A survey of people using News Digital Media websites has found they spend almost double the amount of time online each week compared to the national average.
Respondents to the survey carried out by Research Now shows they spent 28 hours online each week, double the national average of 14 hours reported earlier this year.
Of the 13,000 people questioned, emailing was the function most used online, but banking, pre-purchase research and keeping up with the latest news and weather were regarded as important functions of the internet.
Over 87% said they researched products online before buying with 79% purchasing products through the net.
The survey also fond that 98% of respondents used the internet more than once a day on average using it 4.6 times a day during the week. On weekends, 94% went online doing so 3.4 times a day. 81% said they access the internet at home during the week, with that figure rising to 90% on weekends.
Less than half, 42%, said the internet was not essential to organising their social lives, but 74% said they valued it to help them keep in touch. 97% use it for email, 50% for social networking sites and 49% use instant messaging.
Richard Freudenstein, chief executive officer at News Digital Media, said: “Our audience spends twice as long online as the average Australian - and they spend more time engaged with the internet than with any other medium.
“By looking at their behaviour online and understanding more about their backgrounds, we have been able to identify our audience as a significant group of motivated consumers.”
The News Digital Media Insight Report will be produced every quarter.
