Internet Usage (Time)

What it measures

Four items measure the volume and frequency of a person's web usage relative to other users, capturing heavy internet use as an individual difference variable.

Response format

7-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree)

Scale items

• I spend several hours a week on the Web.
• Compared with most Americans, I think I spend a lot of time on the Web.
• Outside of the time I spend with e-mail, I consider myself to be a "heavy user" of the Web. [item may be truncated]
• In a typical week, I visit dozens of sites.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Original to Mathwick and Rigdon (2004). Alpha .93. Item 3 appears truncated—verify full wording against original article. Items reference American norms; may need contextual adaptation for non-US samples.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Mathwick, C., & Rigdon, E. (2004). Play, flow, and the online search experience. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(2), 324–332.

Keywords