Journal of Interactive Advertising, Volume 3, Number 2, Spring 2003

Internet Dependency Relations and Online Consumer Behavior: A

Media System Dependency Theory Perspective on Why People
Shop Chat and Read !e"s Online
Padmini Patwardan
Scool of !ass "ommunications
#e$as #ec %niversit&
Jin 'ang
"ollege of !ass "ommunication ( !edia Arts
Soutern Illinois %niversit& "arbondale
Ta#le o$ Contents
Abstract
Introduction
!edia S&stem )ependenc& #eor&
Internet Activities
*nline "atting
*nline News +eading
!easurement
!etod
,indings
)iscussion
"ontributions and -imitations
+eferences
Appendi$
A#stract
#is stud& introduces Internet )ependenc& +elations .I)+/ as a predictor of online
consumer activities0 I)+ is based on te teoretical perspective of !edia S&stem
)ependenc& teor&, wic postulates dependenc& relations between individuals and
media based on te perceived elpfulness of media in meeting understanding
.social1self/, orientation .action1interaction/ and pla& .social1solitar&/ goals0 %sing a
cross2sectional email surve& of 344 respondents randoml& drawn from te facult&,
staff, and student population at a large mid2western universit& in te %nited States,
te predictive influence of I)+ on online sopping, catting, and news reading was
empiricall& tested0 *n average, consumers in te surve& ad bougt eigt products
online in te last si$ monts, spent twent&2one minutes dail& reading news online,
and catted ten minutes dail& on te Internet0 #e& also displa&ed moderate, toug
positive dependenc& relations wit te Internet0 I)+ significantl& e$plained online
sopping activities and online news reading, but did not predict online catting0 In
terms of specific I)+ goal dimensions, te predictive influence of action orientation
on online sopping, solitar& pla& on online catting, and social understanding on
online news reading was confirmed0
Introduction
5eter dealing wit te consumption of goods, news, or oter t&pes of online
content, it as been suggested tat consumer activities in online environments
indicate a more instrumental tan ritualistic use of media0 6ven more so tan an&
oter medium, te Internet anticipates an active rater tan passive audience,
impl&ing tat, at te present time, its use is more purposive and goal2directed0
#erefore, it is possible tat te personal and social goals tat people see7 to meet
troug te Internet ma& be important motivating factors in te activities tat te&
pursue online0 In tis stud& we attempt to tie goal2directed motivations of Internet
users wit online sopping, catting, and news reading0
Sopping, catting, and news reading are fast proliferating activities among %0S0
users in toda&8s online environment0 In !arc 2003 alone, more tan 300 million %0S0
consumers sopped online, collectivel& spending over 930: billion
.Nielsen1Net+atings and ;arris Interactive 2003/0 Similarl&, tousands of cat rooms
of ever& nature report osting over a million catters dail& .Palm "oast1,lagler
Internet 2000/, testif&ing to te growing popularit& of instant messaging and related
cat forms .Pastore 2003/0 And recent researc from Pew Internet ( American -ife
.2000/ rated online news reading as te tird most popular dail& Internet activit& in
te %nited States, after sending email and surfing te 5eb for fun0
#wo teoretical approaces available to stud& ow individual goals are met troug
media .including Internet/ resources are %ses and <ratifications and !edia S&stem
)ependenc& teor&0 %nli7e %ses and <ratifications researc, wic is premised on
consumer control over accessing media content according to teir goals1needs, we
focus on consumer dependenc& on Internet resources to satisf& goals0 5e believe
tat suc a dependenc& on te Internet leads, over time, to te development of a
consumer2Internet dependenc& relationsip, wic, in turn, ma& li7el& affect te
nature and e$tent of consumers= online activities0
In tis stud&, we propose 22 and test 22 te multidimensional construct of Internet
)ependenc& +elations .I)+/ as a possible predictor of online activities0
"onceptuali>ed as te e$tent to wic people depend on te Internet to meet teir
social and personal goals, I)+ is derived from !edia S&stem )ependenc& teor&
.?all2+o7eac 3@A:, 3@@AB ?all2+o7eac and )e,leur 3@C4B )e,leur and ?all2
+o7eac 3@A2, 3@A@/, wic defines individual2media relations in terms of bot
overall intensit& of te dependenc& relationsip, as well as te e$tent to wic
individuals relate to a medium to meet specific goals0 !S) goal dimensions include
understanding .self and social/, orientation .action and interaction/, and pla& .solitar&
and social/ goals tat individuals see7 to meet troug media resources .,igure 3/0
%i&ure '(oal Dimensions o$ Media System Dependency Relations
#e central issue tis paper addresses is te e$tent to wic Internet beaviors can
be e$plained b& I)+ bot as a summed intensit&, and as te intensit& of si$ specific
goal dimensions0 5e argue tat overall I)+ intensit& will significantl& influence
Internet users= online sopping, news reading, and catting e$periences0 #ese
activities were selected bot due to teir growing popularit& among Internet users,
and teir intuitive corresponding matc wit !S) goal dimensionsD sopping wit
orientation, news reading wit understanding, and catting wit pla&0 5e furter
&potesi>e connections between te intensit& of specific goal dimensions and
specific online activities, and e$amine predictive lin7ages between action orientation
and online sopping, social understanding and online news reading, and solitar& pla&
and online catting0
Media System Dependency Theory
According to !S) teor&, a media dependenc& relationsip is one Ein wic te
