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The user churn (UC) of rural public digital cultural services (RPDCS) indicates that rural users no longer use RPDCS or have switched to other services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing RPDCS's UC and to contribute toward bridging the rural digital divide.

Based on the stimulus-organism-response theory, this study proposes a theoretical framework to investigate the factors influencing RPDCS's user churn. A total of 120 RPDCS users were initially recruited and 90 representative participants were chosen. Data were collected from the 90 respondents and 20 follow-up interviews. To examine the proposed framework and validate the correlations between these factors and UC, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis were used. In addition, recommendations are made to avoid the UC of RPDCS to bridge the rural digital divide.

The results indicate that the UC of RPDCS was stimulated by both physical and ability divides and RPDCS ineffectiveness, resulting in increased churn rates and an exacerbated digital divide. Thus, avoiding the UC of RPDCS is an important way to bridge the rural digital divide, which includes both the physical and ability divides.

This study adds new knowledge about RPDCS and distinguishes it from previous research on public digital cultural services. In addition, the authors discuss how to avoid the UC of RPDCS, to bridge the rural digital divide.

This study aims to determine the requirements and find out the challenges for the use of digital library services for rural areas of Capricorn District Municipality, Limpopo province. The research questions of the study are: What are the requirements for the use of digital library services in rural areas of Capricorn District Municipality? What are the challenges of accessing digital library services in rural areas?

Data was analysed thematically and deductively in this study, as researcher required to accomplish the purpose of the study through consistent structure (Zalaghi and Khazaei, 2016). In deductive analysis, the researcher starts with a set of categories, which are then used to categorize and organize data (Bertram and Christiansen, 2020). The researcher got familiar with data from the interviewing process and when transcribing data from audio tape. The transcription process was done for the coding purposes. Coding allows the researcher to simplify and focus on specific characteristics of data.

The study findings advocate for the establishment of digital libraries in rural areas. The library authorities are challenged to adapt digital ways of information provision. Since librarians have been providing digital content in libraries for use on users’ laptops and other gadgets, this implies that the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture has been lagging behind in finding innovative ways to provide information, especially in rural areas. To successfully keep libraries as sources of information, transformative measures have to be taken, and where possible, revisit the policies and keep drifting with the societal changes. The library authorities have to delve into new ways of providing LIS to the communities. Unquestionably, information and communication technologies have penetrated our societies and became a way of life. In addition, there are unlimited benefits which can be derived from digital technologies, especially given the lack of physical libraries in rural areas.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the academic research is original and has not been published anywhere before.

This research empirically investigates the differential roles of utility and entertainment on the value obtained from the use of mobile phones by users belonging to low-income groups in emerging markets.

This research reports the findings from an investigation that obtains data through a survey of mobile phone users from urban and rural areas across five emerging markets. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data obtained.

Study findings demonstrate that users obtain utility, social as well as entertainment value from mobile phones.

This investigation uses the capability approach for conceptualizing the capabilities obtained from mobile phones by users from lower socioeconomic strata, a theoretical lens that is particularly suited for explaining behavior that may represent well-being of the user group.

Managers may explore whether the platform of entertainment is a suitable vehicle for offering additional services. This study’s findings also suggest that creating value for customers should be a primary concern in emerging markets, similar to that in developed markets.

This research is among a few that report investigations into the differential roles of utility and entertainment on the value obtained from mobile phones. This study also presents differences in terms of: urban versus rural, younger versus older and male versus female subgroups. This research presents a large-scale multicountry empirical study investigating mobile phone use by users from lower socioeconomic groups in emerging markets.

This research paper explores alternatives to the mobile library service in providing a public library service to rural communities in England and the impacts of best value, public library standards and social inclusion policy on provision. A questionnaire survey was completed by librarians in public library authorities in England with rural hinterlands. The data derived were supplemented by follow‐up case studies. It was found that achieving social inclusion objectives and the results of best value reviews were the greatest motivating factors for much of the development of alternative library service delivery in rural areas, and that village halls were the most popular place for co‐location of library services. ICT was felt to have impacted positively on rural library service delivery and its use was demonstrated in co‐location facilities and learning centres. However, some authorities fail to consult users and non‐users in rural locations. This paper provides public library practitioners and researchers with a picture of public library service provision to rural area communities and shows the impact of Government‐driven policy. It appears that there is varying appreciation by public library authorities of rural communities’ distinct nature.

This study aims to reveal the influencing factors of user churn behavior and explore how these factors influence user churn behavior of rural public digital cultural services (RPDCS), and then, to provide the avoidance strategies for user churn behavior of RPDCS.

Combined with the stimulus–organism–response theory and cognitive load theory, this study constructed a mixed model of user churn behavior. Data collected through online and offline questionnaire survey were tested using the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach, and finally, the authors proposed a user churn behavior model of RPDCS.

The results indicate that the environmental stimulus factors of RPDCS affected user churn behavior via user organism factors. This study suggests that administrators should pay more attention to the information demand of users and strengthen the effective supply of RPDCS. Meanwhile, it is necessary to improve the information literacy of rural users to restrain the user churn behavior and improve the effectiveness of RPDCS.

