Contact:
Julian Mattocks
Phone: +43-1-81140-308
E-Mail: mattocks@pressetext.com
| Pressbox | 
|
London (pte036/01.04.2005/13:00) - Broadband's growing popularity is boosting online consumerism, according to new research. As the Media Guardian http://www.mediaguardian.co.uk reports, broadband users are "in most instances twice or more likely" than other Internet users to download music or donate online to charity, as the company Continental Research http://www.continentalresearch.com writes in a report. 29 per cent of broadband users listened to the radio over the Internet in the past year, compared to just 9 per cent of non-broadband users. While only one per cent of dial-up users bet online, five times as many broadband users are prepared to gamble. Banking, which is the most popular Internet activity, is carried out by 50 per cent of broadband users, compared with just 35 per cent of non-broadband users.
"The biggest impact on the Internet industry is how broadband consumers have embraced online activities," said Continental's director, Colin Shaddick. The report also shows that broadband technology has boosted online shopping. The most popular items to be sold over the web are CDs and DVDs, bought by 40 per cent of broadband users but by just 24 per cent of those with dial-up connections. Broadband users are also twice as likely to buy train tickets, supermarket goods or clothes online as non-broadband users, and three times as likely to buy computer equipment or software.
According to Shaddick, the figures will boost the online advertising sector. "We expect to see an increase in online advertising, with brands looking to engage these savvy consumers in increasingly creative ways." According to the report, 71 per cent of all Internet users - 17.1 million people - have made at least one online purchase in the last 12 months. The online shopping market has grown by 40 per cent since 2003, when 12.2 million people were purchasers. Continental Research has been monitoring Internet access and usage over the past nine years, and based its report on 1,988 face-to-face interviews with people aged 16 and over in February.
(end)
|
|