satisfaction of needs or te attainment of goals b& individuals is contingent upon te
resources of te oter part&F .?all2+o7eac and )e,leur 3@C4, p0 4/0 !S) suggests
tat in toda&=s societ& individuals ave to rel& on media information resources in
order to attain teir various goals0 Information resources include all media products
.-oges and ?all2+o7eac 3@@3/, including commercial and advertising information0
#e intensit& of media dependenc& relations depends on te perceived elpfulness
of te media in meeting goals0 #e goal scope .dimensions/ of tese relations .,igure
3/ covers a wide range of individual goals 22 understanding .social and self/,
orientation .interaction and action/ and pla& .social and solitar&/ 22 tat ma& be met
troug media resources .-oges 3@@G/0 %nderstanding goals deal wit people=s
needs to understand te world and temselvesB orientation goals focus on te need
to beave effectivel& in interactions wit oters as well as in personal beavioral
decisionsB and pla& goals deal wit te need for entertainment and escapism .!orton
and )uc7 2000/0 5ile tese goal dimensions are e$austive, te& are not mutuall&
e$clusive 22 and more tan one 7ind of goal can be activated .and satisfied/ b& te
same medium .)e,leur and ?all2+o7eac 3@A@/0 ?ot intensit& and goal scope ma&
be determined b& ow e$clusive media resources are perceived to be in attaining
tese goals, and var& for different individuals as well as for te same individual over
time .?all2+o7eac 3@A:, 3@@AB ?all2+o7eac and )e,leur 3@C4B )e,leur and ?all2
+o7eac 3@A2, 3@A@/0
Internet Activities
#e incorporation of te Internet into dail& lives is reflected in te 7inds of activities
man& Americans pursue online0 *n a t&pical da& in !arc 2000, :A million Americans
logged on to te Internet .Pew Internet ( American -ife 2000/ to send email, surf for
fun, get news, bu& a product, or cat in a cat room or a discussion forum, among
oter tings0 Internet users surve&ed in a recent stud& said te Internet ad improved
teir connection to famil& and friends, te wa& te& pursue obbies, and teir abilit&
to learn new tings0 !an& found te Internet elpful in doing Hobs, getting information
on ealt care, sopping and managing personal finances .;oward, +ainie, and
Jones 2003/0 #e diversit& and intensit& of online activities point to te need to
investigate wat factors migt intervene in te activities0 +ecent models of media
selection and use ave suggested tat, in addition to demograpics and media
attributes, factors suc as assessment of needs fulfillment, appropriateness, social
norms, and peer evaluations are important in determining te nature of media use
.,lanagin and !et>ger 2003/0 #erefore, from an !S) perspective one migt argue
tat individual goals 22and te Internet8s abilit& to meet tem 22 ma& e$ert some
influence on consumer activities in te online environment0
Online Shoppin&
A few &ears ago, sopping or IpurcaseF was rated among te least prolific uses of
te 5eb .Jat> and Aspden 3@@CB Poinde$ter 3@@@/0 ;owever, most mar7eters
believe it is onl& a matter of time before te maHorit& of consumers sop in teir
virtual storefronts0 A !arc 2003 surve& of %0S0 users found tat e2commerce as it
mainstream, wit GA02K of all Americans over 3A &ears old 2230002 million people 22
aving bougt products online0 )espite downturns in te dotcom boom, consumers=
online spending as steadil& increased0 In !arc 2003 alone, more tan 930: billion
was spent online, a Hump of 3:04K from 9204 billion in April 2000 .Nielsen
Netratings1;arris Interactive 2003/0 A 'aooL1A"Nielsen Internet "onfidence Inde$
report found tat %S consumers planned to spend at least 930 billion online between
Jul&2September, 2003 ."&beratlas 2003/0
6ven so, generall& spea7ing, bu&ing online still does not appear to be one of te
primar& reasons w& people visit web sites, despite te overall increase in
commercial activities on te Internet0 Poinde$ter=s 3@@@ stud& found tis to be true of
bot ?ab& ?oomers and <eneration Mers, even toug &oungsters spent more tan
30K of teir disposable income on purcasing diverse products troug te 5eb
.,orrester +esearc +eport 2000/0 5ile <V%=s 30t 555 %ser Surve& .3@@A/
found tat Nualit& information, eas& ordering, and reliabilit& were more important to
respondents tan securit&, Jorgaon7ar and 5olin .3@@@/ found tat, among oter
tings, securit& concerns and transaction an$iet& appeared to be te most prevalent
causes for not bu&ing on te 5eb0
Studies using demograpic variables to e$plain online sopping beavior ave often
reported conflicting or confusing results0 5ile -i, Juo, and +ussell .3@@@/ found age
and education level pla&ed an important role in online sopping, as did consumers=
sopping orientation, ?ellman, -ose, and Jonson .3@@@/ considered demograpics
an imperfect surrogate to e$plain online purcasing0 #e& found tat wile
demograpics e$plained w& people were online in te first place wen compared to
te national %0S0 population, te& did not significantl& predict online purcase
beavior0 )ontu .3@@@/ observed tat distinction was often not made between
online users and online soppers0 ;is stud& found online soppers to be older, more
affluent, wit a positive attitude towards advertising and direct mar7eting, less price
and brand conscious and largel& convenience see7ers0 A ,orrester +esearc +eport
.3@@@/ suggested oterwiseD &ounger consumers .G0K/ bougt more freNuentl& on
te Internet as compared to more mature adults .30K/B and full& 42K of all &oung
%0S0 consumers were li7el& to sop online b& 20030 A variet& of studies ave also
