MSN.co.za yesterday released the results of a survey it undertook during July and August in which 61 datapoints were gathered from respondents.
MSN says 16 000 users started to answer the questions and 12 633 completed the entire survey.
"We believe this means it represents the South African Internet user as a whole," says MSN marketing specialist Joanne Scholtz.
The survey was incentive-driven, with a new Volkswagen Beetle as prize and was conducted only on Microsoft properties. MSN claims it has 420 000 unique users a month on the South African portal, and the respondents represents 0.63% of the estimated two million total Internet users in the country.
Relative advertising
The survey, conducted by WinWin Technologies, found that 36% of respondents have made an online purchase, and 60% said they occasionally see advertising relative to them on the Web.
That is exactly the kind of statistics MSN was hoping for.
"As a media owner, we want to try and allay the concerns and reticence of some companies that Internet advertising is not viable," says MSN director Mike Cathie.
MSN says the percentage of online shoppers is particularly high when compared to 27% in the US and 10% globally.
The survey found the average respondent to be in the 18 to 35 year age bracket, earning R10 000 per month or more and with a disposable income as high as R5 000. Some 56% were male, 44% female and most had post-matric qualifications.
"We found that men do a lot more searching and that women do a lot more e-mail sending, which is probably not that much of a surprise when you think about it," says Cathie, commenting on online habits.
Cybersex
Free Stater`s were found to be the most likely to engage in cybersex although one in ten respondents felt such activities were grounds for divorce and a third are married. Some 18% of respondents said they have had an online relationship.
Some 53% were found to use the Internet more than once per day, with a further 25% saying they used it daily. E-mail and searching for information were neck-in-neck as the most popular applications.
Favourite search items were identified - in order of preference - as sex, business, chat and help.
MSN says the survey is considered a huge success, as the initial target was 4 000 respondents. Robert Dennison, chief operating officer of WinWin which administered the survey, says the UK portal is planning a similar survey and that interest has been expressed by the US, Brazil and North East Asia.
"Typically Web sites the world over do not know their audience as well as they should," he says. "This survey has been spectacularly received by the MSN network."
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