Taiwan's Females Lead Males in Mobile Online Connection and Shopping
2014/12/29 | By Ken LiuTaiwan's female smartphone users outnumber male counterparts both in mobile online connection and online shopping, according to a survey released by Taiwan's National Development Council (NDC).
In July and August 2014, the NDC polled 13,000 people aged above 12 on the island on online usage.
The survey shows 92.5% of female respondents have connected to the Internet by phone, outnumbering male users (90.6%) the first time, with 65.9% of female respondents having shopped online, 10 percentage points higher than their male counterparts. On average, Taiwan's female smartphone users make 11 online purchases yearly, according to the survey.
But male users still led females in Internet usage: 80.1% vs. 76.0% in terms of overall online connection, according to the survey.
Female smartphone users made up 67.1% in the 2014 survey, up from 51.4% in 2013, while male users increased to 65.3% from 54.6%.
Males preferred to surf the Internet on desktop computers whereas 86% of female respondents used smartphones, with 78.1% of female respondents preferring desktop computers to other means.
Some 65.9% of female respondents shopped online, compared with 55.7% of male respondents. Female consumers made 11 online purchases yearly, compared with male respondents' nine purchases, according to the survey.
However, males spent NT$16,698 (US$538.64) on online shopping per-capita yearly on average, compared with the median NT$12,990 (US$419.03) by female consumers.
More males than females commented on political issues online: 25.6% vs. 21.3%, the survey shows.
Some 25.0% of female respondents showed Internet-induced anxiety, compared with males' 22.3%.
2014 Survey of Gender-based Internet Usage, Connection, Shopping, Device Ownership in Taiwan
|
| Male
| Female
|
| Internet usage
| 80.1%
| 76.0%
|
| Mobile online connection
| 90.6%
| 92.5%
|
| Online shopping
| 55.7%
| 65.9%
|
| Online shopping spending
| NT$16,698
| NT$12,990
|
| Smartphone ownership
| 65.3%
| 67.1%
|
| Tablet PC ownership
| 35.7%
| 30.8%
|