The Internet has made profound changes in how people conduct their daily lives as well as how they buy goods and services. This study's objective is to shed light on the use and diffusion of online or electronic buying (e-buying). Canadian households have not adopted e-buying equally, as revealed by Statistics Canada's Household Internet Use Survey (HIUS) data of 1997 – 2003. We explore how e-buying varies across age groups, genders, education levels, income levels, and the nature of goods. We first develop a simple model for e-buying demand in the context of a utility-maximizing individual choosing between e-buying and conventional buying. We employ a parameter reflecting individual taste, so we can study the influence of individual-specific factors in e-buying adoption decisions. The taste parameter is distributed in a population in some unknown way, and we try different distributions in empirical tests. We use the literature in conjunction with the model to derive the model's implications in terms of variables available in the HIUS datasets. We employ Tobit and Poisson regression models for the empirical tests. The tests suggest that household e-buying is more when household income is more, when heads of households are more educated, and for homogeneous goods; but that household e-buying is less when heads of households are female. This understanding may help policy makers, businesses, and other interested parties find ways to promote Internet use and e-buying across all segments of society.

Abstract The characteristics of being private, interactive and active publicize sex, which used to be a taboo topic, on the Internet in every way. The group using the Internet has gradually taken an open perspective in sexual attitudes and behaviors. People are looking for short-term sex relationships through the BBS, chat rooms, and matching websites, which lead to the increasing proportion of one-night stand experiences. When people are situated in an Internet environment where sex information is open and accessible to almost everyone, will the changes in sexual attitude and behavior are also being influenced with time? It¡¦s worth further probing into the relations between the actual users¡¦ conditions and the sexual attitudes and behaviors of those who acquire sex satisfaction through the Internet. This research will be focused on the demographic characteristics, users¡¦ conditions, sexual attitudes and behaviors of average Internet users and the one-night stand group, trying to understand if different variables make differences in the users¡¦ sexual attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, in this research the independent variables are the demographic characteristics and the dependent variables are sexual attitudes and behaviors. The Internet users¡¦ conditions are the intervening variables. The researchers will collect sample data about users aged from 18 to 30, including some who used to have Internet one-night stand experiences and post messages on every BBS bulletin board, chat room, matching website and porn website. Questionnaires are designed for the users to answer on the Web. This practice took about two months altogether. 1008 questionnaires were collected. Major findings after statistic analyses are as follow: 1. The sexual attitudes of Internet users differentiate distinctly by sex. However, sexual attitudes don¡¦t change by different ages, marital conditions, education levels and occupations. 2. The sexual behaviors of Internet users differentiate distinctly in sexs, ages, marital conditions, education levels, and occupations. 3. Average Internet users¡¦ sexual attitudes make no difference in the years of using the Internet, the frequencies, and how many hours per day spent on the Internet. 4. The sexual behaviors of average Internet users change distinctly because of the different hours per day spent on the Internet, but make no difference in the years of using the Internet and the frequencies. 5. The sexual behaviors of average Internet users differentiate rather by the activeness of exposing to porn websites than by whether they are exposed to porn websites, how often, and the time spent on the websites. 6. The sexual behaviors of average Internet users differentiate distinctly rather by whether they are exposed to porn websites, the activeness, and how long on the porn websites than by how often they are exposed to the porn websites. 7. The group of Internet one-night stand is distinctly different form that of average Internet users in the years of using the Internet, average hours per day on the Internet, not in how often they use the Internet. 8. The group of Internet one-night stand is distinctly different from that of average Internet users rather in the frequencies of exposing to the porn websites and time on the websites than in the activeness of exposing to porn websites. 9. There¡¦s a positive relationship in having one-night stay experiences with the frequency of exposing to porn websites. 10. The sexual attitude of the group of Internet one-night stay are not different from that of average Internet users. 11. The sexual behavior of Internet one-night stay group is distinctively different from that of average Internet users.

