Global Internet Usage Study Readies For Launch.

The Face of the Web: 2003, a multi-country view of how the Internet has evolved over the past four years and where it’s heading, will be released next month by Ipsos, the world’s second largest survey-based market research company.

“The Face of the Web continues to be an authoritative study on global Internet trends and evolution,” said Brian Cruikshank, leader of the global research team and Senior Vice-President of Ipsos-Insight, the company’s flagship market research division in the U.S. “This year marks the fourth wave of this exceptionally rich information. Ipsos goes further than anyone else by mapping usage of Users, Triers and Intenders in both nascent and developed markets around the world, giving marketers and business leaders the most accurate identification of the Internet’s current and future activities.”

Approximately 7,000 interviews will be conducted with adults in 13 key markets of Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.

More Than Who is Online

“Today, the Internet is no longer just a means to communicate information using PCs,” says Brian Cruikshank, “rather, the new convergent market has brought exponential online penetration through a myriad of devices and activities. The Face of the Web is an annual study that was founded on our recognition of a need for more systematic research geared toward focusing on the extent of evolving Internet technologies and activities around the world. It’s no longer just about if people are using the Internet. It’s about how they are using it and what they’re using to access it.”

The Face of the Web: 2003 will reveal:

Who is on the Internet in the major markets around the world

What these people are doing when they are browsing the Web

How they are accessing the Internet

Who is planning to go online in the next year

Among the findings revealed in The Face of the Web: 2002:

Globally, more than two-thirds (68%) of Internet users reported having sent or received pictures or videos, demanding greater broadband capabilities

Nearly two-thirds (62%) of Internet users had purchased a product or service online, up dramatically from 36% in 2000. Furthermore, one in four purchasers did not think about purchasing until they went online;

More than a third (37%) of users around the world report having conducted an online financial transaction; 44% of Internet users report having downloaded a music file.

Music downloading from the Internet is growing in nearly all markets with the exception of Urban India;

More than a third (38%) of the global Internet population had played a video game online;

In Japan, 1-in-5 Internet users already use wireless devices to send and receive email;

Meanwhile, 97% of urban China is hooked to cable TV, and 80% have wireless mobile phone access;

Digital camera, DVD player and PDA ownership around the world has doubled in the past two years.

Subscribers will receive a detailed analysis of:

Equipment and technologies used to access the Internet

Wired and wireless activities performed (i.e., graphic streaming, bill paying, etc.)

Types of connectivity (i.e., broadband cable, DSL, dial-up modem, etc.)

Extent of wireless Internet connectivity, types of wireless devices in use, future interest and intentions for adopting
Internet-enabled wireless Internet technologies

Trends in global Internet awareness, trial and usage within 13 key markets around the world

Barriers to Internet usage, future plans to go online and implications of Internet growth.

Emerging technologies such as Wi-Fi

Results from The Face of the Web 2003 will be available by the end of the year.

Methodology

The Face of the Web: 2003 is conducted through Ipsos’s Global Express omnibus service. Sampling in 2003 will be similar to the 2002 wave, with the focus on 13 key global markets. The 13 key markets selected were based on capturing users in both emergent and leading edge markets.

2002 Prevalence (general population) Information: consisted of 6,637 interviews of the general adult (18+ years of age) population in 12 markets around the world.

2002 Internet User Information: Consisted of 2,861 interviews with Internet Users who have used the Internet in the past 30 days in 12 markets around the world. Internet Users fell out of the general population sample.

For more information at http://www.ipsos-insight.com