pointed out te increasing online sopping sopistication of toda&=s 34222 &ear olds,
as evidenced b& teir use of various aids suc as price comparison web sites and
online coupons to bu& a wide variet& of products on te Internet0
In terms of motivational variables found to influence online sopping, te 5arton
Virtual #est !ar7et results reported 5ired -ifest&le22caracteri>ed b& &ears=
e$perience wit te Internet, reception of large amounts of emails and wor7 on te
Internet in te office ever& wee7, and #ime Starvation22a result of te increasing
number of ours wor7ed b& members of a ouseold especiall& in dual2income
ouseolds, as predictive of online sopping .?ellman, -ose, and Jonson 3@@@/0
5ile !edia )ependenc& +elations as been previousl& used in purcase conte$ts
.<rant, <utrie, and ?all2+o7eac 3@@3B S7umanic and Jintsfater 3@@A/, it as
been studied onl& in television sopping environments0 <rant, <utrie, and ?all2
+o7eac .3@@3/ modeled relationsips between viewers1bu&ers, te television
sopping program, and te television medium b& e$tending !S) teor& to
dependenc& on te television sopping genre0 S7umanic and Jintsfater=s .3@@A/
stud& found viewer relationsip wit te medium, te genre and te genre personae
.i0e0 te tele2sopping ost/ igl& predictive of purcase beavior0
*ur researc e$amines te relationsip between Internet )ependenc& +elations and
online sopping0 Since it is evident tat te online sopping e$perience involves a
range of diverse activities li7e conducting product information searces, price and
brand comparisons, searcing for discounts, as well as actual online product
purcase, tis stud& conceptuali>es online sopping as bot a range of activities, as
well as te actual number of products bougt online0
In view of te mi$ed findings related to te use of demograpics as online sopping
predictors, we include demograpic variables0 Specificall&, we as7 te following
researc NuestionsD
R)': #o wat e$tent do intensit& of Internet )ependenc& +elations, age, gender, and
income influence consumers= online sopping activitiesO
R)*: #o wat e$tent do intensit& of Internet )ependenc& +elations, age, gender, and
income influence te number of products bougt onlineO
?ased on definitions of goals dimensions provided in !S) teor&, we furter
&potesi>e a connection between individuals8 action oriented goals and online
soppingD
+': Stronger action orientation goal dimension will positivel& predict consumers=
overall online sopping activities0
+*: Stronger action orientation goal dimension will also positivel& predict actual
online product purcase0
Online Chattin&
As an eas& wa& to get instant answers to messages and to carr& on conversations
wit friends, colleagues, and strangers around te globe, online catting is one of te
fastest growing activities on te Internet .Pastore 3@@@/0 Almost ever& portal or online
communit& on te Internet toda& osts some t&pe of cat activit&0 #e cat statistics
released b& America *nline indicated tat tere were more tan G0 million registered
users of its ?udd& -ist and Instant !essenger services, and more tan C:0 million
dail& messages were sent troug ?udd& -ist and I"P services0 A NetValue surve& in
2003 found tat online catters as a group were among te eaviest users of te
InternetB te& generated twice as man& online sessions as non2catters .Pastore
2003/0 #e stud& found tat women were more li7el& to cat online tan men, and
spent two more da&s per mont on online catting tan did males .Pastore 2003/0
#e paucit& of researc on tis fast proliferating online consumer activit&, and
industr&2reported evidence of its growing popularit& among Internet users, leads us to
investigate te connection between Internet )ependenc& +elations and time spent
catting on te Internet0 "onsidering tat demograpics provided some
understanding of online catting, we as7D
R),: #o wat e$tent do intensit& of Internet )ependenc& +elations, age, gender, and
income influence time spent catting onlineO
Again, drawing upon te goal scope of !S) teor&, we propose te following
predictive relationsipD
+,: Stronger solitar& pla& goal dimension will positivel& predict time spent
catting online0
Online !e"s Readin&
Practicall& ever& maHor mainstream newspaper or maga>ine in te %nited States is
available in an online editionB te same olds true for broadcast news networ7s0 In
addition, most Internet portals temselves incorporate online news services0 !illions
of oter official and unofficial news2based sites are online, providing collective
information resources tat appear to be virtuall& limitless0
!ar7et ,acts1!SN?" reported in 3@@A tat 2003 million %0S0 residents used te
Internet as a source for news .-evins 3@@A/0 A Pew +esearc "enter biennial news
consumption surve& revealed tat tere was a Hump in online news activities between
3@@423@@A, from 4K of Americans to 20K searcing for news at least once a wee70
,or tese users, science, ealt, finance and tecnolog& were big news draws .Pew
+esearc "enter for People and Press 3@@A/0 !ore recentl&, Scarboroug
+esearc=s first National Internet Stud&, surve&ing more tan 2000 %0S0 adult Internet
users, found tat more tan two out of five Internet users .G:K/ ad read an online
newspaper in te last 30 da&s0 ;alf .::K/ ad logged on to a national newspaper
web site li7e te New 'or7 #imes, 5all Street Journal, and %SA #*)A'
.Scarboroug +esearc 2003/0 Scarboroug +esearc .2003/ also indicated tat,
generall&, online news readers tend to be &ounger .G3K were between te ages of
3A23G/ as compared to traditional newspaper readers .onl& 23K in te same age
categor&/0 ;ence, it appears tat online editions of newspapers intentionall& or
