Library and Information Science Research 46 (2024) 101282

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Library and Information Science Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/lisres

User adoption behavior of rural public digital culture services from a

personal information world perspective: A mixed research in China
Jing Qian a, Meng Wang b, Lihong Zhou a, *, Chuanliang Zeng b
a
School of Information Management, Wuhan University, No. 299 Bayi Road, Wuhan, Hubei 430072, China
b
Institute of Science and Technology Information, Jiangsu University, No. 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Low adoption of rural public digital cultural services (RPDCS) is not conducive to realizing its true value.
Rural public culture However, research on the factors influencing user adoption behavior of RPDCS does not consider the actual
Public digital cultural services situation of rural users. Taking personal information theory as the theoretical basis, grounded theory was used to
User adoption behavior
identify the influencing factor, and proposes the model and hypotheses. It is found that content factor includes
Personal information world
information availability and information accessibility; boundary factor includes time, space and intellectual
sophistication; and dynamic factor includes motivation and opportunity. The model was empirically examined
and the hypotheses were tested. The findings indicate that dynamic factor influences boundary factor, and dy­
namic, boundary and content factor all influence user adoption behavior of RPDCS. The research contributes to a
deeper understanding of the user adoption behavior of RPDCS and helps to improve the adoption rate and
effectiveness of RPDCS.

1. Introduction
Rural public digital cultural services (RPDCS) is an important part of
public cultural services in the digital environment, led by the govern­
ment with the participation of social forces, and aims primarily to meet
the basic digital cultural needs of rural residents (Dai, Peng, & Wanyan,
2020; Hu & Li, 2015). Rural areas are weak areas for public cultural
services, and the popularization of digital networks has effectively
alleviated the cultural last-mile dilemma (Feng, Li, & Cui, 2022). To
accelerate the construction and promotion of RPDCS, the Chinese gov­
ernment has issued a series of policies, including the Outline of digital
rural development strategy, the 14th five-year plan for the construction of
public cultural service system. Rural cultural digital centers and rural
cultural digital platforms are being optimized with the support of gov­
ernment forces (Wang, Qian, Yang, & Zheng, 2021).
However, the improvements in digital services have not led to
increased usage, the key to which is active user adoption behavior. User
adoption behavior is the process by which users proactively and pur­
posefully evaluate, screen, adopt, and use services proactively and
purposefully to meet their needs, reflecting initiative and integrity
(Hong, Thong, Wong, & Tam, 2015). To effectively promote the sharing
of cultural achievements by rural residents, the research needs to focus
on the user adoption behavior of the RPDCS, so that the RPDCS can
realize its full value. Based on the theory of the personal information
world, which conforms to the characteristics of rural users, and starting
from the three dimensions of content, boundary, and dynamic of the
personal information world (Yu, 2013), the mechanism of user adoption
behavior of RPDCS was explored, and strategies were proposed to pro­
mote rural users use of RPDCS as personal information assets, to improve
the adoption rate and enhance the effectiveness of RPDCS.
2. Problem statement
RPDCS breaks through the last-mile dilemma of public cultural ser­
vices. With the rapid development of the Internet, rural residents tend to
use convenient digital services. According to the latest report of the
China Internet Network Information Center (2023), as of June 2023, the
number of rural Internet users in China reached 301 million, accounting
for 27.9% of the total population, and the Internet penetration rate in
rural areas was 60.5%. However, rural residents are a disadvantaged
group in Chinese society, and their information poverty status is further
amplified by the spread of information technologies (Yan & Yan, 2014).
They are affected by low service suitability level (Tao, Shen, & Wanyan,
2021), poor cultural atmosphere, poor publicity and promotion (Wang,

