠发达地区的扩散有着极为重要的现实与理论意义,然而在我国大陆,迄今为止尚未有学者予以关注。本研究采用问卷调查方法,初步探讨了我国农村居民的互联网采纳及其对互联网的态度,对居住于湖北省十县市乡村与乡镇地区的480名受访者所组成的便利样本完成了有效问卷。调查发现:互联网与家庭电脑在我国农村的扩散皆处于“临界数量”之前的初步扩散阶段;但半年之内,家庭电脑有可能达到扩散的临界值而进入高速增长期,而互联网要跨越这一门槛仍需假以时日。分析发现,农村居民对计算机和互联网普遍持正面态度,这对其电脑和网络采纳有着积极意义;但其关于新技术的知识却较少或太少,极大制约了其新技术的采纳速度。“态度”仅受“知识”和年龄的影响,而“知识”受到诸多行为及人口因素的影响。研究者建议,向农村居民提供公益性的计算机或互联网培训项目,将有望加速家庭电脑与互联网在农村地区的扩散。

It is obvious that study of the diffusion of the Internet in developing area is significant both from practical and theoretical perspective; however, this is largely neglected by Chinese scholars. Based on a convenient sampling survey into 480 families living in the countryside of ten counties in Hubei province, the current research primarily examines Chinese rural residents′ adoption of and attitude toward the Internet. Findings suggest that both the diffusion of computer and the Internet are before the critical mass and at the early stage of diffusion. It is expected that in the following six months penetration of computer in rural China probably reach the critical mass and soon embrace its take-off, but it will be a longer period for the Internet to come over this threshold. Data analyses show that rural residents are basically positive about the adoption of computer and the Internet, which contributes to the present situation of penetration of the two new information & communication technologies. However, they have relatively and even extremely few knowledge about the new technologies, which tremendously impede their adoption of the innovative technologies. Respondents' attitude toward new technologies is only affected by their knowledge about new technologies and their age, while knowledge is influenced by many behavioral and demographic variables. The research suggests that public-interest computer or the Internet training programs provided for rural residents should facilitate the diffusion of computer and the Internet in rural area in China mainland.