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A volley of statistics came from Nielsen on Friday when the company released data which had been compiled shortly after the new iMacs were introduced in January 2002. Chief among the numbers is that on-line Mac users are probably more educated than on-line PC users. In fact, Nielsen//NetRatings said that 70.2 percent of Mac users on-line have a college or postgraduate degree, compared to 54.2 percent of the overall on-line populace. "This educational level likely correlates with the somewhat higher household income levels reported by on-line Mac users," the report claimed.
The report goes on to say that although only 8.2 percent of Internet surfers are Mac users, most of them have been on-line longer than their PC brethren. Giving specific numbers, Nielsen said that more than half (52.3 percent) of Mac users have been on-line for at least five years, while for PC users the figure is 41.1 percent.
"This population presents a very attractive target for marketers, both on-line and off-line," said TS Kelly, director and principal analyst, NetRatings. "Companies who reach Mac consumers will be able to get their messages across to people who have been on-line longer, are more educated and purchase slightly more than the average Web surfer," he added.
Giving out more insight to the world of the average Mac user, the report said that Apple lovers are 58 percent more likely to build Web pages and are 53 percent more likely to seek out product reviews.
Other interesting facts were that Mac users are less likely to play on-line games and are less likely to read horoscopes. Mac users also tend to be less interested in reading on-line technology news, the report said.
"On the whole, Mac users have a slightly higher likelihood of purchasing on-line than the average on-line consumer," the report said. Mac users' on-line purchases index was particularly high for computer hardware, computer software and music. "Just over a quarter of the on-line population purchased air travel on the Internet in the past six months," the report noted. "For Mac users, that percentage was closer to a third.
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