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: l.zhou@whu.edu.cn (L. Zhou).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2024.101282
Received 19 September 2023; Received in revised form 8 January 2024; Accepted 22 January 2024
Available online 8 February 2024
0740-8188/© 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
J. Qian et al.
Jiang, & Zheng, 2021), low information literacy and digital skills,
resulting in user churning behavior and low adoption of RPDCS (Wang,
Hua, & Sun, 2023).
Most of the current research perspectives still focus on the supply
side, including facility upgrading (Strover, Whitacre, Rhinesmith, &
Schrubbe, 2020; Zong, 2023), resource development (David & Claire,
2018; Xiao, Shi, & Tang, 2021), and platform optimization (Chen,
Zheng, Li, & Zhang, 2021; Wei & Zhang, 2022). Studies from the
perspective of user information behavior are still scarce, with related
research focusing on user churning behavior (Wang, Hua, Sun, et al.,
2022) and user information avoidance behavior (Wang, Jiang, & Zheng,
2021), lacking guidance on user adoption behavior of RPDCS. The
implementation of RPDCS can only take root in rural areas if it starts
from the logic of rural users’ information behavior. Therefore, this study
addresses four research questions based on the actual situation of rural
residents: (a) What factors influence user adoption behavior of RPDCS in
a rural context? (b) How do these factors affect user adoption behavior
of RPDCS? (c) Why is the adoption rate of RPDCS low in China? (d) How
can user adoption behavior of RPDCS be promoted?
3. Literature review
3.1. Factors of user adoption behavior in public digital cultural services
Scholars often use models such as unified theory of acceptance and
use of technology (Huang, Zhang, & Peng, 2020; Shivdas, Menon, &
Nair, 2020), technology acceptance model (Thong, Hong, & Tam, 2002;
Zhang, Zheng, & Liu, 2018), theory of planned behavior (Zhang et al.,
2018), Delone&Mclean (Huang et al., 2020), and information ecology
theory (Feng, Li, Cui, & Sun, 2022) to explore the user adoption
behavior of public digital cultural services (PDCS). The factors affecting
the user adoption behavior of PDCS mainly include subjective factors
and objective factors as shown in Appendix A. The study of user adop­
tion behavior of PDCS has received increasing attention from re­
searchers. However, research on user adoption behavior focusing on the
rural context is not deep enough, and the theoretical basis of the
research is rather general. Therefore, the personal information world
theory, which fits the characteristics of rural users, was used to specif­
ically study user adoption behavior in the rural context.
3.2. Personal information world factors
Yu (2013) proposed personal information world theory to explain
the information poverty phenomenon of rural residents, clarified the
factors of personal information world, and then Yu, Zhou, Yu, and Liu
(2016) developed the scale of personal information world, but this
theory has not yet been used in empirical research. The personal infor­
mation world consists of three main factors: content, boundary and
dynamic (Yu, 2013). The content factor is reflected in the availability
and accessibility of information sources, the boundary factor consists of
space, time, and intelligence sophistication, and the dynamic factor
consists of different types of information practices (Yu et al., 2016).
Scholars adopted the personal information world theory to examine the
information differentiation of farmers (Liu & Wang, 2017) and explore
the information poverty of rural residents (Yu et al., 2016), showing that
the personal information world theory is more consistent with the
characteristics of rural users’ information status. Therefore, the personal
information world theory was used as the theoretical basis to explore the
PDCS entry into rural users’ personal information world, to promote
users’ adoption of RPDCS, and to facilitate RPDCS becoming their in­
formation assets.
Relevant studies show that content, boundary and dynamic factor
influences user adoption behavior. In terms of content factor, the con­
tent of service availability (Zhu, Liu, & Liu, 2020), service adaptability
(Feng, Li, Cui, & Sun, 2022), service accessibility, and service quality
have a significant impact on user adoption behavior. In terms of
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Library and Information Science Research 46 (2024) 101282
boundary factor, time adequacy (Dai & Sun, 2022c; Feng & Li, 2020),
spatial accessibility (Feng & Li, 2020), user literacy (Wang, Jiang, &
Zheng, 2021), user cognitive abilities (Li & Guo, 2022) and user self-
efficacy (Zha, Wang, Yan, et al., 2015) have a significant impact on
user adoption behavior. In terms of dynamic factor, promotion moti­
vation (Chen & Cui, 2015), interest motivation (Chen, 2018), digital
cultural atmosphere (Wang, Jiang, Zheng, & Hua, 2022), digital training
(Almeida & Cendon, 2015), and convenience (Yang, Long, Chang, & Cui,
2020) have a significant impact on user adoption behavior. All the above
indicate that it is feasible to explore user adoption behavior of RPDCS in
terms of content, boundary, and dynamic factor.
4. Research design and methodology
Because the personal information world theory has not yet been used
in empirical research, the elements of the personal information world in
RPDCS as an information source are unclear and need to be verified
through qualitative exploration. Therefore, Mixed methods research
would be more appropriate to address such issues (Cresville, 2017).
Qualitative research was conducted to explore the influencing mecha­
nism and formulate hypotheses and models. Quantitative analysis was
conducted to collect data through questionnaires. Structural equation
modeling was used to validate the hypotheses and models and improve
the validity of the research findings. The research process is illustrated in
Fig. 1.
4.1. Influence mechanisms: Interviews and grounded analysis
4.1.1. Data collection
Research data were collected through interview surveys conducted
at RPDCS sites in Jiangsu Province. Digital literacy training, called “E-Lu
Rural Companion” was provided for rural users to understand RPDCS.
The content included policy advocacy, digital skills training, and
training on the use of the National Public Cultural Cloud, a Chinese
government-led platform for PDCS. After the training, semi-structured
interviews were used to collect data, and a total of 35 typical users
were selected (Appendix B). To ensure the representativeness and
comprehensiveness of the interview samples, the selected interviewees
considered different professions, age groups, genders and educational
backgrounds. Thirty of the samples were used for coding according to a
normative process, which was carried out using qualitative data analysis
tool Nvivo12, and the remaining five for saturation testing.
4.1.2. Grounded analysis
Open coding conceptualized the content of the interviews by
collating, categorizing, and recombining the data. The categorization of
the initial concepts extracted from the source material resulted in 35
initial concepts (A1-A35) and 8 subcategories (A1-A8). Based on open
coding, the 8 subcategories were grouped together with the personal
information world theory, resulting in 4 main categories: content,
boundary, dynamic and user adoption behavior, as shown in Table 1.
After the above open coding and axial coding, the mechanisms of
content factor, boundary factor, dynamic factor on the user adoption
behavior of RPDCS were further clarified (Appendix C). The remaining
five original articles were tested for theoretical saturation and no new
concepts, sub-themes, major themes and typical relationships were
found. The results passed the saturation test.
Qualitative research has shown that dynamic factor includes infor­
mation availability and information accessibility; content factor in­
cludes space, time, and intellectual sophistication; and boundary factor
includes motivation and opportunity. Based on these findings, it was
hypothesized that dynamic factor can influence boundary factor, and
dynamic factor, boundary factor, and content factor have influences on
user adoption behavior. The next step was to validate the mechanism
through quantitative analysis.
J. Qian et al. Library and Information Science Research 46 (2024) 101282

