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GVU's 9th WWW User Survey
General Demographics Summary
Gender
Females represent 38.7% of the respondents to the 9th Survey which is virtually unchanged since the last survey (38.5% Eighth, 33.4% Seventh). Europe is considerably less gender-balanced with females accounting for only 16.3% of respondents. For the rest of the world (mostly Canada & Australia for this survey), females account for 30.5% of respondents. Younger respondents are more likely to be female: 43.8% of those age 11-20 compared to 33.9% of those ages 50 and over. For the first time, we see a category of users which has more females than males -- users who have been online for less than a year (51.7% female, 48.3% male).
Educational Attainment
Although the average education level of web users has been declining to be more representative of the general population, respondents are still quite highly educated with 80.9% having at least some college experience and 50.1% having obtained at least one degree. Respondents who have been on the internet for 4 years or more are much more likely to have advanced degrees (Masters & Ph.D.) than newer users.Marital Status
The largest category of respondents is married (41.1%) and the next largest is single (38.7%). European respondents are much more likely to be single as are younger respondents.Primary Language
Since the survey is only available in English and the majority of the advertising for the survey is in English, it is not surprising that the majority of respondents (93.1%) cite English as their primary language (i.e. the one they speak most of the time, regardless of whether it is their "native" language). This is identical to the percentage in the 8th Survey. After English, French (0.9%), German (0.7%), and Spanish (0.7%) were the most commonly used languages. Among respondents from Europe, English (39.1%), German (11.6%), French (8.5%) and Swedish (7.9%) were the most prominent languages. This represents an increase in the percentage of non-English speaking European respondents, most likely due to our efforts to increase advertising on non-US Yahoo web sites. Female respondents and older respondents are somewhat more likely to use English as their primary language than other groups.Race
Respondents to this survey continue to be predominantly white (87.4% Ninth, 88% Eighth). There was a slight increase in the percentage of Asian users compared to the last survey (3.1% Ninth, 2.6% Eighth). Younger respondents are more diverse racially than older respondents.Age
Using a different format for this question (a set of radio buttons instead of a scrolling list) seems to have eliminated a suspiciously high number of "Under 5"-year olds answering the survey. The average age for all respondents was 35.1 years. 36.4% of respondents are over 40 years old compared to 34.0% just six months ago. European respondents continue to have a dramatically different age profile with many more in the 21-30 age range. This profile is very similar to the US profile before the original major access providers (AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy) became available. The respondents with the most online experience tend to be in the 21-30 age range.
|
Entire Sample |
All | 35.10 |
|
Gender |
Female | 34.42 |
| Male | 35.53 | |
|
Location |
USA | 36.04 |
| Europe | 28.81 | |
| Other | 30.91 | |
|
Age |
11-20 yrs | 17.20 |
| 21-25 yrs | 23.00 | |
| 26-50 yrs | 36.66 | |
| 50+ yrs | 58.11 | |
|
Years on the Internet |
<1 yr | 36.90 |
| 1-3 yrs | 35.04 | |
| >4 yrs | 34.27 |
Table 1 - Average Age for Different Categories
Major Geographic Location
As in all previous surveys, the majority of respondents are currently in the US (84.4%). The next most common locations are Europe (5.8%), Canada (4.9%) and Oceania (2.3%). In the graphs split by location in this survey, the "Other" category consists mainly of respondents from Canada (49.9%), Oceania (23.5%) and Asia (11.1%). 89% of the female respondents are currently in the US compared to only 80% of the males. The US also has the highest percentage of new users with 86.8% of respondents who have been online for less than a year.Major Occupation
The largest category of respondents for this Survey work in education-related fields (26.2%), followed closely by those in computer (22.3%) and professional (21.7%) fields. European respondents are much more likely to be in computer-related jobs than other respondents. Females are more likely to be in education or other fields while males are most likely to be in computer positions. Only 7.6% of those coming online in the past year are in computer jobs, compared to 35.9% of those who have been online for 4 years or more.Years on Internet
The largest category of respondents has been using the internet in one form or another for 1 to 3 years (45%). This survey represents one of our lowest percentages of new users (less than one year) at only 18.4% compared to 36.2% in the Eighth survey and 25.4% in the Seventh. We will need to wait for another survey to decide if this is a real trend or just a temporary decrease in the number of new users coming to the internet. Respondents who have been online for less than a year represent 24.6% of females, but only 14.5% of males. Also, new users are more likely to be under 20 or over 50 years old than in their middle years.Household Income
This question had the highest percentage of respondents choose not to answer (16.9%) and more females than males chose not to answer (20.8% females, 14.4% males). The average income was $52,500 (US) which is a slight decrease from the Eighth survey ($53,000) and continues the trend observed over the last few surveys. 46.2% of respondents reported household incomes of $50,000 (US) or more. More experienced users tended to report higher income levels than new users (over $50K: 47.1% of experts, 30.7% of novices).
