Though connection to the Internet is no longer limited to a privileged few, consumers who use the Internet still tend to be more cutting-edge than their offline counterparts, according to a study by Roper Starch Worldwide and Yahoo Internet Life magazine. Women who use the Internet typically own a broader range of apparel than the average consumer and tend to wear those items regularly. A full 91 percent own jeans, compared to 75 percent. Web-connected women also have a wider range of shopping habits, with 50 percent having visited an apparel store within the past month, versus 37 percent of offline women, and 36 percent shopping at a bookstore, compared to just 16 percent.
Internet users are more affluent and educated than non-Internet users.
They're more likely to say they feel stressed. They even change jobs more often. Even the generation gap is less pronounced on the web. Older Internet users tend to hold more attitudes in common with younger web users than with people their age who don't go online. The research shows that Internet shoppers are likely to look for something new and different, said the study s authors, as reported in Women's Wear Daily .