Fig. 1. Research method process.

4.2. Development of measurements, conceptual model, and hypotheses

Table 1
Open coding and axial coding.
4.2.1. Conceptual model and hypotheses
Main Category Category Initial Concept

A1 Information a1 Site availability, a2 Equipment a. Dynamic factor and boundary factor

Content availability availability, a3 Service availability, a4
Resource availability
With the combined effect of motivation and opportunity, rural users
A2 Information a5 Information accessibility, a6 Resource
accessibility accessibility, a7 Service accessibility, a8 can change the boundaries of their personal information world. Dai and
Place accessibility Li (2022) argue that rural users can take the initiative to gradually adapt
A3 Space a9 Physical space quantity, a10 Physical to the changes in cultural life brought about by advances in media,
space quality, a11 Digital space quantity, technology, and achieve self-empowerment through digital empower­
Boundary a12 Digital space quality
ment. If they have the increased willingness and self-efficacy to embrace
A4 Time a13 Resource usage time, a14 Platform
usage time, a15 Activity time, a16 new technological trends, this will improve their information literacy,
Information usage time increase usage time, and access to cultural spaces (Wang, Qian, et al.,
A5 Intellectual a17 Comprehension ability, a18 2021). Meanwhile, this encourages them to adopt RPDCS and facilitate
sophistication Information-seeking ability, a19
RPDCS to become their information assets. Therefore, the following
Information utilization ability, a20 Digital
operation ability hypotheses were proposed:
A6 Motivation a21 Profit motivation, a22 Enhancement
H1. Dynamic factor positively influences the boundary factor.
motivation, a23 Interest motivation, a24
Dynamic Social motivation, a25 Altruistic H2. Boundary factor plays a mediating effect in dynamic factor and
motivation
user adoption behavior of RPDCS.
A7 Opportunity a26 Digital training, a27 Cultural training,
a28 Cultural atmosphere, a29 Publicity
and promotion, a30 Convenience b. Dynamic factor and user adoption behavior
User adoption A8 User adoption a31 Increase frequency, a32 Dependency,
behavior behavior a33 Loyalty, a34 Become preferred, a35
Personal information world theory suggests that dynamic factor af­
Recommendation
fects the size of personal information world (Yu et al., 2016). For RPDCS,
motivations include profit motivation, enhancement motivation, inter­
est motivation, social motivation, and altruistic motivation, among
which interest motivation and enhancement motivation are the main
motives to stimulate users’ participation (Chen, 2018; Chen & Cui,

