Theme: Real World Connections, Social Responsibility and Leadership Lesson: Internet Shopping Business Idea 2 Learning Outcomes

Canadian Internet Use Survey 2005

Two-thirds of adult Canadians surfed the Internet in 2005, and those living in larger cities were much more likely to have done so than those in rural areas and small towns, according to the new Canadian Internet Use Survey.

An estimated 16.8 million adult Canadians, or 68%, used the Internet for personal non-business reasons during the 12 months prior to the survey.

Only 58% of residents living in small towns or rural areas accessed the World Wide Web, well below the national average. In contrast, rates in Canada's largest census metropolitan areas ranged from 68% in Montréal to 77% in both Ottawa–Gatineau and Calgary.

The survey also showed that the Internet has changed the way many Canadians do banking and access news. Roughly 6 of every 10 Internet users used it to read news or sports, or to conduct their banking online. Even so, three-quarters of Canadians expressed strong concerns about privacy and security.

The new survey, which replaces the Household Internet Use Survey, was redesigned to focus on individual Internet use. The CIUS did show that in 2005, an estimated 7.9 million

Canadian households (61%) were connected to the Internet, up slightly from the nearly 60% reported in 2004 by the Survey on Household Spending.

Urban areas have big impact on usage rates

However, urban areas had a huge impact on usage rates. For example, in Nova Scotia, 67% of adults aged 18 and over used the Internet in the year prior to the survey for personal non-business reasons. But the rate in Halifax was 75%, much higher than the 62% in the rest of the province.

Halifax has a concentration of universities, government and health care institutions that attract younger students and professionals with higher incomes.

In general, larger cities have younger populations and more residents with higher levels of income and education, all related to higher rates of Internet use. The concentration of population also presents an attractive market for Internet service providers.

Digital divide persists among certain groups

About 88% of adults with household incomes of $86,000 or more used the Internet last year, well above the proportion of 61% among adults living in households with incomes below $86,000.

Similarly, 80% of adults with at least some post-secondary education used the Internet, compared with just under one half (49%) of adults with less education.

Canadians between the ages of 18 and 44 (85%) were over one and a half times more likely to use the Internet than those 45 years of age and older (50%).

The presence of children under 18 years in the household is also associated with a higher rate of Internet use among adults. About 81% of persons in households with children used the Internet, compared to only 61% of persons in households without children.

While there was no clear pattern between the proportion of men and women using the Internet, there are differences in their intensity and types of use.

Vast majority accessed the Internet at home

About 39% of Internet users used it from work, the second most frequent location, while 30% reported accessing it from other locations such as from the home of a friend or relative, or from an Internet café.

Just under one-half (49%) of employed Internet users from age 35 to 54 reported accessing it from work for personal non-business use, while 9 out of 10 (91%) full-time students under age 25 who used the Internet reported accessing it from school.

Of the more than 15 million adult Canadians who used the Internet from home in 2005, almost two-thirds used it every day during a typical month, and just under one-quarter reported using it 10 hours or more during a typical week.

Among home users, over 4 out of 10 (43%) men aged 18 to 24, and about one-third (34%) of their female counterparts, spent 10 hours or more on-line during a typical week.

Internet use from home: More than half paid bills online

The vast majority of home users reported using the Internet in 2005 for e-mailing and browsing. Around two-thirds used it to obtain information about weather and road conditions and for travel information. About 62% used it to view news or sports.

The Internet has also become an important way to conduct financial affairs and to interact with governments. About 6 in every 10 home users (58%) used it to do their banking, and 55% used it to pay their bills online. Just over one-half searched for information on governments and 58% searched for information about health or medical conditions.

Over one half (57%) of home users went online to window shop while 43% reported ordering personal goods or services over the Internet.

Individual use varied with age and sex. About 79% of home users under 25 reported using it for education, training or school work, and 61% used it to play games.

Women were more likely than men to use the Internet from home to search for information about health or medical conditions. Among home users, about 63% of women did so, compared with 53% of men.

