2. Background and objectives
4.1 Using the internet
The majority (84 per cent) of consumers are internet users. Fewer women (80 per cent) use the internet than men (88 per cent).
Access is highest among the 18-29 and 30-44 age groups, where almost all (99 per cent in each group) are internet users. Access levels fall as age increases, with two-thirds (68 per cent) of those aged 60-74 having internet access, and just over a quarter (28 per cent) of those aged 75 or older reporting that they use the internet.
Figure 4.1: Internet access
Socio-economic grade E contains significantly more consumers who don’t use the internet than other grades, with less than half (45 per cent) of them using the internet. This is linked to the high number of 60-74 year olds and those aged 75 or older who don’t use the internet.
Of the 109 consumers who are aged 60+ and are in social grade E, almost eight in 10 (78 per cent) don’t use the internet.
Figure 4.2: Internet access by socio-economic grade
Significantly more consumers in Scotland (23 per cent) are non-users of the internet than in England (15 per cent), while the proportion of consumers in Wales who don’t use the internet lies between the two (19 per cent). These data are in line with findings from Ofcom’s (2011) communications survey24, which report that, in 2011, England had the greatest number of broadband connections followed by Wales and then Scotland.
Consumers access the internet from a variety of settings. Eight in 10 (84 per cent) do so via a computer, laptop or tablet. These devices are used principally at home (80 per cent), though two-fifths (43 per cent) are accessing the internet via computers at work or at a place of education. Around a quarter of consumers (27 per cent) use friends’ or neighbours’
computers or tablets, while one-fifth (20 per cent) use public-access computers, such as those in libraries.
Half of consumers (52 per cent) go online using a mobile device, such as a mobile phone, PDA or BlackBerry, and a quarter (24 per cent) using a TV set or games console.
24 Ofcom (2011) The Consumer Experience 2011 [Online]. Available from:
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/consumer-experience/tce-11/research_report_of511a.pdf [Accessed:
07.06.13]
Figure 4.3: How consumers access the internet
The 84 per cent of consumers who use the internet is broadly reflective of 2011 data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which reports that 77 per cent of households had an internet connection at that time25. We should note that a small proportion of consumers (two per cent) in our survey only access the internet outside the home (at work or at university, for example), and that a handful (less than one per cent) only access the internet using a mobile phone.
A large majority of the consumers, who participated in our hall tests, had regular internet access, and almost all of those, who didn’t have regular access, were aged 60 or above.
What consumers use the internet for
Consumers engage in some online activities in higher proportions than others. A majority of those in our quantitative survey use the internet to:
check email
visit websites for information about personal interests or hobbies
find information about products or services they’re thinking about buying
check the news or weather, or to make travel plans
check their bank account or financial holdings
visit social networking sites.
25 Office for National Statistics (2011) Statistical Bulletin: Internet Access - Households and Individuals, 2011 [Online]. Available from: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_227158.pdf [Accessed: 07.06.2013]
Sending and receiving email
Almost all internet users (96 per cent) use email, with more than two-thirds (69 per cent) doing so on a daily basis. As we might expect, those in the two youngest age groups (18-29 and 30-44) are more likely than older internet users to use email at all, and to do so on a daily basis.
Those in socio-economic grades A and B also email more frequently than those in other grades. More than nine in 10 (92 per cent) of those in socio-economic grade A, and more than three-quarters (79 per cent) of those in grade B email on a daily basis, whereas half (50 per cent) of those in grade D, and one-third (35 per cent) of grade E do so.
Usage varies by nation with a higher proportion of internet users in England using the internet to send and receive email (97 per cent) than in Scotland (92 per cent). As noted in Section 3.2, this may be because consumers in socio-economic grade E make up a larger proportion of consumers in Scotland, than in England.
Visiting sites for information on personal interests or hobbies
The majority of internet users visit sites in connection with personal interest and hobbies (91 per cent). Again, the vast majority of younger consumers (96 per cent of 18-29s and 94 per cent of 30-44s) do this: a higher proportion than in the older age groups. Fewer of those in the 60-74 age group (84 per cent), and fewer still of those aged 75 or older (68 per cent) seek information about hobbies and interests online.
Finding information about products or services they are thinking about buying
Most internet users also go online to find out about items and services they are thinking about buying, with more than nine in 10 (92 per cent) reporting that they ever do this. Higher proportions of consumers in the ABC1 socio-economic grades use the internet for this purpose, than in the C2DE grades.
Internet users who are aware of PCWs – that is, they have heard about websites that help consumers to compare goods and services from a range of providers, to help them make informed purchase decisions – are also significantly more likely to use the internet to find out about items and services they are thinking about buying. The majority of those who are aware of PCWs (93 per cent) do this, compared with less than three-quarters (65 per cent) of those who are not aware of PCWs.