3
J. Qian et al.
2015). In addition, for RPDCS, opportunities include digital training,
cultural training, cultural atmosphere, publicity, promotion, and con­
venience. Cultural atmosphere affects usage (Wang, Jiang, et al., 2022).
Among them, digital training is effective in improving users’ informa­
tion literacy and promoting user adoption behavior (Almeida & Cendon,
2015); convenience of services can promote user adoption behavior
(Yang et al., 2020); through the promotion of traditional culture and
cultural training, rural residents are guided to form a rational cultural
awareness, which can encourage them to adopt RPDCS. Therefore, the
following hypothesis was proposed:
H3. Dynamic factor positively influences the user adoption behavior of
RPDCS.
c. Boundary factor and user adoption behavior
Personal information world theory suggests that boundary factor
affects the size of personal information world (Yu et al., 2016). For
RPDCS, space factor includes the quantity and quality of physical space
and digital space. Dai and Sun (2022b) argue that new public cultural
spaces can better meet the growing cultural needs of rural users. Time
factor includes resource usage time, platform usage time, activity time,
and information usage time. Sufficient time for rural users to participate
in public cultural activities can effectively contribute to the accessibility
of RPDCS and promote user adoption behavior (Feng & Li, 2020). In­
tellectual sophistication includes comprehension, information-seeking
ability, information utilization ability, and digital operation ability.
Rural users’ information literacy and digital operation ability affect their
use of RPDCS (Wang, Jiang, & Zheng, 2021). And users’ cognitive ability
affects the usefulness and usability of services, which in turn affects user
adoption behavior (Li & Guo, 2022). Therefore, the following hypothesis
was proposed:
H4. Boundary factor positively influences the user adoption behavior
of RPDCS.
d. Content factor and user adoption behavior
Personal information world theory states that content factor affects
the size of personal information world (Yu et al., 2016). Service avail­
ability (Zhu et al., 2020) and service accessibility (Feng, Li, & Cui, 2022)
will have a significant impact on user adoption behavior. For RPDCS,
information availability mainly assesses the extent to which information
is physically available to rural users in RPDCS, including site
Fig. 2. The conceptual model of user adoption behavior of RPDCS.
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Library and Information Science Research 46 (2024) 101282
availability, equipment availability, service availability, and resource
availability. Information accessibility refers to the extent to which rural
users are able and willing to acquire information from RPDCS, including
information accessibility, resource accessibility, service accessibility,
and place accessibility. Rural users will be encouraged to adopt RPDCS if
rural cultural products and services provide sufficient and accessible
information and attract users to actively access the information (Feng &
Li, 2020). Therefore, the following hypothesis was proposed:
H5. Content factor positively influences the user adoption behavior of
RPDCS.
In summary, the above research hypotheses were proposed and the
conceptual model of the user adoption behavior of RPDCS was formed,
see Fig. 2.
4.2.2. Measurement scale
Based on the results of the grounded analysis, the scale with 35
measurement items in four dimensions was developed based on previous
studies and suggestions from experts, RPDCS providers and rural users
(Appendix D).
4.3. Testing hypotheses: Questionnaire and quantitative analysis
Online and offline questionnaires were collected from rural users in
this study. The overall Cronbach’s α was used for reliability analysis.
Convergent validity was assessed by two coefficients of combined reli­
ability and average variance extracted (AVE). Discriminant validity was
tested by comparing the correlation between one item and the others,
and the square roots of AVEs.
4.4. Finalizing conceptual model of user adoption behavior of RPDCS
The questionnaire data was processed using AMOS 28 software and
the model was validated using structural equation modeling. Six fit
indicators—chi-square/degrees of freedom (x*/df), root mean square
error of approximation, adjusted goodness of fit index, goodness of fit
index, normed fit index, and comparative fit index were used to deter­
mine the fitness of user adoption behavior models in RPDCS.
4.5. Testing for mediating effect in the model
To further test the mediating effect between latent variables, this
study extracted 5000 bootstrap samples using the bootstrap program
configured in the AMOS 28 software and reported 95% confidence
J. Qian et al. Library and Information Science Research 46 (2024) 101282

intervals with bias correction, which were validated if no zero were 6. Discussion
included between the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence
intervals. 6.1. Dynamic factor positively influences the boundary factor

