Exposure, Involvement and Satisfaction with Online Activities

Within a context of primary online activities (e-commerce, information search, communication and entertainment), this study explores exposure (time and frequency), involvement (cognitive and emotional) and post-exposure satisfaction with online activities among Internet users in the US and India. Data were collected through a cross-sectional online survey administered to a non-probability sample of US and Indian Internet users (N = 700). US and Indian Internet users displayed similar patterns of activity engagement. Informative and communicative Internet use, as compared to commercial and recreational use, appears more prevalent at this time. Satisfaction was highest for information search and communication, activities for which higher levels of cognitive and emotional involvement and exposure were also reported. By comparison, lower satisfaction levels were reported for e-commerce and online entertainment, with lower levels of involvement and exposure as well. A notable exception was high cognitive involvement in e-commerce, an activity in which higher levels of cognition may be expected. Indian users appear to be leapfrogging the digital divide. However, use of convenience sampling and likelihood of respondents being early Internet adopters in India may have influenced findings and further research is required to validate the results.