unintentionall& target a new &ounger audience0 6ven toug it is too earl& to claim
tat online news as entered te mainstream, Noac7 .3@@@/ argued tat te obvious
advantages of Internet2based news .accessibilit&, convenience, in2dept researc,
and information/ would be 7e& in attracting readers, encouraging tem to spend more
time reading news online0
Along wit increased usage of online news, researc as also found an increasingl&
positive attitude toward news as well0 ,or instance, among ::0 Internet users polled
b& Screaming!edia, more tan alf believed tat te Internet ad te most
interesting information and provided in2dept, accurate, up2to2date information .Astor
2000/0 6$amining electronic newspaper usage, 5eir .3@@@/ concluded tat media
consumption was purposeful and adopters of electronic newspapers used tem to
get information important to tem0
Prior researc e$ploring te connections between media dependenc& relations and
news in a print newspaper conte$t indicated tat intensit& of dependenc& relations
added a significant amount of e$planation in newspaper reading variance wen
demograpic variables were controlledB social understanding, self understanding and
action orientation were important dimensions of newspaper dependenc& relations
.-oges and ?all2+o7eac 3@@3/0 In anoter stud& on television media dependenc&
relations, a lin7age between dependenc& and news was also investigated and
confirmed .?all2+o7eac, +o7eac, and <rube 3@AG/0
No prior studies ave e$amined te connections between online news beavior and
media dependenc& relations0 ,ollowing -oges and ?all2+o7eac=s .3@@3/ suggestion
to consider bot media dependenc& relations as well as demograpic factors in
anal&>ing media use, we as7 te following NuestionD
+PGD #o wat e$tent do intensit& of Internet )ependenc& +elations, age, gender, and
income influence time spend reading news onlineO
?ased on !S)=s identification of social understanding goals as leading to individuals=
information see7ing beavior, we also &potesi>e its predictive relationsip wit
online news reading0
;GD Stronger social understanding goal dimension will positivel& predict
time spent reading news online0
Measurement
#o measure intensit& of Internet )ependenc& +elations .I)+/, te 3A item !S) scale
developed and refined b& ?all2+o7eac, +o7eac, and <rube .3@AG/, <rant, <utrie,
and ?all2+o7eac .3@@3/, and ?all2+o7eac, <rant, and ;orvat .3@@:/ is used0 I)+
is tus operationali>ed as respondents= composite mean score on te 3A item !S)
scale .See Appendi$/0 #o measure action orientation, solitar& pla& and social
understanding, composite mean scores for tree items eac on te !S) scale were
used0 ;ence, mean scores for eac of te tree goal dimensions used in tis stud&
are subsets of te overall dependenc& mean score0
#e dependent variable online sopping was conceptuali>ed bot as a range of
sopping2related activities tat consumers engaged in online, as well as te number
of actual products te& bougt online0 *perationall&, a five2item interval scale
developed b& Patwardan .2003/ was used to measure respondents= self2reported
online sopping activities, wile actual purcase was measured at te ratio level as
te number of products bougt online in te last si$ monts0
*nline news reading was conceptuali>ed as te e$tent to wic respondents
accessed and read news on an& news2based web site, including web sites of
newspapers, broadcast media, or oter news2based organi>ations0 It is
operationali>ed as a ratio level measure of te amount of time spent reading news
online ever& da&0
*nline catting was conceptuali>ed as respondents= use of cat and instant
messaging services available on te Internet, and measured at te ratio level as te
average amount of time spent dail& catting wit oters via te Internet0
)emograpic variables were measured as followsD data on age were collected b&
as7ing for te &ear of birtB income was measured categoricall& .Please select te
appropriate range to reflect &our annual income from all sources including salar&,
and1or parental support if students0 %nemplo&ed students were advised to select
teir parents= income range/B <ender was te onl& dicotomous .nominal/ variable0
Method
#e stud& used a cross2sectional email surve&0 #e population of interest was
students, facult&, and administrative staff at a large mid2western universit& in te
%nited States0 #e sampling frame was te universit& email director&0 #is sample
was particularl& desirable for tis teor& testing stud& because universit&
communities are 7nown to ave a ig proportion of Internet users0 ,uture researc
will build on te foundations of tis stud&, surve&ing national1international Internet
user populations0
Samplin&
+espondents were selected using multi2stage stratified random sampling0 Stratified
random sampling is a superior metod to simple random sampling and ensures
representativeness in terms of variables important to te stud&0 #e universit&
population was first stratified into tree groups 22 students, facult&, and staff 22 to
ensure age and income variabilit&0 6ac population group was furter stratified on te
basis of gender, to ensure gender representation0 ,ive percent of students, .since
students were a muc larger group tan te oters/, and 30K of facult& and 30K of
staff were sampled0 #us te total sample si>e selected for te stud& was 3,G42
respondents .3,200 students 32C facult& and A2 staff/0 5ile e$ploring differences b&
group was not te primar& purpose of tis stud&, tis sampling metod ensured
variabilit& on demograpic factors .age, income, and gender/ important to tis stud&0