The purpose of this study is: 1) to explore the ways in which the Internet may affect individuals’ political diversity in different strengths of social relationships; 2) to identify which of strong-tie diversity and weak-tie diversity contributes more to political tolerance; and 3) to investigate the extent to which tolerant people are different from the less tolerant in their participation decisions when exposed to political diversity. In order to examine the contribution of Internet news use to political heterogeneity, the current study examines the moderation of the negative influence of politically selective exposure on the Internet on political diversity in social networks by Internet news use. To identify the better contributor to tolerance, the two diversities are compared. To assess the consequence of exposure to political difference for political participation for tolerant and less tolerant people, the present study examines any moderating effect of tolerance between political network heterogeneity and participation. It also observes the moderating effect in different tie strengths. This study utilizes data obtained from the U.S. Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy (CID) survey conducted by a collaboration of Center for Democracy and Civil Society at Georgetown University and the European Social Survey. The sample is 1,001 adults aged 18 and over and representative of the contiguous United States. The dataset contains items concerning Internet use, informal social networks, the composition and diversity of ties and associations, democratic values and tolerance under the primary themes of democracy, social capital and civic engagement. The data are analyzed by hierarchical and OLS regression. According to the findings, Internet news use contributes to individuals’ overall political diversity by reducing the negative influence of the selective exposure occurring from online interaction with homogeneous people. When examined in different strengths of interpersonal relationships, selective exposure discourages strong-tie diversity while encouraging weak-tie diversity. Internet news use positively affects strong-tie diversity but had no influence on weak-tie diversity. Weak-tie diversity is found to be a better contributor to political tolerance. Politically tolerant individuals tend to be discouraged for political participation when exposed to difference in their social relationships. Therefore, while political tolerance may increase overall political diversity, it may as well threaten the balance between deliberation and participation. Closer interpersonal associations are not found to reduce the demobilizing effect of exposure to difference for tolerant individuals. / text

The Internet has become an important part of many people’s lives across the world since its first launching in 1960s. In spite of its many beneficial roles for various new applications and services, the emergence of the Internet also has created a new problem called "problematic Internet use" or "Internet addiction," in which individuals experience interpersonal, school, or work-related problems due to excessive use of the Internet. However, since problematic Internet use is a relatively new phenomenon, research in this field has produced as yet a limited number of research studies. This study reviews available research related to defining, assessing, and measuring the problematic Internet use of college students, and examines characteristics related to Internet use for this population. This study utilizes a web-based survey with a randomly selected sample of registered undergraduate and graduate students of the University of Texas at Austin in 2006. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) (Young, 1998) and the Online Cognition Scale (OCS) (Davis, 2002) were employed to measure aspects of problematic Internet use. Result scores of the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) showed that only 0.8 percent of the respondents were diagnosed as Internet users with significant problems, whereas 28.0 percent were classified with frequent problems. Consolidation of the percentage of respondents with the frequent problems and the significant problems resulted in a total of 28.8 percent presenting with problematic Internet use. A gender difference with regard to problematic Internet use was evident, with male students scoring higher on both the Internet Addiction Test and the Online Cognition Scale. Time spent online for non-academic purpose was positively correlated with problematic Internet use, whereas both age and GPA were negatively correlated with problematic Internet use. The hard science students were more likely to be problematic Internet users than soft science and fine arts students while freshmen students were more vulnerable to problematic Internet use than graduate students. Overall, the findings of this study support previous research except for Internet applications and services used by college students. The percentage of online chatting users has dramatically jumped from mere 9.1% (Scherer, 1997) to 56.4%. In contrast to this jump, the percentage of Usenet service use has decreased from 36.9% (Scherer, 1997) to 11.7%. Relatively new services such as blog/social networking and file sharing, which were not reported in earlier studies conducted by Scherer (1997) and Young (1996, 1998), have become increasingly popular. It seems that, as network technology is evolving and more services have become available, the trend of Internet use is also changing. / text

