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Information and Communication: Alternative Uses of the Internet in Households

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Kraut

    (Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

  • Tridas Mukhopadhyay

    (Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

  • Janusz Szczypula

    (Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

  • Sara Kiesler

    (Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

  • Bill Scherlis

    (Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

Abstract

Is the Internet a superhighway to information or a high-tech extension of the home telephone? We address this question by operationalizing information acquisition and entertainment as the use of the World Wide Web and interpersonal communication as the use of electronic mail (e-mail), and examine how 229 members of 110 households used these services during their first year on the Internet. The results show that e-mail drives people's use of the Internet. Participants used e-mail in more Internet sessions and more consistently than they used the World Wide Web, and they used e-mail first in sessions where they used both. Participants used the Internet more after they had used e-mail heavily, but they used the Internet less after they had used the Web heavily. While participants' use of both e-mail and the Web declined with time, the decline in Web use was steeper. Those who used e-mail more than they used the Web were also more likely to continue using the Internet over the course of a year. Our findings have implications for engineering and policies for the Internet and, more generally, for studies of the social impact of new technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Kraut & Tridas Mukhopadhyay & Janusz Szczypula & Sara Kiesler & Bill Scherlis, 1999. "Information and Communication: Alternative Uses of the Internet in Households," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 10(4), pages 287-303, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:10:y:1999:i:4:p:287-303
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.10.4.287
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Xiao Ma & Seung Hyun Kim & Sung S. Kim, 2014. "Online Gambling Behavior: The Impacts of Cumulative Outcomes, Recent Outcomes, and Prior Use," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 25(3), pages 511-527, September.
    2. Lin Jia & Xiuwei Song & Dianne Hall, 2022. "Influence of Habits on Mobile Payment Acceptance: An Ecosystem Perspective," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 247-266, February.
    3. Heijden, Hans van der, 2000. "E-Tam : a revision of the Technology Acceptance Model to explain website revisits," Serie Research Memoranda 0029, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    4. Elina H. Hwang & Xitong Guo & Yong Tan & Yuanyuan Dang, 2022. "Delivering Healthcare Through Teleconsultations: Implications for Offline Healthcare Disparity," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 515-539, June.
    5. Yuan Tsai & Chieh-Peng Lin & Chou-Kang Chiu & Sheng-Wuu Joe, 2010. "Learning cyber trust using a triadic functioning analysis: a qualitative approach," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 44(6), pages 1165-1174, October.
    6. Liliana Vas & Anita Gombor, 2009. "Exploring Internet Motives and Life Satisfaction Among Hungarian and Israeli Medical Students, Living in Hungary," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(6), pages 685-701, December.
    7. Kim, Mingyung & Kim, Jeeyeon & Choi, Jeonghye & Trivedi, Minakshi, 2017. "Mobile Shopping Through Applications: Understanding Application Possession and Mobile Purchase," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 55-68.
    8. Se-Joon Hong & James Y. L. Thong & Jae-Yun Moon & Kar-Yan Tam, 2008. "Understanding the behavior of mobile data services consumers," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 431-445, September.
    9. Page, Kelly L. & Uncles, Mark D., 2014. "The complexity of surveying web participation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2356-2367.
    10. Ritu Agarwal & Animesh Animesh & Kislaya Prasad, 2009. "Research Note---Social Interactions and the “Digital Divide”: Explaining Variations in Internet Use," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 277-294, June.
    11. Sung S. Kim & Naresh K. Malhotra & Sridhar Narasimhan, 2005. "Research Note—Two Competing Perspectives on Automatic Use: A Theoretical and Empirical Comparison," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 16(4), pages 418-432, December.
    12. Stefano Basaglia & Leonardo Caporarello & Massimo Magni & Ferdinando Pennarola, 2009. "Individual adoption of convergent mobile phone in Italy," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-18, March.
    13. Tengtrakul, Pitikorn & Peha, Jon M., 2013. "Does ICT in schools affect residential adoption and adult utilization outside schools?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 540-562.
    14. Elina H. Hwang & David Krackhardt, 2020. "Online Knowledge Communities: Breaking or Sustaining Knowledge Silos?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(1), pages 138-155, January.
    15. Se-Joon Hong & Kar Yan Tam, 2006. "Understanding the Adoption of Multipurpose Information Appliances: The Case of Mobile Data Services," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 17(2), pages 162-179, June.
    16. Moro, Sérgio & Pires, Guilherme & Rita, Paulo & Cortez, Paulo, 2020. "A cross-cultural case study of consumers' communications about a new technological product," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 438-447.
    17. Dan J. Kim & Yujong Hwang, 2012. "A study of mobile internet user’s service quality perceptions from a user’s utilitarian and hedonic value tendency perspectives," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 409-421, April.

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