Variance by Usage and Experience
Online
As shown above, experience with the Internet has a significant impact
on the perceived importance of household access. Table 6e shows how direct
this relationship actually is. Non-users, the majority of which have little
or no direct experience using the Internet, are significantly less likely
to view household access as essential. Perceptions of the importance of
household access rise significantly after only a few months of Internet
usage and continue to rise as greater experience online is gained [Table
6e].
- Fewer than one in twenty Internet non-users (4 per cent) view household
access as “essential”, 7 on a 7-point scale; 19 per cent,
however, view it as “highly important”, 5 to 6 on the same
scale.
- Perception that household access is “essential” jumps
to 17 per cent for those with less than one year of experience using
the Internet, with 47 per cent of these late adopters viewing it as
“highly important”.
- 50 per cent of Internet users with six years or more experience online,
view household access to the Internet as “essential”, 7
on a 7-point scale; an additional 39 per cent view it as “highly
important”, 5 to 6 on the same scale.
|