The Perceived Role of ICTs in Quality of Life in Three Chinese Cities

This study assesses the perceived role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) including the Internet, mobile telephone, CD/MD/MP3, television and VCR/VCD/DVD in raising quality of life (QoL). A comparison is made between three Chinese cities, namely, Beijing, Taipei and Hong Kong, to see if differences exist in the perceived value of various forms of ICTs in the three cities, which share Chinese culture but different levels of development. Household interviews with probability samples were conducted in the three cities in 2002–2003. The findings show that the Internet and mobile phone are considered as the most and second most important medium respectively in raising quality of life in all three cities, while television ranks third and other ICTs trail behind. Based on the findings, the authors advance four propositions for the perceived role of ICTs in QoL. First, there are four basic needs related to ICT’s role in QoL. These “ICT-QoL” needs are the need for interaction, need for being in touch, need for instantaneous communication, and need for entertainment. Second, people’s assessment of an ICT’s value in raising their QoL varies with the penetration rate of that ICT—the higher the penetration, the more positive is the assessment of that ICT’s role in QoL. Third, the perceived value of an ICT in QoL declines with time—the longer the ICT has been around after reaching full penetration rate, the lower the value is attached to its contribution to QoL. Finally, education has strong influences on the assessment of the Internet’s role in QoL. Highly educated people tend to value the Internet most as a QoL raiser irrespective of the city they reside in. As a QoL raiser, the Internet is favored more by highly educated while mobile and fixed phone are favored more by lowly educated people.