Research On Media Acceptance And Use Of LBS Users

According to the31stChina Internet Development Statistics Report published bythe China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), as of the end of2012, therehad been564million Internet users, of which420million were mobile Internet users,that mobile phone secured its position as the greatest Internet terminal. LBS put locationas the center of information communication gives meaning and practical value to theuse of Internet on the move, therefore LBS is seen as a standard configuration in the eraof mobile Internet.From the perspective of audience research, and with LBS users as the subject, thisstudy takes TAM and Use and Gratification Theory as its main theoretical framework,incorporating weighted and calculated needs and life style. By means of quantifiedquestionnaires, first-hand data was obtained and then been processed and analyzedusing SPSS, this paper investigates the LBS user’s actual media acceptance and usagebehavior, as well as the influence brought by users ‘weighted and calculated needs andlife styles.It’s found that highly educated urban young people with general level of income isthe main body of LBS users. They have relatively strong intention to use, but lowfrequency of use and low level of interactive participation. To obtain useful informationrelated to current location is the main purpose of using LBS, so the corresponding LBSare highly used. This shows obviously that as new media, LBS it itself has a certainappeal to the users, but there is problems on promotion and popularization, and thevalue of LBS has not been fully developed and utilized. The results also verify thereasonableness of the research assumptions, and show that the weighted and calculatedneeds and life style have notable positive effects on the acceptance and usage behaviorsof LBS, as well as on users’ satisfaction to LBS. And users ‘satisfaction in turn hasrather significant positive influences on users’ acceptance and use of LBS. According tothe results, users’ weighted and calculated needs of expressing and sharing theiropinions, experiencing entertainment and socializing have not been met through the useof LBS, the more users rely on IT products, go for fashion, trust the media, like to social and eager to challenge in life, the higher possibility they accept and use LBS. So basedon the quantified results, this paper not only reflects current development state of LBSfrom users ‘perspective, but also verifies the importance of weighted and calculatedneeds and life style on users ‘medium acceptance and use, which provides a usefulreference for the development of LBS. Theoretically, this paper extends the TAM model,testified the applicability of WCN once more, and tried to integrate theories of mediaacceptance and use in different discipline to a certain extent.