Abstract:

This paper presents the results of research carried out amongst the populations of Switzerland, Germany and Spain in order to determine their degree of awareness as well as opinions and attitudes regarding the internet. The purpose was to determine common tendencies and divergences between countries with high penetration, like Switzerland, those with medium penetration, like Germany and others with low penetration, like Spain. From the analysis it can be deduced there are no specific “Latino” cultural reasons for the low internet penetration in Spain and that differences in penetration and other issues in the countries investigated can be explained in socio-demographic terms and by the level of relative development.