Married HK Women Prefer TV Internet Access

Survey shows most married women in Hong Kong who do not have any Internet experience prefer using their television to access the Internet.

by Jacky Wong
for asia.internet.com
[August 21, 2000]

iCare.com released results of a survey Monday showing that most married women in Hong Kong who do not have any Internet experience prefer using their television to access the Internet.

Conducted by AC Nielsen, the survey, "Attitude of Non-Internet Females in Hong Kong" polled 400 married women aged between 25 to 50 with little or no experience of using the Internet.

The survey found that 70 percent of respondents, especially those aged 40 who have children, agreed the Internet is an important part of daily life, and said they use the Internet to obtain information on health and fitness, parenting and education, current news, and cooking.

More than half of the respondents (59 percent) have computers at home, but very few knew how to obtain Internet access through their computers because of problems such as lack of computer knowledge, lack of English ability, and lack of time.

Many respondents said television is preferable for Internet access because television provides a large screen.

The high penetration of television sets also made it popular among respondents. Half of those interviewed have two or more TV sets at home and spend, on average, three hours per day watching TV.

"In a bid to expand Internet use and boost the number of female Internet users, more user-friendly and convenient modes of access should be provided. As such, television is a good choice for women who have no Internet experience but have interest in surfing the Internet," Wendy Chu, chief marketing officer of iCare said.

iCare is working on Internet-on-TV. It offers a family-oriented portal featuring a range of household infotainment along with access to daily necessities and goods. Its set-top box technology, the iCare Box, is powered by Microsoft.

Set-top boxes are touted as possible bearers of the Internet revolution to countries and territories in Asia where television and cable penetration exceed the use of personal computers. However, one such company, MyWeb, has sold only 10,000 to 15,000 devices in China in more than two years of operation.

iCare.com Limited is wholly owned by Henderson Cyberstore Limited, which in turn counts the Hong Kong and China Gas Company (Towngas) and Henderson Investment Limited as major shareholders.

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