The Complexity of ‘Relevance’ as a Barrier to Broadband Adoption

[Commentary] The digital divide is a complex phenomenon that cannot be boiled down to a single issue. More recently, research on broadband adoption has tended to focus on a single barrier-- lack of interest in the Internet or a perception that the digital content delivered over broadband is not relevant to one’s life (often called simply “relevance”). In doing so we have disregarded how the digital divide is much more. Part of the problem is how we have studied the digital divide. Often our approaches have not allowed us to examine multiple factors simultaneously.

Future studies of broadband adoption should investigate the nuances and cross sections that may be present within the explanations of broadband non-adopters. This includes asking questions aimed at unpacking how certain barriers to adoption may be interconnected and, in the case of relevance, be rooted in some other explanations. In response to broadband adoption surveys that show people “not interested in getting online,” we suggest adding follow-up questions that focus on cost and digital literacy. For example, a potential follow-up question might be, “If you could have affordable Internet access at a price within your budget, would you get broadband at home?” Because low-income individuals have little expendable income, we recommend follow-up questions that call attention to issues related to limited household budgets. This question, within a broader evaluation framework focused on the social aspects of broadband adoption, can provide a way to grasp the issue of relevance and its ties to cost as a barrier. For policymakers, it is important to recognize that broadband adoption barriers are complex and interconnected. It is important to consider how the explanations for non-adoption are interwoven and how interest or relevance is often rooted in the costs associated with broadband adoption or the digital literacy needed to use this technology effectively.