Daily Research News Online no. 3666 - Travel and Health are Year's Biggest Gainers Online

Travel and Health are Year's Biggest Gainers Online

December 21 2004

Travel planning / booking, and finding information about health are the two major growth areas in Internet use identified in the latest Harris Poll. The former is a frequent online activity for 26% of US adults, up from 15% last year, while the latter is up 6% to 21%.

Email (66%), research for work or school (46%), checking news and weather (43%), and getting information about hobbies or special interests (40%) continue to top the list of online activities in which respondents engage 'very often' or 'often'.

Other key activities are shown in the table below.

The biggest changes since 2000 are as follows:

Making travel plans or reservations, up 15 points
Getting information about products and services, up 13 points
Seeking information about local amusements and activities, up 11 points
Doing research for work or school, up nine points to 46%
Obtaining information about health or disease, up eight points.

It should of course be remembered that the total online population now is substantially higher than it was in 2000 (73% of all adults now vs. 49% of all adults in 2000).

'Thinking about what you do online, how often do you use the Internet, the World Wide Web or an online service - very often, often, sometimes, rarely, or never?'
Base: Adult Online Users

	Very Often	Often	Sometimes	Rarely	Never
To send or receive email (%)	30	36	14	11	9
To do research for work or school (%)	18	28	19	10	24
To check on news updates, weather, etc. (%)	16	27	26	18	14
To get information about a hobby or special interest (%)	15	25	38	15	8
To gather information about products and services (%)	14	24	38	10	15
To surf to explore new and different sites (%)	10	24	34	22	10
To make travel plans and reservations (%)	8	18	25	18	31
To obtain information on local amusements and activities (%)	6	17	36	21	20
To obtain information about health or diseases (%)	8	13	38	26	16
To pay bills (%)	7	9	15	9	60
To shop online (%)	5	11	31	18	35
To download or play games (%)	6	8	14	18	54
For financial management and investing (%)	5	7	14	24	50
To find and download software (%)	5	5	18	26	46
To search for a job (%)	4	5	17	17	56
To participate in chat groups (%)	3	4	3	9	81
To make phone calls (%)	2	3	1	9	85
To take courses (%)	2	3	9	12	74
To download music (%)	1	8	10	16	65
* = Less than 0.5%. (c) 2004, Harris Interactive Inc.

'Thinking about what you do online, how often do you use the Internet, the World Wide Web or an online service - very often, often, sometimes, rarely, or never?'
Percentage of those saying 'very often' or 'often'
Base: Adult Online Users

	Dec.2000	Dec. 2003	Nov. 2004	Percentage Point Increase / Decrease 2000 - 2004
To send or receive email	74	67	66	-8
To do research for work or school	37	45	46	+9
To check on news updates, weather, etc.	38	40	43	+5
To get information about a hobby or special interest	34	36	40	+6
To gather information about products and services	25	41	38	+13
To surf to explore new and different sites	24	32	34	+10
To make travel plans and reservations	11	15	26	+15
To obtain information on local amusements and activities	11	19	22	+11
To obtain information about health or diseases	13	15	21	+8
To shop online	N/A	22	16	N/A
To pay bills	N/A	18	16	N/A
To download or play games	13	18	14	+1
For financial management and investing	14	15	12	-2
To find and download software	N/A	10	10	N/A
To search for a job	N/A	10	10	N/A
To download music	N/A	N/A	9	N/A
To participate in chat groups	6	5	7	+1
To make phone calls	N/A	3	5	N/A
To take courses	3	6	5	+2
N/A = Not Applicable. (c)2004, Harris Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.

Harris Interactive spoke to 819 US citizens aged 18+ between November 9 and 14, 2004. Respondents are those who say they use the Internet at home, work, school, library or some other location. The company's home page is at www.harrisinteractive.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.