Approximately one in three Greeks declares that they have never used a computer (34.4%) or the Internet (36.3%), while more women (40.8%) than men (35.9%) have never used the Internet.
On the other hand, the percentage of citizens in the country who regularly use the Internet has been increasing continuously in recent years and at an accelerating rate, with the result that 81% of users use it almost daily. The personal computer remains the most popular device for accessing the Internet (91.5% of users), while thanks to 3G technology and “smart phones”, access via mobile devices is now also increasing significantly (18.7%).
This, among other things, is revealed by a survey conducted in 2013 by the Observatory for the Administrative Reform of the Information Society S.A., regarding the use of new technologies by citizens.
The survey found that the percentage of people in Greece who purchase goods or services for private use via the internet is constantly increasing, with the most popular product categories being clothing and footwear and electronic devices. Greeks, following the trend in other European countries, prefer online shopping from domestic sellers and are motivated mainly by the potentially lower prices. They make one to five online purchases per quarter and spend up to 500 euros in total on e-commerce.
61.5% say they have access to the internet from home and 37.5% do not. In terms of age groups, about three in four people aged 66 to 74 (73.4%) say they do not have home access to the internet, as do 57.3% of people aged 55-65, while the lowest rate of non-access concerns young people aged 16-25 (18.4%). Among Internet users, 81% use it every day or almost every day and 14% use it several times a week.
Obtaining information about products and services (76.7%), email (74.6%), reading online magazines and newspapers (70.5%), entertainment (games-photos-music-films – 63.9%) and engaging with social networks such as Facebook (51.4%) are the five main online activities of users.
Regarding online shopping, the main motivation (76%) is stated to be finding lower prices than in physical stores. Almost half of consumers (45%) pay for their orders via cash on delivery, 29% via credit card and 25% via prepaid card. 27.5% of online purchases are made from domestic online stores.
The vast majority of citizens believe that thanks to online access, their transactions with the State improve (90%) and they gain greater participation in civic life (88%). Regarding internet security, 60% state that they have faced such problems, while 40% have not.
In the field of education, more than half of Greek schools (54%) now have their own website, while 30% of students now use a “smart” mobile phone at their school.
The research also focuses on specific population groups, the elderly, people with disabilities, immigrants, people with low educational levels and the unemployed, with the aim of highlighting the way they utilize the internet and their particular digital needs.
Source: zougla.gr