5. Findings It is a novel finding that dynamic factor positively influences

5.1. Descriptive statistics
A total of 483questionnaires were collected from rural users after
data elimination and cleaning. The data were balanced in terms of
gender and regional distribution and cover all age groups, different
educational levels and occupations, resulting in a comprehensive and
representative sample (Appendix E).
5.2. Reliability and validity test
The overall Cronbach’s α of the scale was 0.892, the Cronbach’s α of
each variable was greater than 0.8, indicating that the overall reliability
of the questionnaire was high. CR was greater than 0.7, and AVE was
greater than 0.5, so the scale had good convergent validity (Appendix F).
The correlation coefficient between any two of the eight variables was
less than 0.85, and the square root of the AVE for each variable was also
greater than the correlation coefficient, so the variables had good
discriminant validity (Appendix G).
5.3. Model fitting
boundary factor and boundary factor plays a mediating effect in dy­
namic factor and user adoption behavior of RPDCS. The reality is that
rural residents do not have a strong incentive to expand their informa­
tion boundaries, leading to user churning behavior and user information
avoidance behavior of RPDCS. In 2020, many poor villages in China had
been liberated from absolute material poverty, while rural residents had
lost the intrinsic motivation to get rid of cultural and information
poverty in an environment of long-term material poverty (Yang, 2021).
They cannot think of using RPDCS to solve problems, so they do not take
the time to learn about RPDCS and explore the digital cultural space,
leading to user churning behavior (Wang et al., 2023). They lack the
willingness to express their information needs and improve their digital
skills, and consequently do not take the time to visit cultural spaces or
participate in digital cultural training, leading to user information
avoidance behavior (Wang, Jiang, et al., 2022). Nurturing rural cultural
organizations through education, guidance, and cultural industry
development can improve the cultural ecology of rural areas and stim­
ulate the cultural self-awareness of rural users (Yang, 2021).
6.2. Dynamic factor positively influences user adoption behavior of
RPDCS

The results showed that the fitting indexes were consistent with the
proposed standards, and it could be considered that the model fitting
achieved the desired results, as shown in Table 2. Simultaneously,
research hypotheses H1, H3, H4 and H5 were valid, as shown in Table 3.
In conclusion, the hypothesis and conclusion of the user adoption
behavior model of RPDCS were obtained, as shown in Fig. 3. Specif­
ically, dynamic factor had a significant positive influence on boundary
factor (β = 0.51, p﹤0.01), dynamic factor had a positive influence on user
adoption behavior (β = 0.31, p﹤0.05), boundary factor had a positive
influence on user adoption behavior (β = 0.47, p﹤0.001), and content
factor had a positive influence on user adoption behavior (β = 0.46, p﹤
0.001).
5.4. Mediating effect result
As shown in Table 4, the mediating effect of “dynamic factor →
boundary factor → user adoption behavior” was 0.241, with a 95%
confidence interval of [0.104, 0.7], which indicated that the mediating
effect of using boundary factor as a mediator was significant, H2 was
valid.
Dynamic factor is an important factor influencing user adoption
behavior, which can lead to an in-depth discussion about the reasons for
low adoption of RPDCS. In a state of chronic cultural poverty, the lack of
economic returns from cultural activities limits the willingness of rural
residents to consciously participate in RPDCS (Yang, 2021). Rural resi­
dents are not sufficiently interested in cultural contents such as poetry,
songs, and dances. In their leisure time, they prefer recreational activ­
ities such as playing chess and are not willing to improve their cultural
skills through RPDCS (Wang, Qian, et al., 2021). This situation has
improved with rural revitalization. The Chinese government fully en­
courages social forces to participate in the construction of the RPDCS,
promotes the development of rural indigenous cultural organizations
such as the Lantern and Dian Opera Literary Teams of Songming Village
in Kunming (Geng & Wei, 2023), and encourages the participation of
rural sages in governance (Li & Zhao, 2021). Fostering a sense of
ownership among rural residents is also an effective way to increase user
adoption behavior of RPDCS. Meanwhile, the rural villages cultivate
new farmers with digital skills to guide the integration of information
technology in the rural areas (Li & Zhao, 2023). Rural residents are
generally affected by digitization, embrace digital cultural platforms
and facilitate the user adoption behavior of RPDCS.

