Fears Hinder Online Shopping

With all their debit and credit cards, why don't consumers use them more for online shopping? Ipso-Reid recently conducted an international survey of consumers in 16 countries regarding their attitudes and practices in using credit or debit cards to shop online. Interviews were conducted with 300 people in each country, except for the U.S., where 1,000 were conducted. Except in China, Poland and Brazil, interviews were conducted by telephone. In those three countries, personal interviews were conducted. Interviewers asked consumers whether security was a major or moderate concern when shopping online.

Interviewers then asked whether they shopped online and if concerns about privacy affected their willingness to shop online. About four-fifths of all adults were on the web, and half of these, or one-fifth of all adults, had purchased a product or service on the Internet. About four in ten consumers said that their concerns about their cyber security have made them less likely to purchase goods and services on the web. For example, 53 percent of French respondents said that said that they were less likely to shop online because of security concerns, and only 10 percent of the respondents shopped online. In contrast, 42 percent of U.S. citizens expressed concern about security, and 38 percent were willing to shop online. Others who used online shopping rather frequently were residents of the United Kingdom and Switzerland, 25 percent; Canada, 24 percent; Netherlands, 23 percent. As noted in an earlier edition of Spotlight, Canadians are much more likely than Americans to do their banking online: (61 percent vs. 21 percent.)