We have always known that there is a fundamental difference between men and women. What men want and women desire put them poles apart. But are they? Well, apparently they have one common denominator, and that is; they both agree, well, at least about what the internet has to offer. They have a common appreciation for what the internet has to offer; its efficiencies, effectiveness and the constant stream of useful information it provides. The world has certainly benefited from its ability to educate. But what about its ability to corrupt. Do they utilise the internet and all it has to offer similarly then. Apparently not, according to Pew Internet & American Life Project. Pew Research Centre is a non-profit information organization conducting seven projects into the internet and American life. They conducted a survey of men and women who use the internet, over a period of five years and came up with some interesting statistics and demographics.
The internet was primarily inhabited by men, but by 2000 the situation started leveling and the demographics have been fairly even up to today. The most interesting results have to be the fact that women have caught up with men as far as usage is concerned, black women are using the internet more than their male counterparts and older women are lagging considerably. Some of the statistics realized are:
Activities
When it comes to varied activity, both use the internet for information purposes, and the number of men exceeds women for a vast but wide range of activities. However, women outnumber men for a more limited range including medicine and health. These activities are; for men, news, DIY, sports, political and financial, employment information and to download music and software as well as to rate products and web cam activities. Women are sending/receiving e-mail, health, medical and travel information and to get support for personal problems and religion. The growth rate for this type of usage is greater for women.
Communication
Women use e-mail to nurture their personal relationships, share news, jokes and stories and they are expanding their colleague network at work this way, placing a high value on e-mail to maintain positive relationships. Men communicate with a variety of special interest groups.
Transactions
Both genders use the internet for basic transactions such as banking, purchasing, travel, but more men are at ease with taking risks such as partaking in auctions and buying stocks.
Entertainment
Men use the internet to engage in hobbies, fantasy leagues, downloading content and reading for pleasure and taking classes.
Security
Both share general concerns about the dangers of being online, although women tend to make apparent their belief that it contributes to many of the problems in the world and this results in a decline in usage.
| CRITERIA | WOMEN | MEN |
| Younger population (18-29 yrs) | 86% | 80% |
| Older population (+65 yrs) | 34% | 21% |
| Black population | 60% | 50% |
| Unmarried | 56% | 60% |
| Married | 75% | 72% |
| Without children (<18 yrs) | 57% | 61% |
| With young children | 80% | 81% |
| Usage Wired | 57% | 61% |
| Usage frequency | 39% | 44% |
| High speed connection at home | 48% | 52% |
| Access internet from home | 87% | 89% |
| Access internet from work | 66% | 65% |
| Email - sending/receiving | 94% | 88% |
| Using search engines total | 91% | 90% |
| Using search engines on average day | 39% | 43% |
| Finding required information on search engines | 86% | 88% |
| Self-confidence using search engines | 40% | 54% |
| Perception of information overload | 24% | 19% |
Tap Into Pew Internet Report : How Men And Women Use The Internet to see the full report
MSN Network of Internet Services commissioned a study to examine how the household chief-shopper uses the internet and whether it has any impact on the purchase of consumer goods. It is important to note that this study sample was of 2,222 random MSN users. The report concluded that women find the internet possibly influences their purchasing decision for both on and offline purchasing habits. Women, as decision-makers, are obviously an important market for advertisers and therefore, MSN made this research available to its customers in order that this market could be tapped into. Women aged 18-54 and mothers with children under the age of three. These young mums are investing more of their time online and spend less time at the mall, preferring to shop online and are likely to seek family oriented sites. For women aged 18-54, the results are as follows;
| Pre-purchase product information | 78% | |
| Convenient and saves time | 60%+ | |
| Research online then purchase offline | 33% | |
| Click on banners for information | 60%+ | |
| Return to site after viewing ad online | 34% | |
| Daily use of new online activities at time of life changing event | 69% | |
| Above using internet for +3 years | 57% |
Predispositions Govern Behavior
Having established that men and women display alternating tendencies when utilising the world wide web, are they equally harnessing the power of the internet to market their offer and set up online business. It would seem that although the characteristics may differ, both men and women use the internet to drive their business, albeit in differing ways. Conducting simple research on Google may be an indicator. When searching “women online business”, Google presents 221,000 results and the same search for men results in 44,100. Does this signify women are more likely to own an online business; possibly, as women are more likely to want to work from home.
Having established that men and women display differing tendencies in their internet usage, it is important to consider whether they are harnessing the power of the web to drive the success of their online offer and how they choose to utilise its techno-diversity to develop and enhance online business. If we look at the search results for "online business" for men and women, Google throws up 221,0000 results for women and 44,100 for men.
Does this signify that women are more likely to own an online business or that men do not search for online business. No, because this is too general an assumption and doesn't make sense. So, to say that a survey conducted with the sample of 2,222 women using one search engine, is similar to my analysis of the Google search. Women do use the internet to drive their business success according to a survey conducted by Fortune Small Business. Their research determined that 58% of women owning firms with sales of $1m+ confirm that the internet "moderately or extremely important role in growth strategies" and 56% have complete transaction websites, whist only 35% of male business owners can claim the same and 38% owned by men.
There are millions of opportunities to earn money online and if you go through the search engines you will find that the opportunities do appear to be gender-distinct. This is more apparent when searching for online business opportunities, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of ideas on how to set up a dating service, and certainly they are the 'softer' options. However, affiliate marketing is one opportunity that appears to be even for both genders. Affiliate marketing could be more attractive to women due to their need to 'network' and build strong contact lists and networks. Furthermore, they tend to be more nurturing of their relationships. The internet blurs gender identity, and as such, women will find it much easier to achieve success, not in the least because they don't have to negotiate that invisible barrier, the dreaded 'glass ceiling'. And the beauty of affiliate marketing is that it is possible to market almost anything and for little financial input initially, provided you follow the golden nugget of information; find niche markets.
This is a fair playing field then. Hold on, let us just get the age old gripe out of the way, that 'Glass Ceiling'. Forever, professional women were able to gawk at the top jobs from below this invisible glass sheeting. No matter how they chipped and bashed, it remained in place until women's rights started providing some parity and began addressing discrimination. The 'old boy network' was frowned upon, and it so happens, was never frowned upon relating to equality for men, until the unfairness began resonating around the world. These restrictions still apply in some industries, but slowly, the senior promotions were being granted to sharp, assertive, strong women.
So can women have it all? Find out in the next blog.
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