|
Who’s Online around the World? - Dyanna S. Culp The Internet continues to erase international boundaries with over half a billion people now online. We Americans, in our cultural egocentricity, tend to believe that we are the dominant force, but only 35.6 % of the online global community speaks English. A site that targets only an English speaking audience neglects a huge market with millions of potential customers.
AMERICA Approximately one third of U.S. adults do not have Internet access. Research conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project indicates that income is more of a factor than ethnic background. Nearly 80 percent of those who live in households earning more than $75,000 have Internet access, while only 31 percent have access in households earning less than $30,000. The total figure for Anglo-Saxon whites online is much higher than figures for African Americans or Hispanics. However, if we base the analysis on group income levels these figures change. For incomes of over $75,000 the percentages of whites and Hispanics online is almost equal at near 80% with high income black households showing about 69% online.
The Gartner Group predicts that 75% of all American households will be online by 2005. The “Digital Divide” continues to separate society into two major groups- the haves and the have nots. Some believe the Divide will continue to deepen unless government involvement occurs to provide cheaper online access for all. As of December 2003, 23.5 million users had high speed connections. The majority of the high speed connections (20.6 million) were residential and small business, a 19 percent increase from six months earlier. In America the Web has become a mainstream purchasing powerhouse. The majority of those with Internet access (74 percent) have used the web to research products and services before making a buying decision. One in two online users (48 percent) buys products online, such as books, clothing, music, or toys. Many shoppers are notorious for abandoning shopping carts, but as income, education, and Internet experience rise so does the likelihood of a user completing an online purchase. The top five U.S. Internet markets are San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, and Washington, DC.
Global Internet Use Americans target specific sites and surf less than Internet users around the globe. Although other nationalities spend less time on line, they visit up to twice as many sites per month. After the United States, the next largest number of online users is found in China and Japan, followed by Europe. The most mature online populations are found in Sweden, Hong Kong, the Netherlands and Australia. According to the Nielsen-Net Ratings, the UK, Germany, and Italy have the largest Internet populations in Europe. Out of the global totals for online percentages, Europe is up to 23 percent, Asia-Pacific 13 percent, and Latin America two percent. By late 2003 Germany had 35.6 million people online, the U.K. 29 million, and Italy 22.7 million. Spain has experienced a 22 percent increase in the online population and countries such as Belgium now have more than 2 million with Internet access. The availability of free Internet subscriptions in many European countries has dramatically raised the number of Internet users and helped to reduce the “Digital Divide” that is still so prominent in the United States. Over 34 million Chinese are online. Over 32% of them buy goods or services on the web. Internet use in China occurs more often at home (61% of the time) than at work (48% of the time online). The typical surfer in China is a well paid, well educated young male. The majority of online users earn much more than the average Chinese salary. The Chinese are particularly concerned about web security issues so any site targeting this audience should emphasize privacy and security measures for online transactions. Over two thirds of Japanese web users buy products and services online. Men typically buy software and computer related products. Japanese women are more likely to purchase food, clothing, and accessories. Both sexes use the web for buying books and magazines. Reasons given for repeated visits to web sites include: a secure and easy to use shopping cart, a large selection of products, the site clearly identifying its geographic location, and low prices. Global sex is the fastest growing industry on the web. Rio de Janeiro is just one example of a city where customers book “escorts” and prostitutes on the Web. Global sex syndicates use websites and emails to recruit prostitutes from other countries. Sometimes the prostitution is clearly presented, but some sex rings collect girls that arrive expecting some other form of employment. Adult websites catering to every possible taste are the fastest growing form of online business.
2003 Global Internet Stats by Language
Source Global Reach
Source Global Reach: view full detailed table at http://www.glreach.com/globstats
Women versus Men The U.S. is the only country exhibiting sexual equality for online numbers. In the U.S. online women now outnumber men. According to a report by Media Metrix and Jupiter Communications the number of American women online surpassed that of men early in 2000. In the rest of the world men still outnumber women online. But the past few years show international women are rapidly catching up. Over half of all Internet users in the U.S. and Canada are women. In Ireland, Sweden, South Korea, Mexico, Finland, New Zealand, and Australia women make up over 45 percent of Internet users. Germany has the lowest percentage of European female Internet users. Women online are also 40 percent or less in Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Brazil. The Arab world lags farthest behind with only an estimated 4% of web users being female.
Both sexes utilize adult web sites. Women make up the majority of health/ intimacy chat rooms and more frequently visit health education sites. Men make up a higher percentage of the visitors to adult sites, but are more likely to be passive viewers. A higher percentage of the women visitors actively engage in cyber sex. MMXI Europe has found that global female Internet use is growing. The number of European women online grew by 29 percent from February 2001 to February 2002. There are now 25.1 million women and 40.1 million men using the web in the top online European countries of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. The increases are occurring primarily in two age groups: teenagers and women over 55. European women visit fewer websites and look for specific information instead of random surfing. The most popular destinations for European women are retail, career, and travel sites. In 2000 Nielsen/ Net Ratings investigated global online demographics by sex. They collected data from Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK. A rather odd result was that of all countries surveyed, the UK had the lowest percentage of women online.
Research surveys suggest that to attract the female audience designers should produce interactive, personal websites with frequent material updates. Women are more likely to seek health information and play online games. Men are more likely than women to use the Web to get news (especially sports news), study financial information, trade stocks, bid on online auctions, and visit government sites. With minimal effort you can utilize the expanding power of the Internet to achieve a global presence. English sites can easily be marketed to engines specific for Canada, Australia and the UK. The next target should be China and Japan, which after the U.S. accounts for the 2nd largest percentage of online users. For maximum exposure in European countries, Germany and Italy should be targeted first. Many services exist for translating ecommerce sites into foreign languages, but they must be chosen with care to avoid horrific mistakes in translation. Establishing targeted global Internet marketing in well planned phases can help you reach those millions of potential new global customers. Resources Ernst and Young http://www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/International/Home Gartner Group http://www4.gartner.com/Init Global reach http://www.glreach.com/globstats Nielsen Net Ratings http://www.nielsen-netratings.com Net Smart http://www.nsmart.com Media Metrix http://www.comscore.com/metrix/ Surveying Internet Usage and Impact in Twelve Chinese Cities http://www.markle.org Fujitsu Research http://www.fri.fujitsu.com/en/ Pew Internet & American Life Project http://www.pewinternet.org |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
