Online demographics are population characteristics of Internet users. They are particularly important to people who do business on the Internet, especially those who are in charge of marketing a company's products and services. This type of information is useful to researchers as well. Online demographic data provides insight into the age, gender, education, and income of a population of Internet users. It can even provide valuable information about the career, marital status, political orientation, frequency of use, and race of an Internet user.
Internet users are a wide and varied bunch of people. They can, however, be grouped by characteristics such as age, gender, occupation, and a range of other types of data. When Internet user characteristics are compiled and analyzed, the data obtained is referred to as online demographics. Often, online demographics are important in research as well as in conducting business. This is due to the fact that the effective marketing of products and services requires businesspeople to first understand to whom they are marketing.
Online demographics data provides a wide range of information. In addition to age, gender, and occupation, this data can include information about the marital statuses and family sizes of Internet users as well as their races, nationalities, and even their income levels. Internet demographic information may also provide insight into the highest education level achieved by an Internet user. For example, such data may reveal that most users have completed at least some college. Online demographics can even reveal the types of communities in which users live.
People can also learn about user locations, politics, purposes, access, and frequency of use via online demographics. For example, demographic data can reveal the countries and regions in which users are located as well as their political orientations. A person can use such demographic information to learn why most users access the Internet, how often they use the Internet, and whether they are using it at home, work, or school. Demographic information is even available for the type of Internet connection users have and the concerns they have regarding privacy.
It is important to note that demographic information is provided in terms of averages and percentages. For example, online demographic information may reveal the average age of Internet users or separate users into percent-of-use categories that are based on age. Additionally, demographic information is available based on usage of particular websites and platforms rather than the Internet in general.
