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Agency lists 7 Net user types09/August/2001 |
 CyberMum | ||||
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Netpoll, identified by the newly published Business Ratio Report on Market Research Agencies as the top company for compound total assets growth, was founded by Mike Bloxham in 1997 and was previously known as the Internet Research Company. With a client list including the BBC, Times Newspapers, AOL, ntl, Honda and Volkswagen, Netpoll specialises in the study of Internet usage patterns. It has established a user typology with illustrative cartoons. The seven types can be summarised as follows. 1 Gameboy. Still at school and living at home. Accesses the Internet mainly at home. Into playing online games. Thinks he is pretty Net-savvy. 2 CyberLad. Basically "Loaded man" online. Accesses at work and at home. Bit of a Jack the lad and thinks he knows it all as far as the Net is concerned. Interests include sex and sport, and sport and sex. 3 Net Sophisticate. Straddles the border between "cool" and "nerd" Could be a gee-whiz creative at agency or unemployed and living at home with mum. 4 CyberSec. Works as a p.a. to the boss of a small firm. Super-competent and well turned out but also very much "one of the girls." Accesses the Internet only at the office. 5 Hit 'n' Runner. Can be either be male or female. Successful professional or high-flying marketing exec. Accesses the Internet at work and only for information. Very impatient if she can't find what she wants or if the site is slow to download. 6 InfoJunky. Either male or female. Possibly a middle-rank civil servant or a partner at a small firm of solicitors. Is under the impression that the time he spends online is a big benefit to his job. Given that he gets side-tracked so much, this is very debatable. 7 CyberMum. Married with kids and works in a "caring" profession. Her husband thought it would be a good idea if they got online when he started spending one week in four at company HQ in Holland, so that they could exchange email messages. She would like to be able to shop online - if only she knew how it worked. Netpoll claims to have discovered that most UK home users tend to go in for short Net sessions and, except for new users, do little browsing. Most "have a repertoire of maybe 6 to 12 frequently visited sites." They are attracted by sites that have compelling content and/or functionality and are well promoted and easy to find. Amazon is the model. They are put off by tecnical jargon, obscure icons, pointless graphics and too many navigational choices. © Market Research News 
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