IPMZ study on Internet use

85 out of 100 Swiss people have access to the Internet. Use is becoming more intensive, even 70 percent of senior citizens are online. However, there is still a high level of apprehension when it comes to data control by companies, for example. Young people are generally more carefree and women are more concerned about protecting their privacy. Despite the high level of penetration, four out of ten Swiss people say they feel "not at all or only a little" involved in the information society.

Increase in mobile use

In the last two years, the proportion of users who surf the internet on the move has risen at an above-average rate: Around 39% of the population and almost half of internet users are also online on the move. This doubling of mobile internet use is mainly driven by smartphones.

Income and education

There is a digital divide in Switzerland in terms of internet access based on income (clearly in the case of mobile use), education and level of employment. Differences based on age and gender have become less significant: "A remarkable 70% of 60- to 74-year-old Swiss people use the internet today, with roughly the same number of women as men," says Michael Latzer from IPMZ. However, one million Swiss men and women (aged 14 and over) still do not surf the World Wide Web, citing a lack of interest and benefit.

Concern remains high

Trust and concerns regarding internet use have essentially remained the same in Switzerland in recent years. Professional offerings - especially those from the SRG and the government - are rated as particularly trustworthy, while those from online social networks and blogs are the least trustworthy. Around 40 percent of users would be "very or extremely concerned" about using a credit or debit card online, with five percent having actually fallen victim to credit card fraud online.

When it comes to data control, companies are still much more distrusted (40%) than the government (26%). Generally speaking, young Swiss people - and men too - are far less concerned than older people. Eight out of ten internet users are very concerned about protecting their privacy, and 45 to 59-year-olds are more likely to call for regulatory restrictions on corporate data collection than younger people. One in two users is resigned to the fact that privacy on the Internet no longer exists.

Information more important than entertainment

Use for information purposes - with product and travel information as well as news leading the way - also surpassed entertainment in 2013; video and music portals topped the rankings in this area. Online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are used noticeably more frequently, the latter especially by younger users. Almost six out of ten surfers use online social networks, two thirds of them on a daily basis. Private online social networks are three times more popular than professional ones such as Xing. E-commerce use is stagnating at a high level: 78% search for product information, 67 buy online and 63 compare prices online.

Women value their internet skills less

The Internet is used differently depending on age: Younger people are more active when it comes to interactive applications, user-produced content and entertainment; conversely, older people use the Internet more for electronic shopping and online banking. A gender difference no longer exists today in terms of access to the Internet, but still in terms of the intensity with which information and entertainment are used, the self-assessment of Internet skills and the feeling of belonging to the information society: all these are lower among women than among men.

Internet wins over traditional media

Compared with other media, the Internet has become more relevant for information and entertainment since 2011. For users, it is the top source of information - on a par with newspapers. For young Internet users (14 to 29 years), the Internet has overtaken the other media. For entertainment, television and radio continue to dominate, with television ahead of the Internet among younger users.

Digital politicking with a lot of restraint

The great skepticism in Switzerland about digital participation in political processes has continued. In an international comparison, Switzerland is one of the countries with the greatest doubts about the possibilities of digital democratization: Only a vanishing minority of four to seven percent are strongly convinced of positive effects of the Internet on democratic quality. The Internet is therefore little used for participation in political discussions; even among Internet users, 71 percent discuss political issues exclusively offline. Only half of those surveyed also think it is right to be able to freely criticize the government on the Internet, and a third clearly reject this.

Further information on the "World Internet Project" can be found at Mediachange.ch.