28-03-2012, 03:40 PM
UNDERSTANDING CYBERCAFÉ USERS’ WILLINGNESS TO PAY
Martin_Hagger_China_Trip_Nov_2010.pdf (Size: 177.81 KB / Downloads: 29)
Introduction
2 This report documents my visit to China in November 2010 to provide theoretical and
3 data analysis advice to the China research team working on the “Understanding Cybercafé
4 Users’ Willingness to Pay in China” as Part of the Amy Mahan Research Fellowship Program.
5 The global aim of the project is to evaluate the impact of internet cafes (Cybercafés) in China
6 with comparisons between home and Cybercafé usage, urban and rural communities, and user
7 and non-user group perceptions as specific sub-aims of the project. I will initially provide a
8 brief overview of the project and its theoretical basis and background.
Theoretical Approach
20 Background. Research into the antecedent factors and processes that underpin people’s
21 motivation to engage in intentional, social behaviours like internet usage has been conducted
22 from an array of different theoretical perspectives (Conner & Norman, 2005; Johnston, 2005;
23 Orbell, 2004). A number of these perspectives have their roots in the social cognitive tradition
24 and aim to identify the processes by which belief-based perceptions such as attitudes,
25 expectancies, beliefs, judgements, norms, and expectations lead to intentional behaviour.
Additional Analyses, Implications for Intervention and Future Research
11 Additional Analyses
12 The data collected in China were very rich and also had considerable detail on
13 different demographic groups, non-users, and the effects of increase in price on potential usage
14 in the future. I am confident these data will yield some interesting adjunct analyses in addition
15 to the main analysis offered in Part 1 of my report. In particular this will also give some
16 assessment as to whether changes in the price structure will have and effect on cybercafé use.
17 This is clearly relevant in the current economic climate whether wages of the majority of
18 cybercafé users are relatively low but internet access is through public access venues is also
19 comparatively inexpensive. However, one strategy that governments may use to reduce internet
20 use is to increase prices by imposing a levy on the internet café providers which the latter
21 would then have to pass on to customers.
Implications for Intervention and Practice
7 The present research has a number of implications for practice. First, it seems that
8 promoting and encouraging the satisfaction of autonomous goals and motives is key to
9 facilitating adaptive internet use among users in China. This means that autonomy supportive
10 interventions using persuasive communications (e.g., on the internet, using leaflets, through
11 schools and teachers) will be effective in promoting intentions to use cybercafés and the
12 internet. Strategies that promote autonomous engagement in behaviours through ‘autonomy
13 support’ include providing choice, giving a rationale for the action, and acknowledging
14 conflict. These three aspects are supposed to highlight the personal causation of behaviour.