Reasons for adult home users to go on-line during 2005
	%
E-mail	91
General browsing	84
Weather or road conditions	67
Travel information or making travel arrangements	63
View news or sports	62
Search for medical or health related information	58
Electronic banking	58
Window shopping	57
Pay bills	55
Search for information about governments	52
Ordering personal goods or services	43
Education, training or school work	43
Research community events	42
Play games	39
Chat or to use a messenger	38
Obtain or save music (free or paid downloads)	37
Obtain or save software (free or paid downloads)	32
Research investments	26
Listen to the radio over the Internet	26
Communicate with governments	23
Download or watch TV or a movie over the Internet	12
Any other personal non-business reason	11

These women reported searching for information on specific diseases, on lifestyle, on certain symptoms, and for information on drugs or medications.

In contrast, men (56%) were more likely than women (48%) to use the Internet from home to search for information about governments. Men did so mainly to access government programs, download government forms and file income taxes online.

Majority had high-speed Internet connection

The majority of home users reported accessing the Internet over a high speed connection, according to the survey (only home users not accessing the Internet by cable or satellite were asked about high speed).

About 50% who accessed the Internet at home did so using a cable line connected to a computer, while 44% used a telephone line connected to a computer.

However, of the group that used a telephone line, about 59% reported it was a high-speed connection (cable Internet service providers typically offer a range of package options with various speeds, all faster than conventional dial-up service).

An estimated 2.7 million individual home users reported that they did not use a high-speed connection to access the Internet in 2005. They accounted for about 18% of all home users.

Among these individuals, just over one-third (922,250) reported that a high-speed Internet service (either cable or phone) was not available in their area. Almost 70% of these people lived in smaller towns and rural areas.

Security a concern for three-quarters of adult Canadians

Almost three-quarters of survey respondents (both Internet users and non-users) said that they were either concerned (33%) or very concerned (40%) about privacy and security. More than one-half (57%) of all Canadians were very concerned about Internet credit card use.

Some differences by language of use were reported. Among Internet users who indicated English as their preference, over 97% reported obtaining information in the language of their choice. Among those indicating French as their preference, just 83% did so.

Canadians with a personal computer or another device to access the Internet but who did not use the Internet from home last year, or had never used it, gave a variety of reasons. Many said they had no interest (29%) or no need for it (25%) while others said it cost too much (16%) or it was too hard to use (12%).

Even so, almost one-third of these non users said they plan to use it during the next 12 months from one location or another.

Taken on July 21, 2007 from http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/060815/d060815b.htm

Who Shops on the Internet?

Gathering Information about Internet Shoppers

Now that you have your business idea, you would like to gather some information on recent trends in Internet shopping. This will help you determine whether the type of customers that you have identified as your "target market" in Question 4 of Worksheet 1 like to shop on the Internet.

Using data from the article you have read, try to assess whether the people that would use your products are Internet shoppers. Hint: Use the graph “Reasons for Adult Homeusers to go on-line” to help you write your answer.
1. Do people who use your products or services tend to be Internet shoppers? Use the graphs to explain your answer in a short paragraph of 2-4 sentences.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

2. List three key advantages and three disadvantages shoppers face when shopping online.

Key advantages:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Key disadvantages:

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Define the following terms.

e-commerce household
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Window shopper household

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Internet shopper household

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

What concerns do people have about Internet shopping? Explain why. What is being done, if anything?

___________________________________________­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­___________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Directory: sites
sites -> Answer True False 2 points Question 2
sites -> 587 Return function, r i(X) r i(0) r i(1) r i(2) r i(3) 1 0 2 4 6 Thermal Station, I 2 0 1 5 6 3 0 3 5 6 10
sites -> Glossary for Chapter 1 Algorithm
sites -> North Carolina Inclusion Initiative Mapping Where Children with ieps are Being Served Purpose
sites -> Northern England’s set-jetting locations
sites -> Physical custody of 1033 program property accountibility form statement of Physical Custody: By signing for the below 1033 property I am a Law Enforcement Officer of the aforementioned Law Enforcement Agency
sites -> Nstructions for Acquiring Excess Equipment online, through the 1033 Program
sites -> Memorandum of agreement

Download 45.27 Kb.

Share with your friends: