Information dissemination in a developing society: Internet café users in Indonesia

The article analyses the market for Internet cafés in Indonesia and thereby studies the spread of information through the Internet in a developing society. The city of Yogyakarta was selected as the research site, due to its abundance of Internet cafés and customers. The empirical research is based on a survey comprising 270 users. Customers are typically young and educated. Males represent the majority of users but unmarried females are also regulars. User frequency is statistically associated with individual capability, electronic media exposure and financial capacity. Ten percent of customers’ total monthly expenditures are on Internet cafés. Users represent a multitude of cyber cultures, and more research is needed to assess different preferences and motives for use.