The Belgians and football was a match made in heaven this past summer. But what about the Belgians and the internet? A recent market survey by DNS Belgium shows that the Belgians see the internet as an essential part of their daily life and a source of entertainment. At the same time, we are becoming increasingly more careful when we surf.
Women are increasingly online
The survey which DNS Belgium commissioned Insites Consulting to conduct among residents of Belgium aged between 16 and 70 shows that we see the internet primarily as a source of freedom. By comparison with our previous market survey, Belgians are now more concerned about security on the internet and are more careful when they surf than previously.
One striking outcome of our survey is that women too like to be constantly online in order to stay up to date. They are thus significantly more often on the internet than men at home for entertainment purposes. Fortunately, they are also more careful than men and take greater care with security on the internet. 72% of the women questioned said that they are attentive to how reliable the websites they visit look.
People over 45 are the most careful
Men are clearly somewhat more nonchalant when it comes to security on the internet: 54% are attentive as to which websites they visit and ignore websites that they do not trust. Caution increases with age. Those over 45 are far more careful online than their younger counterparts. As many as 67% of those aged over 55 say that they are very careful when they use the internet.
Our study also shows that people who already have a domain name are online more frequently than people who do not have a domain name. They are also more concerned about security on the internet and identify themselves more often as experts. It makes some sense, of course, that whoever has a domain name is bound to be online more frequently and more concerned about security on the internet.
That is why they prefer to choose known and reliable extensions (.be and .com) to register their domain name.
Key figures
- 5% of the Belgian population have already registered one or more domain names.
- 54% of the Belgians interviewed are familiar with the concept of ‘domain name.’
- 61% of the Belgians interviewed are very careful about the websites they visit and never surf to websites that seem dubious.
- 57% of the respondents consider the internet as an essential part of their daily life.
- The same percentage are often online at home for entertainment purposes.
- Only 17% try to avoid the internet and try to be as little online as possible outside work.
