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Latest IntelliQuest Survey Reports 56 Million American Adults Access The Internet/Online Services; But 10 Million Have 'Dropped Out'
Business Wire - November 19, 1997 17:02
%INTELLIQUEST-INFO-GRP IQST %TEXAS %GEORGIA %CALIFORNIA %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS %COMED %TELECOMMUNICATIONS V%BW P%BW
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19, 1997--IntelliQuest Information Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:IQST), a leader in providing information-based marketing services to the technology industry, today announced the results of its latest survey of the United States population's use of the Internet and online services, showing 56 million adults, or 27% of the U.S. population age 16 and older are online as of the third quarter of 1997.
This represents 4.9 million new users of the Internet/online services within the past three months. IntelliQuest's study also found an additional 16 million adults intend to begin accessing the Internet or online services within the next year. If these people follow through with their intentions, the number of wired U.S. residents could approach 72 million within a year. This would amount to a doubling of the online population from when IntelliQuest began studying the medium in Q2 1996.
Among the more remarkable results of the latest wave is how the medium is increasingly becoming a mainstream factor in users' lives. For example, over 23 million people (42% of the online population) reported accessing the Internet or online services from multiple locations in the third quarter -- more than double the number found doing so fifteen months earlier. Also, the average amount of time a user spent online has grown from an average of 6.9 hours per week online in Q2 1996 to a current mean level of 9.8 hours per week. And commerce has grown rapidly from a base of 2.6 million online purchasers in Q2 1996 to 8.7 million people in Q3 1997, and their projected spending is $7 billion online annually.
These results announced today are from the most recent wave of IntelliQuest's Worldwide Internet/Online Tracking Service (WWITS(TM)), the most comprehensive study of its kind. The study generates in-depth profiles of Internet and online user demographics, usage patterns, brand awareness, satisfaction rates and growth trends.
IntelliQuest's WWITS study provides leading technology and online companies such as CNET, Compaq, Netscape and Sprint with consistent, longitudinal and highly accurate tracking of the online population. Additional highlights of the findings for the third quarter of 1997 include:
-- Consistent with the continuing growth of the medium, people new to the Internet still represent a large contingent of the online population. Nearly 13 million people, or 23% of current users first began accessing in 1997. These new users reflect a growth in usage by "middle-America" -- they are from older age groups, less highly educated, and less frequently from the upper income groups typical of users who have been wired for several years.
-- Those planning to get online also represent a slice of mainstream America. Nearly 60% are age 35 or older, 47% have a high school education or less, and 65% have household incomes less than $50,000.
-- There are a significant number of Americans who have been online and discontinued its use. Over 10 million people reported that they no longer accessed the Internet or online services despite having done so in the past. Major reasons for lapsing include changes in circumstances or availability (left school or no longer have access to a computer), and lack of interest or usefulness.
-- Home was the most popular access location, with 66% of users accessing from home. Work followed, with 46% of the online population accessing from work at least some of the time.
-- Users perform a variety of personal and work-related activities online no matter where they access from, with the most popular activities including sending/receiving e-mail, obtaining information about hobbies, researching products or services and accessing general news.
-- The medium continues to grow as a commercial channel. Over half of all users shop online, and 16% of users have purchased products or services online, with the most frequently purchased items including books, software and computer hardware.
"The thousands of users we have interviewed over the course of this study are telling us that the medium is becoming more mainstream in their lives," said Tom Fornoff, managing director of Internet services for IntelliQuest. "They are getting online from more locations, spending more time online, performing a wider variety of activities, and finding it to be a highly useful channel for shopping and buying."
Rigorous Methodology, Unique Focus
The study employs a rigorous random-digit dial (RDD) methodology to develop projectable estimates of both user and non-user populations. IntelliQuest's investments in screening techniques, interviewer skills, and expert methodology design (including participation from market research industry experts and a consultant to the U.S. Census Bureau), have allowed the creation of a study that can estimate the size of the adult Internet and online user population with sampling reliability of +/-1.5%.
The study is unique in its coverage of both users and non-users of the Internet and online services, as well as its coverage of home, business and school usage. While much current industry research focuses on total usage metrics, the WWITS study allows for analysis and projection of differentiated market segments identifiable by demographics, usage patterns or user attitudes.
The study was designed cooperatively with industry vendors who provided initial funding and questionnaire support and is available to additional business subscribers. In addition to the U.S. study, conducted quarterly, baseline data for online usage is available for France, Germany and the UK.
For more information
Results of IntelliQuest's Worldwide Internet/Online Tracking Service are available on a subscription basis. Full service subscriptions include access to the entire data set through detailed crosstabulations, graphical reports with market findings, and custom analysis. Summarized results are available through IntelliQuest's Internet Trends Report. This report contains awareness, usage, segmentation, shopping and trend data for all four waves of the U.S. WWITS study. For more information on the full subscription of IntelliQuest's Worldwide Internet/Online Tracking Service and the Internet Trends Report call 800/711-3753.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with offices in Atlanta, Ga., Redwood City, Calif., and London, England, IntelliQuest provides information-based marketing services to the technology industry. IntelliQuest uses its proprietary databases and software to help technology companies track product performance and customer satisfaction, measure advertising effectiveness, assess brand strength and competitive position, determine price sensitivity, and evaluate new products, markets or other business opportunities. IntelliQuest licenses custom proprietary software applications and associated services to technology manufacturers for electronic product registration. Zona Research, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IntelliQuest, provides qualitative and quantitative information and advice to the Internet industry. IntelliQuest has over 400 employees worldwide.
IntelliQuest Information Group, Inc., Marketing Communications Department, 1250 Capital of Texas Highway South, Building One, Suite 600, Austin, Texas 78746, phone: 512/329-0808, fax: 512/329-0888, e-mail: info@intelliquest.com; World Wide Web: intelliquest.com .
CONTACT: IntelliQuest Information Group, Inc., Austin
Ursula Talley, 512/329-0808
E-mail: utalley@intelliquest.com
or
Tom Fornoff, 512/329-0808
E-mail: tfornoff@intelliquest.com
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