+eliabilit& anal&sis was conducted for I)+ and online sopping scales0 !ultiple
+egression was used to answer +P3 troug +P30 ?ivariate regression was used to
test ;&poteses 3 troug G0
Survey Administration
After creating an email address list for respondents in te selected sample, te
surve& Nuestionnaire was delivered via email0 "onforming to researc InetiNuette,F
te surve& was accompanied b& a cover letter e$plaining purpose and nature, time
reNuired to complete te surve&, and te researcers= academic affiliation0 #e option
to opt out was offered, as were confidentialit& assurances0 #e letter and
Nuestionnaire were sent out as inline te$t0 +espondents were reNuested to it te
repl& button, respond to Nuestions, and IsendF te surve& bac7 to te researcers0
#wo mailings were done, wit some te$tual adHustments made for te second mailing
to overcome problems in administration0 ,or e$ample, a respondent reported tat te
message was truncated wen te repl& button was it, so te revised cover letter
offered suggestions for oter return routes li7e cutting and pasting te surve& into te
repl&, or sending via campus mail0
Relia#ility and -alidity
Post2test reliabilities for te scales were tested using "ronbac=s alpa0 5ile scale
reliabilit& for te overall 3A2item I)+ scale was fairl& ig .0AA/, it was somewat
lower for eac of te si$ individual goal dimensions Q self understanding .0CG/, social
understanding .04C/, action orientation .04G/, interaction orientation .0:@/, self pla&
.0A:/, and social pla& .04:/0 #is was probabl& because onl& tree items were used to
measure eac dimension .larger number of items generall& increases reliabilit&/0 ,or
te dependent variable online sopping, reliabilit& for te five2item scale was 0@0,
similar to pre2 and post2test reliabilities reported for tis scale .0@3/ in previous
researc .Patwardan 2003/0
)espite an inabilit& to generali>e te results of tis stud& be&ond te population of
interest .universit& facult&, students, and staff/, it ma& be argued tat universit&
populations are li7el& to reflect man& of te caracteristics of Internet users in te
%nited States0 #e stud& does ave ig e$ternal validit& in terms of generali>ing
from te sample to te universit& population, since probabilit& sampling was used0
%indin&s
A total of 3,G42 Nuestionnaires were emailed over a 302da& period0 ,our undred and
eigt emails were returned as failed deliveriesB and tere were twelve refusals to
participate0 R#e ig number of failed deliveries were mostl& from te student group
in te sample, suggesting tat student email addresses wit te universit& are not
necessaril& currentS0 ;ence for a total of 3,003 emails successfull& delivered, 3C4
responses were received, a response rate of 3C04K0 SubseNuentl&, ten incomplete
.truncated/ replies were discarded, leaving 344 usable sample Nuestionnaires0
5e ac7nowledge tat low response rate is a maHor limitation, and offer two possible
defenses0 ,irst, man& online and email surve&s .including te <V% Surve&s/ use
non2random sampling metods since it is difficult to obtain a sampling frame of all
Internet users in a particular population0 A review of te literature also suggests tat
response rate for email and online surve&s is generall& muc lower tan mail or
telepone surve&s0 *ur response rate falls well witin te range reported b&
researcers using probabilit& sampling in email surve&s0 ;owever, li7e oter
researcers conducting surve&s using tese metods, we would caution against
generali>ed interpretations of our results0
As a precaution against sampling error, we conducted a cec7 for non2response bias,
and found a good matc0 5e also compared te sample demograpic profile wit te
population profile obtained from universit& sources0 #ere was a good matc on age
for all tree groups .facult&, students, and staff/0 In terms of gender, a moderate s7ew
toward female respondents was observed among student and staff respondents but
no s7ew was detected in te facult& group0 ,or te facult& group, iger income was
over2 represented and lower income was under2represented0 ;owever, te overall
matc between te sample and te population increases confidence in te
generali>abilit& of our results to te universit& population0
Demo&raphic Pro$ile
In terms of demograpics, a little more tan alf te respondents .::K, n T @2/ were
students, 2GK .n T G0/ were facult&, and 23K .nT 3G/ were administrative staff0
+epresentation of females was sligtl& iger .:4K/ tan males .GGK/0 *ver alf te
respondents .:2K, n T CA/ were in te age group of 3AQ3G, G0K .n T :@/ were
between 3:Q:G &ears old, and onl& eigt percent .n T 32/ were more tan :: &ears
old0 In terms of income distribution, over 43K of respondents .n T A@/ ad an annual
income below 9:0,000D of tese, alf .n T G:/ earned below 92:,000 and alf .n T
GG/ above0 #went& eigt percent of te respondents .n T G3/ earned between
9:0,000 to 9300,000 annuall&, and a smaller number .30K, n T 3:/ earned more
tan 9300,0000
Mean IDR and Online Behavioral Activities
#e mean intensit& of overall Internet )ependenc& +elations among respondents
suggested a positive but somewat restrained dependence on te Internet=s
resources to satisf& individual goals .mean T 303 on a scale of 3 to :, wit iger
score indicating greater dependenc&/0 Similarl& positive but moderatel& intense
dependenc& for understanding .mean T 300/, orientation .mean T 302/ and pla&
.mean T 303/ were also observed .#able 3/0 Interestingl&, te igest means were
found among te tree specific goal sub2dimensions used in tis stud&D action
orientation .mean T 304/, solitar& pla& .mean T 303/ and social understanding .mean
