huridocs-tech 92 Million North Americans On Line

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## author     : meisenscher@igc.org
## date       : 22.06.99
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Internet Is Getting Crowded
By Ted Bridis -- The Associated Press

W A S H I N G T O N, June 18 ù The number of people over 16
years old in the United States and Canada using the Internet
has climbed to 92 million, and the number of women making
purchases online is rising dramatically, a survey shows.

The most popular items for women to buy on the Web were
books, CDs and videos, with 9.6 million purchases of those
items made during the last nine months. But in a twist, the
number of women buying computers over the Internet climbed
fastest, up 160 percent to 1.3 million over the previous
nine months. The study by Nielsen Media Research and
CommerceNet shows increases in the number of women who made
at least a single purchase using the Internet rose 80
percent during the time period. Wider Variety of Products
ôCertainly the types of products you can purchase online are
so much more diverse than in years past,ö Jerome Samson, one
of the studyÆs coordinators, said Thursday. ôThe only thing
you could purchase online were hardware, software, things
that mainly appealed to a male audience.ö Men also bought
mostly books, CDs and videos but also bought far more
computers than women. Among both men and women, online
purchases of software remained flat. ôNearly half of North
America uses the Internet,ö said Mark Resch, executive vice
president at CommerceNet. ôWe use it to communicate, to
learn, to shop and to buy. It is as integral a part of our
lives as the telephone.ö More Men than Women Shop The
survey, based on interviews with more than 7,200 people in
North America, said 54 percent of people on the Internet are
men, although men still represent a higher proportion, 62
percent, of all online buyers. The study distinguished
online buyers from online shoppers, who merely research and
compare prices and features among products and services,
even if they donÆt ultimately make a purchase. It said that
among shoppers, men most typically look at information about
cars and car parts while women most often look for details
about clothing and books.

Female Users Growing

The same study last August showed 79 million people over 16
on the Internet in North America ù with 43 percent of them
women. The study in September 1997 counted 58 million, also
with 43 percent women. But last yearÆs study also showed
that more than 71 percent of Internet purchasers were men.
The latest study also said 72 million people use the
Internet from home, while 46 million use it from work and 28
million from school. The rest use it from other locations,
such as a library or a friendÆs home. Nielsen and
CommerceNet said the results of its latest study were
statistically representative of North AmericaÆs population
of 225 million people over the age 16.





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