Primary Place of WWW Access
As in the past three surveys, the majority of respondents access the web exclusively or primarily from home (62.6% Ninth, 65.17% Eighth, 60.38% Seventh, 63.6% Sixth). The largest category of respondents from Europe accesses the web exclusively or primarily from work/school (58.0%). The number of home users in Europe has been growing steadily but slowly. Males are more likely to have access to the web from several places (home and work) while females are somewhat more likely to access from just one place. 55% of respondents over age 50 access the web from home exclusively and another 25.6% access it primarily from home. More than half of respondents who have been online for less than one year (which includes many in the 50+ age category) access the web exclusively from home (54.9%). Initially, the growth in home use of the web was mainly fueled by people who used the web at work and were transferring use into their homes, making it available to a new set of users (i.e. their families). Results from the last few surveys, however, suggest a new category of users -- a set that specifically seeks out home web access.Who Pays For Access
Respondents could choose more than one answer for this question. More than 2/3 of respondents (67.2%) pay for their own internet access, at least in part. 30.8% report that their connection is paid for by their work. Respondents from Europe are more likely than their US counterparts to have their work paying for their internet connection. Older respondents are much more likely to be paying for their own connections (86.3%, which are mostly home connections) while younger respondents have their connections paid for by their parents or schools. Regardless of their number of years on the internet, respondents are equally likely to be paying for their own access to the internet. More experienced users (who are more likely to work in the computer field) are more likely than new users to have an additional internet connection paid for by their work.Primary Computing Platform
The vast majority of respondents use a Microsoft product as their primary platform (81.4%) with the largest group using Win95 (69.8%). (This survey was conducted before Win98 was officially released.) A significant percentage of respondents (12.5%) are using a Macintosh platform. WinNT and Unix machines are more common among respondents from Europe, most likely because most use occurs in a business or university setting as opposed to a home setting. Respondents in all experience levels are most likely to be using Win95, but other platforms (Macintosh, Unix, NT) are more common among experienced users.Comparison to Previous Surveys
The following table shows selected results from the past three surveys. The Eighth survey had a disproportionately large number of respondents accessing the web through non-traditional means (i.e. WebTV). This explains the "rebound" effect seen in such statistics as Primary Place of Web Access, Education, and Income levels: the percentage rises (or drops) with the Eighth survey but then returns to near Seventh survey levels in the Ninth survey. Notice however, that the percentage does not completely reach the old level. This suggests that the changes seen in the last survey may be slightly exaggerated due to the non-traditional users, but they do represent real trends. Other statistics showed no rebound effect: Gender, Age, Frequency of Web Use, and Hours of Web Use.|
Statistic |
GVU9 (Apr 98) | GVU8 (Oct 97) | GVU7 (Apr 97) | |
|
Gender: Female |
38.7 | 38.5 | 31.3 | |
|
Primary place of Web Access: Home or Primarily Home |
62.6 | 65.2 | 60.4 | |
|
Education: Some College or more |
80.9 | 79.5 | 83.5 | |
|
Education: College or more |
50.1 | 47.0 | 54.2 | |
|
Marital Status: Married |
41.1 | 40.2 | 45.4 | |
|
Household Income: <=$25K |
19.1* | 23.0* | 18.6 | |
|
Household Income: <$50K |
51.6* | 58.7* | 51.9 | |
|
Household Income: >=$50K |
48.4* | 41.3* | 48.1 | |
|
Age: Average |
35.1 | 35.7 | 35.2 | |
|
Years on the Internet: <1year |
18.4 | 36.6 | 25.3 | |
|
Frequency of Web Use: Daily |
87.9 | 85.4 | 85.2 | |
|
Hours of Web Use: >20 per week |
26.4 | 23.7 | 22.2 | |
| * Recalculated to eliminate "Rather not say" answers. | ||||
Table 2 - Selected Results From the Past Three Surveys
Other Questions Asked but Not Presented in this Summary
(Some of these are discussed in the Web and Internet Use Summary)How did you find out about the GVU's Ninth WWW User Survey?
Are you disabled or impaired?
How would you classify yourself (Sexual Preference)?
Are you currently registered to vote?
Some sites are starting to charge for the use of their web pages. What is the main reason that you would not be willing to pay to access a site?
Complete the following sentence in the way that comes closest to your own views: 'Since getting on the Internet, I have ...' (Community Membership)
Which of these groups have you become more connected to through the Internet?
Some Web sites ask for you to register with the site by providing personal information. When asked for such information, what percent of the time do you falsify the information?
In your opinion, what is the single most critical issue facing the Internet?
Please indicate your agreement/disagreement with the following statement: I believe that certain information should not be published on the Internet.
Have you ever ordered a product/service by filling out a form on the web?
Why don't you purchase more products and services on the web, either for yourself or for your work/business?
Have you ever created a web page?
US State, Canadian Province, or Country
Actual Job
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