Checking news, weather or travel plans
A large proportion of internet users (88 per cent) also check news or weather, or make travel plans online. More than two-fifths (41 per cent) do this on a daily basis, with the two youngest age groups (18-29s and 30-44s) much more likely to do so than older consumers.
Significantly fewer internet users aged 75 or above go online for this reason, with only two-thirds (66 per cent) reporting that they ever do so.
Again, consumers in the C2DE socio-economic grades are less likely to use the internet to check news, weather or travel plans than those in the ABC1 socio-economic grades. For example, more than nine in 10 in socio-economic grade A (95 per cent) do so, compared with fewer than two-thirds of those in grade E (62 per cent).
The majority (90 per cent) of internet users, who are aware of PCWs, go online for this reason, while significantly fewer who are not aware of them do so: just over two-thirds of this group (68 per cent) list this as an online activity they ever do.
Checking bank accounts and other financial holdings
Around three-quarters (74 per cent) of internet users ever go online to check their bank account or financial holdings – indeed, six out of 10 (60 per cent) do so on at least a weekly basis. A small majority (59 per cent) of internet users go online for this reason between
‘once a month’ and ‘several times a week’.
Reflecting usage patterns across the age groups for other online activities, significantly fewer internet users, who are 75 or older, say they ever go online to check up on personal
finances, than in other age groups. While two-fifths (41 per cent) of those in the 75+ group do so, nine out of 10 (87 per cent) in the 18-29 group do so, for example, as do eight out of 10 (80 per cent) in the 30-44 age group.
As we might expect, there are large differences between the socio-economic grades here, with those in socio-economic groups A and B much more likely to manage their personal finances online than those in other grades. For example, more than eight out of 10 (86 per cent) of those in socio-economic grade A ever go online to check their bank account or financial holdings, compared with only four in 10 (41 per cent) internet users in socio-economic grade E.
Significantly fewer consumers in Scotland manage their personal finances online than in England, with around two-thirds (62 per cent) and three-quarters (76 per cent) in each nation respectively. Again, as Section 3.2 notes, this may be because consumers in socio-economic grade E make up a larger proportion of the base in Scotland than in England. The proportion of consumers in Wales going online for this reason again lies between the two, with over two-thirds (68 per cent) doing so.
Visiting social networking sites
Over two-thirds (66 per cent) ever visit social networking sites and over half (56 per cent) do so one or more times a week.
Younger internet users are the most frequent visitors to social networking sites, with eight in 10 (81 per cent) saying that they do social networking several times a week, or every day, compared with a quarter (23 per cent) of those in the 60-74 age group, and a minority (six per cent) of those aged 75 or above.
Use of social networking sites is concentrated around socio-economic grades C1, C2 and D, where at least half of internet users are visiting social networking sites at least several times a week.
Around two-thirds (68 per cent) of internet users in England use social networking sites:
significantly more than those in Scotland (58 per cent) or Wales (48 per cent).
What consumers are less likely to use the internet for
Lower proportions of consumers use the internet to carry out certain other activities. For example, fewer than half use it to:
download music or films
play games online
do their grocery shopping.
Downloading music or films
Fewer than half of consumers (46 per cent) use the internet to download media such as music or films. Downloading is concentrated within the 18-29 age group, who account for more than two-thirds (68 per cent) of those who download music or films on a daily basis.
Significantly fewer consumers in socio-economic grade E than in some other socio-economic grades ever download these media: one-third (34 per cent), compared with half in grades B (49 per cent) and C1 (48 per cent). Around two-fifths of consumers in socio-economic grades A (39 per cent) and C2 (42 per cent) do this.
Playing games online
Just over one-third (35 per cent) of consumers play games online, with significantly more men (41 per cent) than women (28 per cent) reporting that they ever do this.
Significantly fewer consumers in socio-economic grade A engage in online gaming than in some other economic grades. For example, half (48 per cent) of those in socio-economic grade D ever play games online, compared with one in 10 (11 per cent) among grade A.
Grocery shopping online
One-third of consumers (33 per cent) shop for groceries online. As we have seen with other online activities, more in the 18-29 and 30-44 age groups buy groceries online than among the older groups. For example, more than two-fifths of those aged 30-44 (43 per cent) ever do their grocery shop online, compared with one-fifth of those in either the 60-74 age group (18 per cent), or those aged 75 and older (20 per cent).
Higher proportions of consumers in socio-economic grades A and B (37 per cent in both grades) shop for groceries online than those in grades D (23 per cent) or E (20 per cent).
Significantly more consumers in England shop for groceries online (35 per cent) than those in Wales (14 per cent) or Scotland (20 per cent), although again, the higher proportion of
consumers in socio-economic grade E in Scotland and Wales, relative to England, should be noted.