Trends in Internet Adoption and Use: Comparing Minority Groups John B. Horrigan, Ph.D. Presentation for OTX Research May 11, 2004

Presentation Overview General trends in Internet Adoption Focus on “hard to reach audiences”, i.e., Hispanics, African-Americans Opportunities in Hispanic, African American segments

Big picture – as of February 2004 128 million American adults – or 64% – are Internet users 19 million teens (age 12 to 17) are Internet users, or 77%. About 70 million American adults online on the average day. 48 million American adults have high-speed connections at home.

Percent Adult Americans Online

Trends in Internet use – by race

Internet penetration by race – End of 2003 (% Americans age 18 and over)

Internet penetration by race & age – End of 2003 (% Americans age 30 and under)

Internet penetration by race & education – End of 2003 (% Americans over age 18 and college graduates)

Internet penetration – age groups

Latest broadband numbers February 2004 24% of adult Americans have broadband at home That’s 39% of adult Internet users That’s a 60% increase in past year DSL is big winner More than half of growth in past year due to DSL subscriptions

Broadband at home, 2000-2004

Broadband at home -- subgroups

Broadband at home – by race

Profile of Online & Offline Population February 2004 Online demographics Whites: 75% African American: 8% Hispanics: 11% Other: 6% Average Age (Internet users): Whites: 41.9 African American: 36.6 Hispanics: 33.8 Offline demographics Whites: 69% African American: 15% Hispanics: 11% Other: 5% Average Age (Non-Internet users): Whites: 58.3 African American: 50.9 Hispanics: 41.1

Rhythms of use – by race Whites African-American Hispanics Online yesterday 59% 35% 41% Go online from home 84% 81% 76% Log on several times per day 29% 14% 18% Number of years online 6.1 5.7 5.5 # of online activities – ever 7.5 (out of 18) 7.3 7.0 # of online activities – daily 3.4 2.6

What people do online – % of Internet users who have ever done following activities Email – 91% Search engine – 88% Map/directions – 84% Info query – 80% Research product before purchase – 78% News – 70% Surf for fun – 67% Travel info – 66% Health medical – 66% Buy product – 65% Travel reservations – 57% Job-related research – 51% Political news – 46% Download (games, videos, pictures) – 42% Bank online – 34% Religious/spiritual info – 29% Download music – 18%

What people do online – % of Internet users who, on typical day, do following activities Email – 48% Search engine – 31% Get news – 27% Surf for fun – 23% Hobby – 21% Info search – 21% Research product before purchase – 15% Get financial info – 12% Audio/video clip – 11% Play a game – 9% Bank online – 9% Government Web site – 9% Look up phone # – 7% Online auction – 3% Read a blog – 3% Buy a product – 3% Search for info about a person you might meet – 3% Download video file – 2%

Playing games online

Do search in answer to a question

Get sports scores online

Get religious/spiritual information

Buy a product online

Research a product online

Participate in online auction

Do Banking online

Download music

One hand … other hand Minority groups tend to lag whites in Internet use by various measures …penetration, intensity of use, number of years online. Tech elite – measured not just by Net use – tend to be whites. But minorities show willingness to spend on information goods and services.

Cell phone use – by race October 2002

Cable TV penetration – by race October 2002

Satellite dish penetration – by race October 2002

Premium TV Channels – by race October 2002

DVD players at home – by race October 2002

Average monthly spending, selected information goods (phone, cell phone, cable TV, premium channels, ISP, online content) – October 2002

Summing up African-Americans and, to lesser extent, Hispanics lag whites in Internet use – by several measures Overall penetration Broadband use Frequency of use African-Americans use the Internet to get information and for entertainment. Lag on online transactions/ecommerce Minority groups show willingness to spend money on information goods & service, but these dollars go to old media

Reach me … John B. Horrigan jhorrigan@pewinternet.org 202-296-0019 Pew Internet & American Life Project 1100 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 710 Washington, DC 20036