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about cyber-socializing
E-shopping second to exchanging best wishes
By Marty Beard
Shopping is supposed to be the reason that people take to the internet during the holidays.
It is certainly one reason, but it is not the only reason, or even the main reason.
On the internet, the holidays are really all about connecting and reconnecting with friends and family.
It's the season for cyber-socializing.
That's according to a recent report from the Pew Internet and American Life Foundation.
"Even as holiday shopping online was a growing phenomenon, significantly more Americans used the internet to socialize than to shop," the report says.
In all, 25 percent more internet users mingled with their friends and family online than logged on to buy gifts.
Specifically, 64 percent of wired Americans logged on to participate in social and spiritual activities, such as making plans for gatherings via email
That's an increase from 53 percent in the year 2000.
In contrast, 48 percent of internet users logged on to actually buy things, get ideas for gifts or compare prices.
Another interesting finding is that while cyber-socializing was big this year, it has yet to replace such old media as the phone and land mail when it comes to exchanging holiday good wishes.
Ninety-five percent of internet users used the telephone and snail mail to reach out to family and friends during the holiday, with 82 percent calling family on the phone and 67 percent calling friends on the phone.
Sixty-three percent of internet users sent out holiday cards or letters via snail mail, compared to 27 percent who sent out electronic holiday letters or cards.
But this isn’t to say that online shopping did not grow markedly this past holiday season.
In December 2000, 52 percent of internet users shopped online, and in December 2001, 58 percent of internet users shopped online.
Twenty-six percent of internet users, about 29 million people, purchased gifts online during the 2001 holiday season, up from 20 percent in the same period in 2000, when just under 20 million people bought gifts online.
But not many people are relying on the internet for all their gift-buying. Nineteen percent of people who purchased gifts online say that they got most or all of their gifts via the web. Thirty-two percent say they bought some gifts online, and 48 percent report buying a few of their gifts online.
What is somewhat surprising is that women have turned into more avid online shoppers than men, the Pew researchers determined.
Men have been the predominant online shoppers as long as there has been e-commerce, primarily because there were more men online, men being the early adopters.
But as greater proportions of women have gotten internet access, the picture has started to look like the bricks-and-mortar stereotype, with women being the chief shoppers.
In the 2001 holiday season, 58 percent of people who bought gifts online also happened to be female, compared to 48 percent in December 2000.
Thirty-one percent of women with internet access bought gifts online this holiday season, compared to 22 percent of men with internet access.
Thirty-seven percent of women say they enjoy shopping online, while just 17 percent of men feel that way. Twenty-nine percent of men report not enjoying online shopping at all, compared to 15 percent of women.
Ultimately, the report concludes that Sept. 11 and the anthrax bioterrorism attacks have not drastically bumped up people’s internet use at the expense of snail mail and shopping at bricks-and-mortar stores.
Nine percent of internet users reported shopping online instead of going to malls and shopping centers, but they blamed factors other than fear of terrorism, such as convenience. Additionally, 10 percent of internet users sent email greetings in 2001 instead of snail-mail cards or letters, but they report that their actions had nothing to do with the anthrax attacks.
The Pew project arrived at the conclusions after surveying some 4,052 U.S. adults between Nov. 19 and Dec. 23. Of those, 2,364 were internet users.
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Reasons keeping
people |
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| Reason |
% |
| Don’t want to risk using credit card online |
36 |
| Not interested in shopping online |
18 |
| Feel there are better ways to shop |
13 |
| Want to see items they purchase beforehand |
10 |
| Already done with holiday shopping at time of interview |
3 |
| Don’t have a credit card |
3 |
| Not comfortable using computer or going to shopping web sites |
3 |
| Don’t have easy access to internet |
2 |
| Tried shopping online and found it didn’t work well |
2 |
| Not buying gifts this year |
2 |
| Don’t have time to shop online |
1 |
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Source: Pew Internet and American
Life Project |
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Internet users’ online and off-line |
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| Activity |
Percentage of net users participating |
| Phoned family members to talk about holiday plans and events |
82 |
| Sent or received emails from family members about holiday plans and events` |
43 |
| Phoned a friend to discuss family plans and events |
67 |
| Sent or received emails from friends about holiday plans and events |
41 |
| Mailed holiday letters or cards |
63 |
| Sent holiday cards or letters via email |
27 |
| Phoned someone they had not spoken to in several years to exchange holiday greetings |
21 |
| Sent or received emails from someone they had not spoken to in several years to exchange holiday greetings |
13 |
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Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project |
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January 7, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
-Marty Beard is a staff writer for Media Life.
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