Factors Affecting Consumers ’ Uses and Gratifications of the Internet: A Cross-Cultural Comparison among Taiwan, Hong

This study has two interrelated objectives. The first is to explore the factors and mechanisms that might influence people's internet using behaviors. The second aim is to uncover the relationships between uses and gratifications of internet and social economic factors among Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China. The data analyzed were collected from a cross-sectional random sample survey through ISS (Internet Survey System) taken in May 2000. Factor analysis, Cluster analysis, and logistic regression were utilized in order to explore which people, and under what motivations and situations, adopt what kind of internet mechanism, and with what impacts. In brief, the more matured the infrastructure of internet, the more diversified the internet behaviors. The quality of service, privacy, and convenience are three common factors that determine people's acceptance to e-commerce. In Taiwan, risk factors of transaction and the degree of convenience are highly correlated to the adoption of e-commerce. Social economic status and access to internet in China and the quality of service in Hong Kong appear to influence people's willingness to take transactions through internet. Key words e-commerce, Technology Acceptance Model, uses an