6.3. Boundary factor positively influences user adoption behavior of

RPDCS

Boundary factor such as time, space, and intellectual sophistication

Table 2 positively influences user adoption behavior. Rural residents have the
Model fit index calculation results. following problems in enjoying cultural life. First, the facilities of rural
bookstores and cultural stations are relatively old and not fully digitized,
Index Evaluation Indicators of this Whether to
model adapt
which is unattractive to rural users (Wang, Qian, et al., 2021). The
Fit better construction of cultural centers in some rural areas is more advanced,
Chi-square (x)2 – – 1277.397 – such as the Wenjie Poetry Hall in Shuitai Village, Zhenjiang. However,
Degrees of freedom
– – 549 – the service staff lack of service consciousness (Wang, Jiang, et al., 2022)
(df)
and are highly bureaucratic, and the problem of not opening to the rural
x2 /df <5 <3 2.327 Yes
RMSEA <0.1 <0.08 0.052 Yes public to maintain the environment creates a loss in its original value.
AGFI 0.8–0.9 >0.9 0.848 Yes (fit) Second, rural users are busy with work and farming and have less time
GFI 0.8–0.9 >0.9 0.868 Yes (fit) for cultural activities. They also prefer to receive information in a
NFI 0.8–0.9 >0.9 0.899 Yes (fit) fragmented way, and small videos such as TikTok are highly appreciated
CFI 0.8–0.9 0.940 Yes
by rural residents (Dai & Sun, 2022c). RPDCS is increasing its efforts to
>0.9

5
J. Qian et al. Library and Information Science Research 46 (2024) 101282

Table 3
Standardized path coefficients.
Hs Impact Path Path coefficient (β) S.E. C.R. P Result

H1 Dynamic factor→boundary factor 0.512 0.134 3.008 0.003 Supported

H3 Dynamic factor→user adoption behavior 0.313 0.205 2.148 0.032 Supported
H4 Boundary factor→user adoption behavior 0.471 0.252 3.341 *** Supported
H5 Content factor→user adoption behavior 0.461 0.141 4.304 *** Supported

Note: *** indicates p < 0.001.

Fig. 3. User adoption behavior model of RPDCS.

Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China (2022), the

Table 4 government has provided resources for rural cultural content, building
Mediating effect and 95% confidence intervals for model.
139,417 electronic reading rooms, 32,524 comprehensive cultural sta­
Hs Impact Path Effect Boost Lower Upper P tions, and more than 200 public cultural cloud platforms. At the current
SE
stage, the government-led rural cultural supply follows a one-way cul­
H2 Dynamic factor → 0.241 0.161 0.104 0.7 0.006 tural supply path, which improves rural cultural services to a certain
Boundary factor → User extent, but cannot efficiently meet the cultural needs of rural residents,
adoption behavior
resulting in a structural imbalance in cultural supply (Yang, 2023). The
current information access of rural residents is still relatively single,
provide cultural content in the form of small videos, and to provide with relatively weak information utilization awareness and low sensi­
diversified and fragmented cultural dissemination channels to effec­ tivity to new information (Zhu & Li, 2022). Therefore, rural users still
tively attract users’ attention (Dai & Sun, 2022c). Finally, rural users lack the ability to independently acquire and adopt cultural information
have serious information poverty problems, such as lack of digital skills, resources, which hinders user adoption behavior of RPDCS. The gov­
limited digital cognition, low digital literacy, and negative learning at­ ernment and service providers need to think more about how to inte­
titudes (Wang et al., 2023). Through training and promotion, the gap grate cultural resources into the way rural residents access information,
between rural users and digital technology can be bridged, and users can and how to meet their interests and needs. Encouraging the endogenous
actively embrace digital technology (Hua, Chen, Wang, & Qian, 2023). development of rural culture can help to solve this problem, such as the
transfer of local cultural resources and farmer-led order-based cultural
6.4. Content factor positively influences user adoption behavior of RPDCS supply reforms (Yang, 2023).