Spartėjant globalizacijai vis svarbesnę vietą žmogaus gyvenime užima technologijos, tarp jų ir internetas. Galima išvardinti daugybę interneto privalumų: pasitarnauja darbuose ir moksluose, gali būti puikus būdas laisvalikiui praleisti taip pat ir nepamainoma komunikacijos priemonė. Nors galima išvardinti daugybę interneto privalumų, bet reikia pminėti, ir tai kad internetas gali būti ne tik naudingas, bet ir žalingas. Žmogus per daug laiko praleisdamas internete rizikuoja tapti priklausomu, o proporcingai nuo naudojimo didėja rizika susidurti su pavojais internete (Ruškus, Žvirdauskas, Kačenauskaitė, 2010). Nors su probleminio interneto naudojimo problema gali susidurti bet kokio amžiaus žmonės, manoma, kad paaugliai yra lengviausiai pažeidžiamų asmenų grupė. Dėl dar nesusiformavusio tapatumo, paaugliai yra atviresni naujovėms bei komunikacijai. Neretai šiems poreikiams patenkinti paaugliai pasitelkia internetą. Dažnai patys paaugliai nesugeba tinkamai planuoti internete praleidžiamo laiko bei susidūrus su tam tikrais pavojais ne visada žino kaip elgtis. Dėl šios priežasties ne tik paaugliai turi būti mokomi kaip tinkamai naudotis internetu, bet ir tėvai bei specialistai, kad laiku galėtų užkirsti kelią paauglių probleminio interneto naudojimo atsiradimui. Šio darbo tikslas: atskleisti šeimos ir specialistų vaidmenis taikant prevenciją paauglių probleminio interneto naudojime. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1) atskleisti kaip paauglių probleminis interneto naudojimas susijęs su jų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Accelerating globalization technologies, including internet, occupy more and more important place in human lifes. Many advantages of the Internet can be listed: serves at work and studying, can be a great way to spend leisure time as well as irreplaceable way of communication. While it is possible to list a number of advantages of internet, but it should be mentioned, that internet can be not only useful, but harmful as well. Human who spent too much time online takes risk to become addicted and in proportion of usage increases the risk to face the dangers online. Although people of any age can face problematical internet use, it is believed that adolescents are the most vulnerable group of individuals. Due to not formed identity, adolescents are more open to innovation and communication. Often for these needs teenagers use the Internet. Usually teenagers themselves are unable to plan their time spent on the internet and in the face of certain threats do not always know how to behave. For this reason, not only the teenagers, but parents and professionals as well, need to be taught how to properly use the Internet, in order that they could prevent the emergence of adolescent problematic Internet usage. The aim of this work: to reveal roles of family and professional by preventing adolescent problematic usage of the Internet. The task of this work: 1) To reveal how adolescent problematic Internet use is related to their leisure, and relationships with family and friends; 2)... [to full text]

The Internet plays an increasingly significant role in people's lives. Poverty of data and research on Internet use and users is probably one of the most significant factors affecting the understanding of the Internet use and attitude in a conservative country and society such as Saudi Arabia. The aim of this research was to identify and analyse Saudi university students' use of the Internet, with particular emphasis on factors associated with, and influencing, female university students' attitude toward using the Internet. A mixed method approach was used utilising a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research techniques. It included a questionnaire to more than 700 male and female university students in King Saud University which incorporated questions on web and email use as well as an adopted Internet attitude scale from Tsai et al (2001). This was followed by series of focus group interviews with female students on Internet gender related issues. The study found that demographic variables are associated with Saudi university students' use of the Internet. Gender was found to be significantly associated with students' email usage, chatting, and feelings about the web. Culture also affected women's reasons for using the web, choice of websites visited, and web activities. It also influenced reasons for e-mail use and non-use, and the people with whom they communicated using email. Females in Saudi Arabia face many challenges when it comest o Interneta ccessa nd use. These barriers tend to be somewhat different than those faced by man. For Saudi females it is more cultural (i.e. family restrictions, lack of time) and psychological (i.e. security and privacy, internet complexity). The majority of students had positive attitudes towards using the Internet. Female students were as positive in their attitude as male students. However, females had real or perceived difficulties in their ability to control their Internet usage. Considering the scarcity of previous literature in this particular context (Saudi Arabia), this research provides an original and comprehensive contribution to knowledge regarding Internet use and attitude among university male and female students.

The Web presents enormous opportunities for marketing. The growth and reach of the Internet is unparalleled. There are virtually no limits to the things that can be done but your own imagination. Practitioners and academics alike have raised this new medium to the skies. Yet, the results of Internet marketing efforts have not always lived up to the expectations. This books presents some new insights into the prerequisites for Web marketing effectiveness. Web advertising in theory and practice has mainly focused on the transportation of Internet users to target Web sites. The predominant form of transporters, banner ads, have been evaluated on their clickthrough rates and the target Web sites have been evaluated mainly in terms of number and duration of visits and attitudes toward the sites. Is this adequate? This thesis suggests that Web advertising needs to be advanced with more qualified objectives and tools of evaluation. The goal should not necessarily be transportation of Internet users to target Web sites. Banner ads may work as ads in their own right. Target Web sites need to be evaluated based on the communication objectives. The traditional logic of Web advertising is challenged and the thesis suggests that Internet marketing could be much more effective if designed and evaluated differently. The thesis consists of five articles based on empirical studies. The articles cover Web advertising and promotion effectiveness with respect to a number of important factors, such as involvement, product type, brand familiarity, ad wearout, and Internet user experience. The behaviors of visitors to a retail site are also studied, with important implications for Web site and promotion design. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2001.Article no 1 has been published as:Dahlén, M., Ekborn, Y. and Mörner, N., "To Click or Not to Click - An Empirical Study of Response to Banner Ads for High and Low Involvement Products." in Consumption, Markets & Culture, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2000, pp 57-76.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-140).

