Advertisers Eye At-Work Surfers

The study carried out by the Online Publishers Association in association with Millward Brown IntelliQuest sought to examine the internet habits of the at-work internet population. This is defined as those users who indicated they had accessed the internet from work within the past 30 days for non-email purposes. The group includes a large proportion of young, highly educated and highly affluent customers and is therefore much sought after by advertisers.

The results of the survey show that for these individuals, “daytime on the internet is primetime”. Some 25% of users said that the internet was the only medium they used during the daytime, although television remains more popular in the evening.

Internet usage among top-level professionals exceeds all other at-work users during most dayparts by between 5 and 13 percentage points, with the greatest percentage (81%) found online in the morning before lunch (Daytime I). In addition, affluent users earning upwards of $75K per year are more prevalent online throughout the day until evening, when average income levels of internet users decline.

As a rule of thumb, men are more likely to use the internet than women during weekly dayparts. The highest percentage of both men (77%) and women (68%) can be found online during Daytime 1 while the greatest gender difference occurs in the Early Morning (6am to 8am), when 52% men are online compared to less than 40% of women.

The survey found that veteran internet users (online for 7+ years) displayed higher usage levels than less experienced surfers (online for up 4 years or less). This shows that the more familiar users become with the web, the more ways they find to integrate it into their daily life.

In other findings, 74% of at work users said that the internet had made them more productive in the workplace while 56% said they used the internet at home for business purposes.

“This research broadens our understanding of the at work audience and the subtle differences in how key demographic groups use online media throughout the day,” said Michael Zimbalist, executive director of the Online Publishers Association. “As we learn more about the ways consumers have integrated the Web into their daily lives, it helps clarify the importance of this medium for advertisers seeking to reach some of their most elusive targets.”