Women reluctant to use net for business, says study

Women are more reluctant to use the internet when it comes to booking holidays, banking and purchasing retail goods, a European survey has revealed.

The survey commissioned by Esat BT parent company BT, shows that the gender gap in customer service preferences remains wide.

The survey which included participants from Ireland, showed that on average, almost a quarter of men (23%) prefer to communicate online, as opposed to just 14% of women.

The research was undertaken to show how consumers across Europe interact with retailers, travel agents, utilities and banks, examining attitudes towards both old and new customer service communications channels.

The gender gap is particularly evident in the finance sector, where more than a third of men prefer to bank online, as opposed to just one fifth of women. Almost 405 more women than men prefer banking in person.

The research was carried out by Coleman Parkes on behalf of BT and covered several western European countries (1,261 interviews across Ireland, the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands) and three key countries in the Asia-Pacific region (607 interviews across Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore).

“There is a marked disparity between men’s and women’s communication preferences across Europe," said Ian Seedhouse, head of CRM marketing, BT Global Services.

“Although male consumers are leading the way when it comes to online communications, women need to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital networked economy and embrace the internet and the many benefits it brings.”