Rural cultural revitalization is a comprehensive result of the com­ 6.5. Implications

bination of exogenous and endogenous factors(Man, Li and Lou, 2023).
This study combines the exogenous drive and endogenous development For the first time, the personal information world theory was applied
of the rural areas to explain the impact of content factor on user adop­ to empirical research, expanding the application scope of personal in­
tion behavior of RPDCS. According to the latest report of Ministry of formation world theory. The exploration of the user adoption behavior

6
J. Qian et al.
of RPDCS helps to improve the existing theoretical research system of
PDCS and broaden the research field. In a practical sense, it is important
to reflect on the real reasons for the low adoption rate of RPDCS in the
Chinese context by linking the research findings to the economic, cul­
tural, political, and social dimensions of China. Doing so can help to
improve RPDCS and truly realize the value of RPDCS. The results of the
study provide some strategies for RPDCS practitioners: (a) cultivate
rural cultural organizations and encourage the participation of village
sages in governance; (b) provide cultural content in the form of small
videos to provide diversified and fragmented cultural dissemination
channels; (c) provide cultural and digital training for rural users to
improve information literacy and cultural literacy; and (d) develop local
cultural resources and implement farmer-led order-based cultural sup­
ply to encourage endogenous development of rural culture.
6.6. Limitations and future research directions
There are some limitations in the study that provide opportunities for
future research. First, in terms of sample, 483 samples from the eastern,
central, and western regions of China were collected, which can show
certain conclusions, but the sample size is slightly insufficient. Affected
by the COVID-19, the sample collected includes people who can use cell
phones and computers. In the future, data will be collected from people
who may possess insufficient digital skills, by helping them fill out
questionnaires in offline interviews. Second, this study constructed and
empirically tested a user adoption behavior model of RPDCS. In the
future, more data will be collected and combined with multicluster
analysis to fully consider the differential impact of factors such as area,
age, education etc. in the rural areas based on user adoption behavior
model of RPDCS.
7. Conclusion
The development of RPDCS is an important way to narrow the digital
divide between urban and rural areas. To effectively promote the
sharing of digital cultural achievements, it is necessary to start with
rural users and promote their adoption of RPDCS. According to the
characteristics of rural users, a model based on the personal information
world theory was developed and tested to determine the factors and
influencing mechanisms that affect user adoption behavior of RPDCS.
The reasons for the low adoption of RPDCS by rural users were explored
in depth in relation to the cultural, economic, and social dimensions of
rural areas in China, and were supplemented with discussions of actual
cases in rural China that provide international scholars with specific
contexts and potential strategies for solving similar problems.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jing Qian: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Soft­
ware, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Meng Wang: Conceptualization, Supervision, Funding acquisition,
Writing – original draft. Lihong Zhou: Supervision, Writing – review &
editing. Chuanliang Zeng: Validation, Writing – review & editing,
Software.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Social Science Fund of
China (grant number 22CTQ010); the Major Project of Philosophy and
Social Science Research Jiangsu Province (grant number
2022SJZD094).
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.lisr.2024.101282.
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Library and Information Science Research 46 (2024) 101282
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Jing Qian is a PhD student in the School of Information Management, Wuhan University,
China. Her research interests have focused on information behavior, public digital cultural
services and cross-organization data sharing. Her research has been published in a wide
range of journals including Library Tribune, Library Development and Journal of Information
Science.
Meng Wang is an associate professor of the Institute of Science and Technology Infor­
mation, Jiangsu University, China. He graduated with his PhD of library and information
science from Nanjing University. His research interests have focused on public digital
cultural services, information behavior and library management. His research has been
published in a wide range of journals including Library Hi Tech, Library and Information
Service and Journal of Library Science in China.
Lihong Zhou is a professor in the School of Information Management, Wuhan University,
China. He graduated with his PhD of information science from the University of Sheffield,
UK. His research interests have focused on library management and cross-organization
data sharing. His research has been published in a wide range of journals including Li­
brary Hi Tech, Journal of Library Science in China and the Electronic Library.
Chuanliang Zeng is a Master of Library and Archives Management in the Institute of
Science and Technology Information, Jiangsu University, China. His research interests
have focused on public digital cultural services and information behavior.