What Happened to Preferences for Next Generation Internet? A Survey of College Students in Taiwan

aBstraCt The growing popularity of the Internet has resulted in attracting many enterprises to do business transactions over the Internet. The current Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) has been used for over 20 years. Even though IPv4 applications have been quite successful, it faces a problem of shortage in IP addresses, ineffective security mechanisms, and a lack of service quality management, etc. Scientists and engineers have devoted considerable effort to the development of next generation Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6), which is the core component of Next Generation Internet (NGI) to meet the future requirements of the Internet. Even though NGI is technically superior to the traditional Internet and is being established worldwide, few people have transmitted data through it. According to the Innovation Development Process in the Diffusion of Innovation theory, IPv6 is currently in a stage of technological diffusion. The research studies whether educating potential customers with more IPv6 knowledge created in the innovation process can increase their preference for the technology. With surveys collected from 596 undergraduate students, the results show that knowledge of the commercial applications of IPv6 in mobile communications and information appliances significantly contributes to a preference for the IPv6 technology. [Article copies are available for purchase from InfoSci-on-Demand.com]