research : demographics

Internet Statistics

Internet penetration in the US has now risen to 60 percent, with a total of 168 million people using the Internet in January, 2001.

Nielsen NetRatings, Feb 2001

There are 97-million active e-mail users in the US over the age of 14, compared to 88-million active Web users. The number of e-mail users is expected to grow to 140-million by 2003.

eMarketer, Dec 2000

Studies have shown that roughly 90 percent of Web users connect to the Internet primarily to view and send e-mail. For many, using e-mail is not seen as a chore, but as a welcome necessity.

70 percent of e-mail users look forward to checking their e-mail, 40 percent says it's one of the first things they do in the morning, while 40 percent say it's one of the last things they do before going to bed.

Pew Research

E-mail has established itself as a normal part of daily life for many people, second only to the telephone as a preferred communications tool among Americans. A survey from NFO Interactive found that 74 percent of users said e-mail was "vital." In the same survey, only 50 percent of respondents said the same of the Web.

Spending on e-mail marketing will reach almost USD1.1 billion by the end of 2000, with advertisement e-mails contributing toward almost half (46 percent) of this figure. Spending on e-mail advertising alone is expected to reach USD2 billion by 2003.

eMarketer, Oct 2000

Internet User Demographics

Age
The average age of all web users is 36 years old. Unlike past years, when the average age of women users was lower than that of their male counterparts, there is no longer an age discrepancy.

Gender
The online world is still a predominantly male environment. About 61% of the users are male. However, more women are coming online to balance the equation. Just a couple of years ago, the percentage of women users was only about 15%. Women now account for nearly 39% of the users in the US. The percentage of women users in the US is nearly double that of Europe. Everywhere you look, the number of women users is on the rise.

Education
A whopping 86% of online users have attended college with half having earned a degree. People online are smart and sophisticated (well, most of the time).

Income
Online users have money. You might think this has something to do with the fact that you need a computer to access the online world and not everyone has one or knows how to use one. The average household income for online users is about $53,000.

Location
The US has the best phone system in the world and more computers per capita than any country in the world. So it's only fitting that 84% of all Internet users are in the US. About 7% are from Europe, and 8% from Canada and Mexico.

Marital Status
The online world is pretty split between married (40%) and unmarried (41%). The rest are either divorced or living with someone. As you would expect, the younger crowd (under 25) is about 75% single, while the older crowd (50+) are 75% married. Those in the middle (26-50) are about evenly split between married and single.

Careers
About 23% of web users work in education. The next highest ranking occupation is Computer and Technical workers at 21%. A few years ago the ranking for these two occupations was just the opposite. Considering the penetration of the Internet into all levels of education, this is not too surprising. Next in line are professionals and management occupations at 21% and 12% respectively. Overall, women are more likely to be involved in education careers, while men are more likely to be in computer careers.

Privacy Issues
As a whole, online users don't like to say much about themselves and resent those that share personal demographic information with others for personal gain.

What this really means is that Internet users don't like to have their names and e-mail addresses sold to others for the sole purpose of sending an ad or offer. On the other hand, most realize the need for demographic information for designing an online business and marketing a site to advertisers.

About half said they would give personal information in return for some value, like a reminder service, or to get access to private specialized information.

Access
Over half (55%) of online users get their access at home. The 50+ crowd is more likely to be paying for their access and getting it at home, while the younger crowd is more likely to get free access at work or at school. This explains why the busiest days online are Monday-Thursday and why the weekends have 20-30% slower traffic than any other days.

Frequency
About 72% of women who use the web, do so every day, while 87% of men are daily users. These numbers are on the rise , which is good news for online business. About 45% use the web 1-4 times per day, while 41% use it more frequently and 15% use it less.

Summary
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This demographic information presented here relates to users of the Internet. There are also some great demographic profiles of America Online, CompuServe, and Prodigy subscribers on each of those respective online services. This demographic information was obtained from the Graphic, Visualizations and Usability Center (GVU) at Georgia Tech. Complete information about each of these topics, along with the complete study can be obtained at GVU's site. Other useful demographic information can be obtained from Cyberatlas.