T 304/, wen compared to oter social and self dimensions in te !S) goal scope0
#able 3!ean Internet )ependenc& +elations and *nline ?eavioral Activities
In terms of Internet2based activities, most respondents in te surve& engaged in
online sopping activities fairl& freNuentl& on te Internet .mean T 202 on a scale of 3
to : running from Iver& freNuentl&F to IneverF/, and ad bougt an average of eigt
products online in te last si$ monts0 5ile tere were no significant differences b&
group in te use of te Internet for online sopping activities in general, differences
were observed in te number of products bougt online b& staff .3: products in si$
monts/ and students .4 products in si$ monts/ ., T G03, p T 002/ .#able 3/0
+espondents also spent about 30 minutes dail& catting online0 Students and facult&
differed significantl& in te time te& spent catting online ., T 304, p T 003/0 *n
average, students spent te most time catting online dail& .mean T 3: minutes/,
followed b& staff .mean T 4 minutes/, and facult& .mean T 3 minutes/ .#able 3/0
*n average respondents spent about 23 minutes dail& reading news online, and no
statisticall& significant differences b& group were observed in time spent reading
news online, toug facult& spent te most time on tis dail& activit& .mean T 24
minutes/, followed b& students .mean T 20 minutes/ and staff .mean T 3A minutes/0
R)': IDR and Online Shoppin&
+P3 investigated te e$tent to wic intensit& of Internet )ependenc& +elations, and
demograpic factors, affected consumers= online sopping activities0 -inear multiple
regression was used to cec7 te relationsips0 #e overall model found tat eigt
percent of variance in online sopping was e$plained b& I)+ and demograpic
variables .+ sNuare T A03, , T 20C:, p T 003/ .#able 2/0 ;owever, none of te
demograpic factors .age, gender, income/ were significant predictors0 I)+ was te
onl& factor tat significantl& e$plained almost all te variance in online sopping .AK,
t T 3022, p T 000/0
Ta#le * Multiple Re&ression Analysis o$ A&e (ender Income and Internet
Dependency Relations to Predict -ariance in Online Shoppin&
R)*: IDR and !um#er o$ Products Bou&ht Online
+P2 e$amined te e$tent to wic te intensit& of Internet )ependenc& +elations,
and demograpic factors, affected number of products bougt online0 -inear multiple
regression was used to test te relationsips0 It was found tat te regression model
did not significantl& predict te number of products bougt online0
+': Action Orientation (oal Dimension and Online Shoppin&
;3 e$pressed a relationsip between action orientation goal dimension and te
online sopping e$perience0 ?ivariate linear regression was used to test te
&potesi>ed relationsip0 Action orientation was found to be a strong, significant
predictor .+ sNuare T 024, , T :G00:, p T 000/ .#able 3/0 ;3 was, terefore, supported0
Ta#le , .inear Re&ression /sin& Speci$ic IDR Dimensions to Predict -ariance
in Online !e"s Readin& Online Chattin& Online Shoppin& and !um#er o$
Products Bou&ht Online
+*: Action Orientation (oal Dimension and !um#er o$ Products Purchased
Online
;2 as7ed weter action orientation goal dimension also predicted te number of
products bougt online0 Surprisingl&, despite moderate significant correlation
between online sopping activities as measured on te scale, and te number of
products bougt online .r T 0G@3, p T 002, one tailed/, te predictive relationsip
between action orientation and te actual number of products bougt online was not
significant .+ sNuare T 002, , T 303A, p T 00C/ .#able 3/0 ;2 was, terefore, not
supported0
R),: IDR and Time Spent Chattin& Online
+P3 investigated te e$tent to wic I)+, and demograpic factors, influenced time
spent catting online0 #e overall multiple regression model e$plained 3AK of
variance in online catting .+ SNuare T 03AB , T 40:C, p T 000/ .#able G/0 ;owever, te
variance in time spent catting online was not e$plained b& I)+, but b& demograpic
variables .age and income/0 *f te total amount of variance in online catting, age
ad a uniNue contribution of si$ percent, income e$plained 33K, and te rest was
sared0
Ta#le 0 Multiple Re&ression Analysis o$ A&e (ender Income and Internet
Dependency Relations to Predict -ariance in Time Spent Chattin& Online
+,: Solitary Play (oal Dimension and Time Spent Chattin& Online
;3 investigated te predictive relationsip between solitar& pla& and time spent
catting online0 ?ivariate regression anal&sis found tat solitar& pla& significantl&
predicted te time spent catting online .+ sNuare T 00:, , T C04, p T 000/ .#able 3/0
;&potesis 3 was, terefore, supported0 ;owever, onl& five percent of variance in te
dependent variable was e$plained b& solitar& pla&, suggesting tat te predictive
relationsip between te two was not ver& strong0
R)0: Demo&raphics IDR and Time Spent Readin& !e"s Online
+PG e$amined te e$tent to wic I)+ intensit&, and demograpic variables,
affected te time spent reading news online0 #e linear multiple regression model
accounted for 3@K of variance in te dependent variable .+ sNuare T 03@, , T 404@, p
T 000/ .#able :/0 Interestingl&, te two significant predictors were gender .# T 2G03:, p
T 000/ wic e$plained 33K of variance in te dependent variable, and Internet
)ependenc& +elations .# T 20A:, p T 000/ wic e$plained five percent of variance0
#e negative relationsip in te case of gender suggested tat male Internet users
were more li7el& to read news online tan female Internet users0
Ta#le 1 Multiple Re&ression Analysis o$ A&e (ender Income and Internet
Dependency Relations to Predict -ariance in Time Spent on Online !e"s
Readin&
