Cheers, CC :)
Posted on 07/13/2002 8:16:19 AM PDT by Dallas
Those who surf the Web using a Mac tend to be better educated and make more money than their PC-using counterparts, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings.
The study also said Mac users tend to be more Web savvy, with more than half having been online for at least five years. And the Mac faithful are 58 percent more likely than the overall online population to build their own Web page and also slightly more likely to buy goods online, according to the report.
"With above-average household income and education levels, the Mac population presents a very attractive target for marketers, both online and offline," the research group said.
TS Kelly, director and principal analyst at NetRatings, said that his company decided to publish the study after noticing the differences between the demographics of Mac owners compared with overall PC owners. Kelly said Apple Computer is a client, but he said Apple did not commission the study nor was it made aware of the results prior to the report's publication.
Kelly said the greater affluence and education level of those who surf using a Mac is attributable in part to the company's comparatively pricier machines, as well as to their perception as a status symbol and their greater market share among those in the publishing and design industries.
"Any time you lower a price point you always see a broadening of the audience that is probable to buy it," Kelly said.
"Apple customers may be educated, but our customers are smart enough to have chosen Gateway, which offers the best value," said Brad Williams, a spokesman for the PC maker.
Apple has been aggressively targeting PC owners in its latest ad campaign.
Although Apple sales typically represent less than 5 percent of the overall U.S. personal computer market, 8.2 percent of Americans who surf the Web at home do so using a Mac, according to the study. Nearly all the rest of those who go online--89.4 percent--do so using a Windows-based PC.
Nielsen/NetRatings said that 70.2 percent of Mac users online have a college degree, compared with 54.2 percent of all Web surfers. That, combined with their longer surfing histories and their greater willingness to buy products via the Web, makes Mac consumers a prime catch for marketers, Kelly said.
"In many cases that is a market advertisers are looking at when they are promoting new products or upscale products," Kelly said.
A representative for PC maker Dell noted that it doesn't seem to be lacking for customers and that half of those customers buy their PCs over the Web--a sign that Windows users are also adept online.
The study notes that although there are clear benefits to marketing to Mac owners, it can be tough to target them specifically.
Once upon a time, marketers could target personal computer users as a whole to reach a more-educated, higher-income base, however the demographics of those with a personal computer have become more similar to the demographics of the overall population as personal computer penetration has grown. Kelly said advertisers can still reach upscale crowds in other ways, such as targeting those who have a broadband connection.
Cheers, CC :)
I guess you didn't read the whole article:
" Kelly said Apple Computer is a client, but he said Apple did not commission the study nor was it made aware of the results prior to the report's publication."
Cheers, CC :)
And a dog show judge that raises poodles will pick a poodle.
poodle? poodle.....just doesn't look right.
I use both at work, only because my boss got a deal on the Apple, and won't even try to use a PC.
Since Macs make up, what, about 10% of the market, if that, you have to ask why.
Could the the high numbers of PC users be because the PCs are easy to use, cheaper, and have more available software and accessories? If we accept that 90% of the computing world is PC based, then you have to accept that there are people from a wider range of IQs successfully using them. I don't see people buying PCs because there were no Macs to buy.
Why are you "smarter" if you cannot operate a mouse with more than one button, or even comprehend why one would be useful?
Why are you "smarter" if you pay an extra premium for the same piece of equipment or software that you can get for a PC and a lower price (go ahead, look in a computer catalog and compare)?
Why are you "smarter" if you buy a laptop that looks like a toilet seat, or a computer that looks like a pastry with a flyswatter stuck in it?
Why are you "smarter" if you use an operating system that is just now barely competent at preemptive multitasking?
The list goes on and on.
Bottom line: most Mac users do so because they are remnants of a day when Apple flooded the education market with IIe and Macintosh computers. Few of the current users are willing to make the trivial leap to a PC based system. This is hardly an argument for being "smarter."
By the way, our Mac G3 and G4s lock up frequently, even more than the Windows machines, have no easy or effective way of killing processes. Translucent, clear, or fruit colored parts are no indicators of intelligence.
The final point: OS X is a Unix clone. Stick with Linux, as the Linux community will quickly surpass the Mac community, if they haven't already. All Mac users can look forward to is less and less software, and the inevitable migration of these "smarter" Mac users to the PC world prior to the Mac's final gasps in the market.
The correct spelling is "piddle".
This has been my experience too. The article says that Mac users are more "web savy" because they have been on the 'net longer. I have also found that to be true, but most don't really understand what they are doing.
They must sell Macs at Toys-R-Us. That's the only explanation for those popsicle colors.
My first computer was a Mac. The reason? I was 14 and didn't have to pay for it;-) Since then I've bought 5 PC's including my laptop.
The way I see it Mac owners are excellent marketing targets because they have more money then time. Since I learned how to use a PC back when I had more time then money, I see no reason to switch back to Macs now.
Chevy! Ford!
CHEVY! FORD!
sigh. . .
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Cheers, CC :)
P.S. As proof, take a look at this thread.
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