Background: People with cancer are increasingly turning to the internet to find information and support. However, little is known regarding the use of the internet and how this impacts patients’ cancer experiences and their interactions with, and within, the healthcare system. Purpose and objectives: The overarching purpose of this dissertation is to explore the ways that patients newly diagnosed with cancer use cancer-related internet information (CRII) and the role it plays in interactions with the healthcare system. The specific objectives were to: (1) qualitatively explore the content of commonly searched websites from a critical nursing perspective; (2) explore patients’ prompts to use CRII and how CRII informs the ways in which patients interact with healthcare professionals and healthcare services, and (3) document what CRII is accessed and the patterns and frequency of use. Methods: An embedded mixed methods study was conducted using interpretive description as the overarching methodology. Date sources included: (1) a qualitative review of 20 cancer websites; (2) 19 individuals newly diagnosed with cancer, who each took part in two in-depth interviews and a brief survey; and (3) 21 healthcare professionals who engaged in three focus groups (n=17) and in-depth individual interviews (n=4). Results: The dominant discourse in the websites reviewed focused on empirical information about treatment, prognosis, and cure. A dearth of sociopolitical, ethical, personal, and esthetic information was noted. Thus, when seeking CRII, patients predominantly find empirical and biomedical information. The qualitative interviews with patients revealed three key themes that characterize how patients used CRII: (1) person in context, (2) management of information, and (3) managing relationships with healthcare professionals. These themes explain how patients mobilized CRII to manage their patient experience. Patients described CRII as an important resource to process information, make decisions about their illness, and make sense of their disease. Patients also sought CRII to complement and reinforce information and support provided by healthcare professionals. The interviews and focus groups with healthcare professionals revealed two key themes with respect to their views of CRII use. These themes relate to healthcare professionals’ perceptions of patient use of the internet to manage their pragmatic concerns and priorities as well as to navigate processes and practices of the healthcare system. Healthcare professionals found that CRII could modulate patients’ interactions with the healthcare system. Healthcare professionals also acknowledged key points in the cancer trajectory where information may be lacking or where patients may have less informational support; participants felt that CRII served as a beneficial resource to address these gaps. Although healthcare professionals were supportive of patient use of CRII to meet cancer information needs, they also described concerns regarding patients finding and using untrustworthy information. Conclusions: Together, the findings from this dissertation research inform an understanding of how people with cancer use CRII to manage their cancer experience and interact with healthcare professionals and services. Findings highlight the importance of information diversity in the midst of a lack of holistic and varied information presently online. There is also a need for nurses and other healthcare professionals to be aware of the information that is available online and to understand what patients are accessing. Communication about CRII between patients and healthcare professionals may also strengthen areas of patient education that are lacking as well as encourage healthcare professionals to raise key topics of interest. Implications for Practice: There is clearly a growing need for dialogue around pervasive technologies and the nursing role in assessing and directing patients to holistic information. Oncology nurses are well situated to take the lead in their multi-disciplinary care teams to engage patients about their CRII use and to explore the tensions experienced by clinicians surrounding CRII use. CRII use is a growing trend amongst patients across all healthcare settings, and nurses are well positioned to initiate discussions and be leaders in practice. Future research is warranted to expand on the link between CRII use and the utilization of health services, the role of CRII for those in rural areas compared to those in urban areas, and the role of the family in patients’ mobilization of CRII in their cancer experience.

This dissertation investigates three questions: First, what conditions make dissident collective action such as protest, revolt, rebellion, or civil war more likely to happen in a country? Second, what conditions make citizens more likely to join in dissident collective action? Third, does Internet use play a role in dissident collective action, and if so, why? I argue that motives and resources are necessary rather than sufficient conditions for dissident collective action. I develop an analytical framework integrating motives and resources. Specifically, I theorize that state repression is an important motive, and that civil society is critical in providing resources. Four statistical analyses are conducted to test the hypotheses. Using aggregate level data on countries over time, I find that civil war is more likely to occur in countries where both state repression and civil society are strong. Moreover, the effect of civil society on civil war onset increases as the repression level rises. at the individual level using 2008 Latin American Public Opinion Project surveys from 23 Latin American and Caribbean countries, I find individuals more likely to join in protest when they experience both more repression and greater civic engagement. Moreover, civic engagement’s effect on protest participation increases as people experience more repression. I further find that Internet use constitutes a kind of civic engagement and has effects similar to voluntary group involvement. the effect of Internet use on protest participation decreases as a person’s civic engagement increases. Finally, an individual is more likely to join in protest when experiencing more repression and using the Internet more frequently. Moreover, the effect of Internet use on protest participation increases as a person experiences more repression.