+0: Social /nderstandin& (oal Dimension and Time Spent Readin& !e"s
Online
;G &potesi>ed a predictive relationsip between social understanding and time
spent reading news online0 ?ivariate regression anal&sis indicated tat social
understanding was significant in predicting time spent reading news online .+ sNuare
T 00A, , T 3303@, p T 000/ .#able 3/0 ;ence, ;G was supported0
Discussion
As te fastest growing communication medium of all times, te Internet is not onl&
canging people=s personal lifest&les but also resaping te interdependence
between individuals, media, and societ&0 )ependenc& is te flip side of control0 As we
argue for greater consumer empowerment and control over wat media content we
consume in Internet environments, we are also more li7el& to grow increasingl&
dependent on its resources to meet our goals0 In terms of individual2media
relationsips tat develop over time, our stud& suggests tenable connections
between individual goals and dependenc& on Internet resources0 *n average,
Internet users did displa& moderatel& intense Internet )ependenc& +elations,
indicating tat te medium as become an integral part of individuals= media
environments0 I)+ intensit& appears to be strongest among &ounger people0 In te
case of different I)+ goal dimensions, students, more tan facult& or staff, appear to
be more strongl& motivated to see7 out Internet resources to meet teir overall pla& Q
and solitar& pla& Q goals, empasi>ing te entertainment value of media to te
&ounger generation0
#is stud& also finds support for previous researc attesting to te growing popularit&
of online sopping, catting, and news reading activities among Internet users0
"onsumers in our stud& ad bougt an average of eigt products online in te last
si$ monts, spent at least tirt& minutes per da& reading news online, and catted ten
minutes dail& on te Internet0 )ifferences b& group were, owever, evident in te fact
tat facult& spent te most time reading news online, students spent te most time
catting online, and staff did te most sopping online0
*ur stud& also focused on te e$tent to wic Internet )ependenc& +elations
influenced online sopping, catting, and news reading0 At tis stage of te Internet=s
development, I)+ appears to be a moderate determinant of beavioral responses0 In
te case of online sopping, te stud& is consistent wit previous researc findings
tat suggest demograpic variables are not significant in e$plaining online sopping
variance0 ;owever, statistical significance alone is not sufficient to draw conclusions
about te predictive strengt of I)+, considering te low + sNuare, and future
replications are necessar& to investigate te impact of I)+ intensit& on online
beaviors, considering te criticalit& of te Internet2user interface in te commercial
world0
5e also &potesi>ed a predictive lin7 between specific goals and online activities0
6$amining te connection between action orientation and online sopping, we found
tat individuals wo depended on te Internet to meet teir action orientation goals
were also more li7el& to engage in sopping2related activities online0 #is suggests
tat greater consumer dependence on Internet resources to elp ma7e personal
beavioral decisions .action orientation/ does indeed influence te online sopping
e$perience0 ;owever, action orientation did not predict te number of products
actuall& bougt online0 A possible e$planation migt be provided b& te differences
between groups in te number of products bougt online0 Since staff bougt te most
products online as compared to students and facult&, it suggests to us tat man& of
te purcases were wor72related0 If te above conHecture is correct, it is possible tat
Internet use in wor72related sopping conte$ts ma& differ from use in personal
sopping conte$ts, and we ma& argue tat media dependenc& relations, based on
te satisfaction of individual personal goals, ma& not influence purcase beavior in
te wor7place0 In future researc, clearer distinction sould be made between wor72
related and personal online sopping0 Puestions related to te 7inds of products
bougt online ma& also be included0
5ile demograpics did not affect online sopping, supporting previous researc
findings, tis stud& indicated tat te& still ave potential to predict oter t&pes of
Internet use0 Age and income are important predictors in online catting at presentB
and it appears tat online catting is an activit& tat &ounger people wit associated
lower incomes engage in for longer periods of time tan oters0 #e significant
correlation of age and pla& goals also ma7es sense in te ligt of te greater intensit&
of te overall pla& 22 as well as te more specific solitar& pla& 22 dimension among
&ounger people0 ;ence &ounger people, wo are more dependent on te Internet to
meet teir pla& goals, were also te ones more li7el& to cat online for longer periods
of time0
I)+ was a significant predictor of te amount of time spent reading news online0 A
significant gender difference was also observed, wit males spending more time tan
females on tis activit&0 #e strong predictive correlation between social
understanding and online news reading indicated tat people do depend on te
Internet=s information resources to understand te world around tem0 Previous
anal&sis of newspaper readersip and dependenc& relations teori>ed tat social
understanding was lin7ed to newspaper reading because a reader=s goals of
increasing integration in te communit& were addressed b& newspaper content
.-oges and ?all2+o7eac 3@@3/0 #e same appears to old true in te Internet2based
news environment as well0
Contri#utions and .imitations