The research findings on the influencing factors of user churn behavior shed light on the user churn behavior in public digital cultural services, add new knowledge to the construction of the public cultural services system and provide empirical evidence for how to improve the utilization and effectiveness of RPDCS.

The purpose of this article is to investigate urban and rural differences for online activities and e‐payment behavior patterns.

This study applied the MLCA model to investigate Internet usage patterns from 11 online applications among 10,909 Taiwan residents in 25 different regions.

The results showed that online behavior patterns exhibited regional differences, as the regional segments affected the individual segments of different use patterns. For instance, the urban area comprised a higher proportion of members who were accustomed to internet applications and skilled in online shopping by using a credit card. The rural area made up a higher proportion of members who only occasionally used online services. Moreover, rural region residents used other payment methods (excluding credit cards) more often than urban region residents. As expected, users’ personal characteristics also dictated the online behavior pattern. For instance, people with higher‐level income spent relatively more money for online shopping and often used various internet applications than others.

The findings herein should help Internet service providers form an applicable guideline for developing service strategies of higher service satisfaction regarding products and users’ needs.

This study implemented a multilevel latent class model to investigate online behavior patterns that exhibited urban and rural differences, with the goal of providing service providers an understanding and mastery of their target users.

Community wireless networking has become a growing trend in both metropolitan and rural areas around the world. However, few studies have sought to understand what motivates people to use community wireless networks and the unintended effects that those technologies have on communities, particularly for rural users. The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits and usage of an asynchronous wireless internet system in a rural village of Cambodia to examine the issues and challenges in the acceptance of a new technology in a less-developed country.

By employing qualitative methods of in-depth case analysis, the authors revealed various usage motivations and unintended effects of the system.

The authors identified five reasons that motivated users to use the system: avowed identity, a means to an end, maintaining personal ties, power and influence, and psychological commitment and ownership. The unintended effects of the system included increased number of interactions among actors and other uses of the system, including internet commerce, telemedicine, and e-government.

This study explores the wireless internet project known as the “Internet Village Motoman Project” that was initiated by a non-governmental organization with funding from private donors, supplemented with matching funds from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

This study contributes to the academic understanding of rural regions of Cambodia and its evidence supports the current theoretical assumptions that user behaviors are not determined only by users’ decisions alone (as proposed by traditional cognitive IS research), but also by users and their social interactions as stated in the four-dimensional social actor framework proposed by Lamb and Kling (2003). The latter provides better explanation of the motivation for internet use in the region. The theoretical contribution of this study is the useful adoption of the actor-network approach in a non-organizational setting. The findings also contribute to the literature on how practical internet engineering can bridge the digital divide. Fulfilling the needs identified in the research and understanding unintended effects of the system will contribute to the successful implementation of new internet projects in other rural areas.

This research aims to investigate the impact of the collaborative governance mechanism on the implementation of rural governance information systems in developing countries. By integrating institutional logic theory, affordance theory and social identity theory, the authors propose modeling grassroots officials' affordance perception process and exploring the importance of multi-identities’ information technology (IT) goals in affordance perception.

Through an exploratory case study, the authors identified three affordances of rural governance information systems and investigated the mechanisms influencing the perception of these affordances among grassroots officials. Next, the authors established a research model and collected 490 valid questionnaires from grassroots officials in China and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling (SEM).

The authors' study challenges previous assumptions by integrating institutional logic, affordance and social identity theories. The authors establish a perceived affordance path for rural governance information systems, recognize substitute effects among technological affordances and extend the theory to explain social factors influencing IT perception. The authors' findings suggest providing technical training for grassroots officials to enhance IT capabilities, and governments should prioritize essential functionalities in rural governance information systems to optimize resources. Training on collaborative governance mechanisms can improve IT affordance perception, enhancing digital platform utilization in governance processes.

The study was conducted mainly in China, and therefore, the findings may not be universal to other developing countries. Researchers are therefore encouraged to test the proposal in locations with different rural cultures.

The paper includes implications for the development of IT perception in rural governance, the development of affordance perception theory and studying the relationship between IT goals and affordance perception.

Overall, this paper addresses the need to understand how grassroots officials perceive IT affordances in rural governance and study the relationship between multi-identities’ goals and affordance perception.

The aim of this paper is to show that online learning behaviors are dictated by both personal characteristics and regional differences.

Data were collected from 16,133 users in 25 regions of Taiwan. The paper examined usage behaviors by looking at 11 items of categorical variables about online learning. This study implemented a multi‐level latent class model to investigate online learning behavior patterns that exhibit regional differences.

The results showed that online learning patterns do exhibit regional differences, as the regional segments are dictated by the individual segments of different use patterns. For instance, the urban area segment comprised a higher proportion of members who are good at using the internet. The rural area segment made up a higher proportion of members who occasionally use the internet. Interestingly, rural users went online more often than urban users when in search of e‐learning or entertainment. On the other hand, the individual segments are dictated by users' personal characteristics. For instance, younger people are good at employing online learning and entertainment services. Moreover, those who use many types of online applications pay less respect to intellectual property rights than those who only use a few types of applications.

By using a massive amount of survey data to show regional differences in online learning behavior patterns, the findings herein will help internet service providers form an applicable guideline for developing service strategies of higher service satisfaction between products and users' needs.