Many fly on the web travel
Internet According to MA Comis, more and more Internet users want not only to surf the globe virtually, but also to travel there in person.
Internet According to MA Comis, more and more Internet users not only want to surf the globe virtually, but also to travel physically.Since MA Comis 2003, the number of people in Switzerland who use the Internet has again increased by around 120000. No less than two-thirds of all German-speaking Swiss now belong to the so-called Weitesten Nutzerkreis (WNK), i.e., they use the Internet at least once every six months.Those who do so from home increasingly prefer a broadband connection: With an increase from 30 to 48 percent, the market share of broadband connections has risen significantly compared with the previous year. The most widely used Internet provider is Bluewin, with a market share of 47 percent. Sunrise and Cablecom follow with 17 and 16 percent respectively, and all other providers together account for 20 percent.
E-mail traffic front runner
As in previous years, the Internet is primarily used for e-mail correspondence, closely followed by the use of search engines (see also chart). There has been a marked increase in travel preparations made via the Internet: 6 percent more people are consulting online timetables and flight schedules, and the proportion of people making other travel plans (choosing destinations and hotels) on their PCs has grown just as strongly. There has also been a 5 percent increase in those who consult online city maps and other maps. Downloading programs, which was still in sixth place last year, has continued to grow slightly in terms of share, but other activities have overtaken it.
An increasing number of people are inclined to shop online - according to MA Comis, 74 percent of all Internet users do so, compared with 43 percent six years ago. However, only those who "have already bought or ordered something online at least once" are counted. More revealing is how much individual users have spent on purchased goods or services when shopping online - and this within the last six months: 44 percent of online shoppers (763000 people) said they had spent more than CHF 500 on purchases during this period. For 40 percent, spending was between 100 and 500 francs, and for the remaining 14 percent it was less than 100 francs.
Books remain the products most frequently ordered over the Internet (58 percent), ahead of admission tickets (54 percent) and the purchase of sound recordings (48 percent). Hotel reservations are made by 47 percent of users. Most products increased, with flight bookings (plus 8 percent) and hotel reservations (plus 5 percent) showing the greatest growth.
The willingness to pay for services and content on the Internet remains relatively low. At 49 percent, the greatest willingness exists for music downloads, but only 9 percent have already paid for it. The willingness to pay for downloading programs is only slightly lower (42 percent), but the number of those who have already paid for them is higher at 24 percent. When it comes to paying for information from archives and databases, between 8 and 10 percent have already paid for it, and around 40 percent are prepared to do so in principle.
Google.ch and SBB.ch are accessed by the majority of web users at least once every six months. They increased their reach by around 10 percent. However, the biggest leap forward among the ten reach giants was made by the online shopping center Ebay.ch (plus 15 percent).
The MA Comis also surveyed Internet users' attitudes to online advertising. 74 percent find it annoying, but 53 percent think that advertising on the Internet goes well with contemporary products.
MA Comis in profileFor the MA Comis 2004, a total of 2080 interviews were conducted between April 26 and June 20, 2004. People aged 14 and over in German-speaking Switzerland who had used the Internet privately, in education or professionally in the last six months were surveyed. The 2004 population of Internet users is 2.7 million (66 percent of the German-speaking population), compared with 2.58 million (64 percent) in the 2003 MA Comis. (mk)
Strong increase: Two-thirds of the population in German-speaking Switzerland now use the Internet.
Markus Knöpfli
E-mail traffic front runner
As in previous years, the Internet is primarily used for e-mail correspondence, closely followed by the use of search engines (see also chart). There has been a marked increase in travel preparations made via the Internet: 6 percent more people are consulting online timetables and flight schedules, and the proportion of people making other travel plans (choosing destinations and hotels) on their PCs has grown just as strongly. There has also been a 5 percent increase in those who consult online city maps and other maps. Downloading programs, which was still in sixth place last year, has continued to grow slightly in terms of share, but other activities have overtaken it.
An increasing number of people are inclined to shop online - according to MA Comis, 74 percent of all Internet users do so, compared with 43 percent six years ago. However, only those who "have already bought or ordered something online at least once" are counted. More revealing is how much individual users have spent on purchased goods or services when shopping online - and this within the last six months: 44 percent of online shoppers (763000 people) said they had spent more than CHF 500 on purchases during this period. For 40 percent, spending was between 100 and 500 francs, and for the remaining 14 percent it was less than 100 francs.
Books remain the products most frequently ordered over the Internet (58 percent), ahead of admission tickets (54 percent) and the purchase of sound recordings (48 percent). Hotel reservations are made by 47 percent of users. Most products increased, with flight bookings (plus 8 percent) and hotel reservations (plus 5 percent) showing the greatest growth.
The willingness to pay for services and content on the Internet remains relatively low. At 49 percent, the greatest willingness exists for music downloads, but only 9 percent have already paid for it. The willingness to pay for downloading programs is only slightly lower (42 percent), but the number of those who have already paid for them is higher at 24 percent. When it comes to paying for information from archives and databases, between 8 and 10 percent have already paid for it, and around 40 percent are prepared to do so in principle.
Google.ch and SBB.ch are accessed by the majority of web users at least once every six months. They increased their reach by around 10 percent. However, the biggest leap forward among the ten reach giants was made by the online shopping center Ebay.ch (plus 15 percent).
The MA Comis also surveyed Internet users' attitudes to online advertising. 74 percent find it annoying, but 53 percent think that advertising on the Internet goes well with contemporary products.
MA Comis in profileFor the MA Comis 2004, a total of 2080 interviews were conducted between April 26 and June 20, 2004. People aged 14 and over in German-speaking Switzerland who had used the Internet privately, in education or professionally in the last six months were surveyed. The 2004 population of Internet users is 2.7 million (66 percent of the German-speaking population), compared with 2.58 million (64 percent) in the 2003 MA Comis. (mk)
Strong increase: Two-thirds of the population in German-speaking Switzerland now use the Internet.
Markus Knöpfli