?& introducing I)+ and its goal dimensions as a possible source of variance in online
consumer beavior, we ope discussion of its importance and relevance will be
furter stimulated0 ?ecause of its relational aspect, I)+ is potentiall& a better
measure tan a simple Nuantification of te e$tent of Internet use0 #e Internet itself
is inerentl& more consumer2involving, increasing te li7eliood of developing a
relationsip wit it, wic in turn is li7el& to influence te nature and e$tent of online
activities0 At present, tis relationsip appears to be of moderate intensit&, but we
believe it will strengten over time0 ;owever, te findings in tis stud& are
e$plorator&, and need to be furter validated troug future researc wit more
general populations0
*ur researc as some implications for industr& as well0 62commerce companies, for
e$ample, are strongl& motivated to discover reasons tat drive soppers online0
Internet portal companies are an$ious to increase web site traffic b& uncovering
motivations tat lead people to use cat and instant messaging features0 And online
newspapers and news web sites are 7een to understand ow news readers1viewers
can be attracted to content on teir web sites0 #oug variance in online sopping
and news reading e$plained b& I)+ was small, and I)+ did not e$plain variance in
online catting, significant lin7ages between specific I)+ goal dimensions and online
activities were observed0 #erefore, it is suggested tat online purcase action could
be made easier, convenient, and action2oriented to serve online soppers betterB
facilitating understanding goals could be te strategic focus to serve online news
readersB and cat sites can increase traffic b& focusing on meeting pla& goals b&
ma7ing sites fun and entertaining to use .for e$ample, te use of emoticons, view
cams, and oter devices to ma7e te online catting e$perience multi2dimensional/0
#is stud& as some limitations0 6mail surve&s generall& result in lower response
rate tan tose of telepone or mail surve&s0 6$ploring Saeffer and )illman=s .3@@A/
suggestion of using a multi2metod approac .combining email wit oter surve&ing
metods li7e mail surve&s, for e$ample/ and initiation of multiple contacts .tis stud&
used Hust two mailings/ to improve response rate, ma& provide some solutions in te
future0
Second, te speed of tecnological advances constantl& alters te nature and scope
of Internet activitiesB tis ma& in turn alter te nature and scope of dependenc&
relations as well0 ;ence, trac7ing relations troug longitudinal anal&sis ma& provide
a more consistent understanding of te development of individual2Internet relations
over time tan te cross2sectional approac adopted in tis stud&0
#e use of te !S) teoretical perspective in tis researc ma& also invite some
criticism, due to its limited use in media effects researc0 In our considered opinion,
despite its comple$ conceptuali>ation, !S) provides a compreensive and
organi>ed conceptual framewor7 to e$plore individual2media relations0 In terms of
operationali>ation, !S) measurement allows cross2media as well as cross2genre
comparisons, ma7ing it a strong and stable measuring instrument in media anal&sis0
,uture researc could e$amine not Hust overall Internet dependenc&, but also
dependenc& on specific t&pes of Internet content, for e$ample online advertising,
political information, commercial information, or ealt1medical information0
+eplication wit national and international Internet user populations could provide
anoter perspective on te development of Internet )ependenc& +elations and its
effects on online consumer beavior0 "omparative studies of dependenc& on Internet
and oter media, and te e$tent to wic te Internet is1is not affecting dependenc&
on oter media or information sources also offer e$citing possibilities for future
investigation0
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Appendi2
Scales
Individual Media Dependency Relations Scale
.,ive point scale from not at all elpful to ver& elpful/
In &our dail& life, ow useful is te Internet to[\
Sel$ understandin&
<ain insigt into w& &ou do some of te tings &ou do
Imagine wat &ou8ll be li7e wen &ou grow older
*bserve ow oters cope wit problems or situations li7e &ours
Social understandin&
Sta& on top of wat is appening in te communit&
,ind out ow te countr& is doing
Jeep up wit world events
Action orientation
)ecide were to go for services suc as ealt, financial, or ouseold
,igure out wat to bu&
Plan were to go for evening and wee7end activities
Interaction orientation
)iscover better wa&s to communicate wit oters
#in7 about ow to act wit friends, relatives, or people &ou wor7 wit
<et ideas about ow to approac oters in important or difficult situations
Solitary play
%nwind after a ard da& or wee7
+ela$ wen &ou are b& &ourself
;ave someting to do wen nobod& else is around
Social play
<ive &ou someting to do wit &our friends
;ave fun wit famil& or friends
?e a part of events &ou enHo& witout aving to be tere
Online Shoppin& Scale
.,ive point scale from Ver& ,reNuentl& to Never/
I sop on te Internet
I bu& man& different products on te Internet
I ma7e use of online discounts on goods and services
I follow up on good deals on te Internet
I bu& a product online even if oter bu&ing options are available
A#out the Authors
Padmini Pat"ardhan is an Assistant Professor in Scool of !ass "ommunications
at #e$as #ec %niversit&0
3in 4an& is a )octoral Student in "ollege of !ass "ommunication ( !edia Arts at
Soutern Illinois %niversit& "arbondale0
]#is is an invited article
%+-D Hiad0org1vol31no21patwardan
"op&rigt ^ 2003 Journal of Interactive Advertising