Expect the unexpected. That's the message (and the slogan) behind a recent report issued by Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corp. (IDC) on the findings of Project Atlas, a worldwide survey of Web users and their online spending habits.

IDC claims that the survey, which took place over the summer of 1999, is the largest Web-based survey of Internet users and their habits. Survey respondents were recruited via banner ads on 16 portals in 13 different languages around the world, resulting in more than 29,000 responses from over 100 different countries. Twenty-six countries had more than 100 respondents each.

IDC was quick to point out that these results are not projectable, but that comparisons across countries are legitimate because the sample represents "advanced" Internet users. "Due to the nature of the self-selecting recruitment method, the results are not projectable to the total population of Web users as a whole," said Carol Glasheen, IDC's vice-president of demand side research and global market models group. "But we have compared the Project Atlas results to some more traditional random digit dial phone surveys into the Web population. We believe that the Atlas results are representative of what we're calling the advanced Web user. For example, they spend a lot more time on the Web."

This is actually the second Project Atlas undertaken. The first took place in 1998, as a test survey, and a follow-up study, Atlas III, will take place in the spring of 2000.

John Gantz, IDC senior-vice president and chief research officer, said that while most of the results from the survey were expected, others were decidedly not. "While the survey results confirm our normal market analysis, the findings actually have some unexpected results. First of all, we were surprised to find that a quarter of Web users responding from India and China were in fact buying goods on the Web," he said. "We found that a higher percentage of users in Mexico access the Web from school than users in Switzerland."

Actually, in every area surveyed, home was the most popular place to access the Internet, followed by the workplace. At a friend's house came third, except in the Asia/Pacific region, where school was the third most popular place.

The survey also asked respondents if they had three or more devices capable of accessing the Internet in their home. Twenty-five per cent of respondents from Japan did, while just over 10 per cent of those from Canada answered likewise.

A difference in connection speeds is also apparent from the survey. In Canada, for example, about 25 per cent of respondents were connecting to the Internet at speeds over the 56 kbps offered by regular dial-up modems, while in Europe the figure was over 40 per cent, and in the U.S. was at 15 per cent. High-speed access is even less common in South America, reaching less than 10 per cent.

Despite what would appear to be a superior level of Internet sophistication, Canadians turned out to be much less likely than Americans to actually do any shopping online. Less than 50 per cent of Canadians surveyed had made purchases online, while over 70 per cent of their American counterparts had.

For more information on the project and its conclusions, visit www.idc.com/telb/ninjachris.htm.

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