Folie 1

1
Workshop Measures to Increase Trust and
Confidence of Consumers in the Information
Society March 8th 2007, Brussels FINDINGS
FROM THE EMPIRICA / DIW INTERNET CONSUMER SURVEY
2007
2
Contents

• Methodology
• Usage of emerging online and mobile products and
  services
• Improved transparency of quality
• Fairer terms and conditions
• Improved price transparency
• Simpler, inexpensive enforcement
• Proper protection of privacy
• Means to increase trust
• Summary

3

• 1. Methodology

4

• Survey of internet users (18-60)
• Country coverage DE, ES, PL, SE, UK
• N2500, online access panel
• Fieldwork in January 2007
• From case studies to questionnaire
• Issues from case studies
• Structuring of issue domains
• Selection and operationalisation

5

• 2. Usage of emerging online and mobile products
  and services

6
Usage of emerging online and mobile products and
services

• Survey question
• Please indicate whether you have already used and
  paid for the following services / products or
  whether you have never heard of it
• Downloading pay-media such as video clips, MP3
  or music files.
• Downloading pay software for private use.
• A mobile phone service to get information on
  where you are or to find out where your child
  is.
• Playing in an online virtual world.
• Medicines or other products in an online
  pharmacy.

Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
7
Usage by country
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
8
Usage by age groups
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
9
Usage by employment status
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
10

• 3. Improved transparency
• of quality

11
Importance to be able to read / play files
Survey question If you changed your software,
would it be very important, important or
unimportant for you to be able to use or play the
files that you already have?
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
12
Importance of trust marks
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
13

• 4. Fairer terms
• and conditions

14
Having ever read a licence agreement completely

• Survey question
• Have you ever read all of a licence agreement
  from start to finish?

Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
15
Internet consumers understandingof licence
agreements
Survey question Please think of the licence
agreement that you understood best. Do you think
you understood how you are allowed to use the
service or product and what could happen if
something went wrong?
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
16

• 5. Improved
• price transparency

17
Unknown costs as a barrier to using mobile
services
Survey question When you would like to use your
mobile phone for a new service, maybe one with a
special number or WAP address, or just to make a
call to a number you have not used before, do you
ever hold back from using the service or making
the call because you are not sure of the cost?
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
18
Interest in display of simple price information
Survey question When you would like to use your
mobile phone for a new service and would like to
know what it would cost, if your mobile service
provider or other supplier offered to display
simple price information on your mobile phone,
for example to display the price per minute
before the call is put through, would you be very
interested, interested or not interested in such
a display of simple price information?
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
19

• 6. Simpler, inexpensive enforcement

20
Internet consumers level of information of their
legal rights
Survey question Do you feel informed enough
about your legal rights as a consumer when
purchasing online or mobile products or services?
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
21
Actions internet consumers would most likely take
Survey question If you had a problem with a
supplier of online or mobile products or services
perhaps the expensive software you downloaded
stopped working, no-one could fix it, family,
friends or forums, blogs etc. on the internet can
not help and the supplier refused to refund what
you had paid what would you most likely do?
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
22

• 7. Proper protection
• of privacy

23
Trust in doctors to take proper care of personal
medical data
Survey question Do you trust doctors and other
medical personnel to take proper care of your
medical data on their computers?
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
24
Concerns about spying (pay-) software
Survey question Some software, even software
you have to pay for, will automatically send
information about your computer use back to the
supplier. Does this worry you and would you try
to avoid this kind of software?
Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
25

• 8. Means to
• increase trust

26
How trust could be increased

• Survey question
• Would you probably buy much more, a little more
  or no more or any at all of these products and
  services
• if suppliers provided better information about
  the quality and price?
• if consumer organisations provided better
  information?
• if you could easily find out by customer
  reports or ratings on a web- site whether other
  customers were satisfied or not?
• if you knew that an independent organisation
  had checked that the supplier was acting within
  the law with regard to the EULAs?
• if it was easier to get compensation from the
  supplier if a paid for product or service does
  not match up to what was promised?

Percentages of internet users, N2500. Source
Empirica / DIW Internet Consumer Survey, 2007.
27

• 9. Summary

28

• Improved transparency of quality Trust marks
  seem to play an important role to increase trust.
• Fairer terms and conditions Only very few
  consumers understand Licence Agreements.
• Improved price transparency Price information
  important for mobile services.
• Simpler, inexpensive enforcement More than a
  half feels not well informed about legal rights.
• Proper protection of privacy Spyware does worry
  internet consumers.

29
Thank you for your attention!
CONTACT

• empirica
• Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und
  Technologieforschung mbH
• Oxfordstr. 2
• D-53111 Bonn
• Tel. (49) 2 28 - 9 85 30-0
• Fax (49) 2 28 - 9 85 30 -12
• Email ConsTrust at empirica.com
• http//www.empirica.com

DIW Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung
Königin-Luise-Str. 5 D-14195 Berlin Tel. (49)
30 - 89789 - 0 Fax (49) 30 - 89789 -103 Email
khagen_at_diw.de http//www.diw.de