스마트 기기의 3단계 디지털 격차에 영향을 미치는 요인에 관한 연구: 이용동기를 중심으로

As the use of smart devices becomes widespread, policy approaches to addressing the digital divide require a new perspective. In the case of smartphones, which are used by 94.6% of the population, access itself no longer holds much significance. Even if the same device is used, the meaning it has in an individual’s life can vary greatly. This means that differences within the user group are more important than differences between users and non-users, and that there is a growing need to focus on outcomes beyond access, capacity, and usage. This is because differences in outcomes due to the use of smart devices can in turn affect an individual’s offline life and social capital, and there is a great concern that differences in newly formed social capital can extend and reproduce into another digital divide. Many studies on digital divide have been conducted with a focus on capacity and usage. However, empirical studies on outcomes are very limited, both domestically and internationally. In this vein, this study aims to identify factors that affect user outcomes, which can be considered the ultimate goal of using smart devices.
Another area that digital divide studies have not sufficiently addressed is the motivation for use. Existing academic and policy studies have focused on capacity, while failing to fully understand the importance of motivation, which is cited as one of the most important reasons for using or not using digital devices. Van Dijk, a leading figure in digital divide research, and his fellow scholars recognize use motivation as the needs, reasons, or purposes related to internet use, and they emphasize its importance. In particular, he presented motivation as the most important factor preceding physical access in his three-stage digital divide model. A significant portion of the group that does not use the Internet does not recognize ‘why they need it’ and ‘what benefits it can provide’. They do not use it because they do not know how it can help them solve the problems they face in reality. However, there is not much empirical research or policy effort regarding the importance of motivation. French and his colleagues argue that motivation is the most fundamental reason for not using the Internet, but has not been studied in sufficient depth and detail. In this vein, this study aims to verify the meaningfulness of the sequential sequential divide model, that progresses from motivation to capacity, usage and outcome. The three-stage sequential divide model provides a comprehensive framework to explore the relationship between motivation and outcomes, moving from motivation to capability, usage, and ultimately, outcomes. To answer these questions, this study set two research questions.
Research question 1) What are the factors that affect the outcome of using smart devices? Research question 2): Is the sequential digital divide model appropriate? Does motivation has a statistically meaningful effects on the outcome? To approach these questions, empirical study using secondary has been carried out. The data utilized are from the raw data of the 'Digital Divide Survey 2020' by the National Information Society Agency of Korea. The analysis are performed using SPSS and AMOS.
The analysis of research question 1 showed that motivation had the largest and most significant positive (+) impact on the user outcomes of smart devices, followed by capacity and usage(<Table 1>). Access do not have a statistically significant impact.
As for research question 2, the fit of the three-stage sequential divide model(motivation → capacity → usage → outcome) turned out to be significant. Motivation not only directly influenced capacity, but also had meaningful direct and indirect effects on user outcomes. These results are significant in that they show that the three-stage sequential digital divide model from motivation to outcome is significant.
The findings suggest that to achieve real-life outcomes through the use of smart devices, motivation, that is why users intend to use them, should be emphasized before capacity. The results of this study can provide two major implications for policies to overcome the digital divide in the outcome. First, in order for the use of digital devices to lead to offline life outcomes, the focus should be on increasing motivation for ‘what to use digital devices for’. Education to foster digital literacy will need to shift from the current ‘functional and technical skills’ to identifying and focusing on ‘motivational skills’, that is, the goals that the target group wants to achieve through them. Second, the method of digital skills education needs to be reconsidered. Up until now, digital capacity-building has typically involved gathering people at a specific time and place for standardized instruction, which made it difficult to provide personalized education tailored to individual preferences and needs. Little attention has been paid to what each individual wants to achieve through smart devices. As a result, digital literacy education has inevitably faced limitations in terms of performance outcomes. It is also essential to consider that the demand for digital skills varies across different age groups, and that generations differ in their experiences and attitudes toward smart devices. This suggests the need to set differentiated goals for each generation and work towards them in efforts to bridge the digital divide.