Women Continue To Expand Online Presence

The report finds that growth is being driven by 16-24 year olds, young professionals and women with children. Young professionals using the internet has more than doubled, up by 116% since 2003, while women with children use the internet 14% more than the average European Woman.

The fastest growing websites driven by women were shown to be travel, auction, shopping and banking/finance sites.

Women are making use of the convenience that the internet offers, with the EIAA finding that 80% of respondents feel they can “get what they want quickly and save time” from the web, compared to 22% for newspapers, 18% for television and 17% for radio.

The impact of the internet is also being seen in terms of connections, with 60% of women using broadband to go online, compared to just 17% three years ago.

The EIAA assert that advertisers need to recognise how womens use of different media is evolving and the way in which the internet is impacting on their life. Today’s consumers no longer conform to old stereotypes, they are more sophisticated and demanding.

The internet offers advertisers the opportunity to engage and interact with their audience better, ultimately building deeper relationships.

Women are catching up with men in most areas in internet usage. A recent study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project revealed that, despite men and women using the medium for different things, the user population is evenly divided between the genders (see Women Catching Up With Men Online).

Surveys conducted between January and June of last year found that 67% of the adult American population goes online, with 68% male and 66% women.

In its Women Online in the UK report, eMarketer claims that adult women are doing more and more shopping online. Research by Millward Brown reveals that, in 2004, a quarter of UK consumers spent more than £1000 online, leading the way in Europe in terms of online spend (see UK Leads Europe In Online Spending).