Digital information provision via interactive television: understanding the digital consumer

To achieve its objective of having virtually all its services (central and local) online by 2005, the Government must close the “digital divide”, i.e. provide access for those sections of society not yet linked to the electronic, computer‐mediated communications environment. There is a need to consider user psychology as well as demography, as shown by research that has evaluated the use and effectiveness of health information and advice services provided via the television. The assumption is that simply providing access to online public services via the country’s most widespread and popular mass medium will guarantee their success, but this assumption is naïve in terms of its understanding of viewer psychology. To ensure success, it is essential to know more about the usability and application effectiveness of interactive services provided through television. This paper explores key concepts of platform availability, use and access, service and information access, service use and application effectiveness.