occupational safety health administration

occupational safety health administration - The Internet has proven to be a valuable channel for shopping among young people all over the world, according to a study by Ipsos-Reid, but when it comes to buying, the young people in America lead the way. The study, "The Face of the Web: Youth," is based on surveys with 10,000 youths between the ages of 12 and 24 in 16 countries. It found that 54 percent of online young people around the world report using the Internet to gather information about products and services, but only 27 percent are currently buying. The young online buyers are led by those in the United States, where 43 percent of young Internet users buy online and Sweden (41 percent). Young Germans (33 percent), Canadians (25 percent) and Britons (22 percent) have also ventured into the online purchasing waters. Young Americans, while they are no longer the majority of the world's online youth population, account for roughly 60 percent of the world's online youth shoppers. The most enthusiastic online browsers are in Brazil (84 percent), Netherlands (64 percent), Sweden (64 percent),

the United States (60 percent), Germany (59 percent) and Canada (57 percent). "Window and comparison shopping is commonplace in the well-developed Internet youth markets in North America and Europe," said Gus Schattenberg, vice president of global research at Ipsos-Reid. "The next step is actually making an online purchase." Despite an intense involvement in other realms of the Internet, the Ipsos-Reid study found Asian youth have not made the move to e-commerce. Not surprisingly, the most popular items that young Internet users buy online are music (19 percent); clothing (16 percent); and books (14 percent), but the survey discovered a wide range of products are purchased online by youths, from travel to toys to flowers. There are clear trends visible along age and gender lines. Video game purchases are generally made by male teens. Females of all ages are more likely to purchase books. Females are also roughly three times more likely to buy clothing online than young men. Sporting goods and computer-related purchases are popular among males.