On a 5 point scale with higher numbers indicating greater likelihood of usage, users selected toll-free calls with a rating of 3.648. Secure online communications was just slightly behind with a rating of 3.502. While the overall ranking of methods has not changed since the Fourth Survey a year ago, the difference between the two options has shrunk from 0.400 to only 0.146, indicating that either method would be acceptable to users. This sentiment has decreased slightly over the past year, where in the Fourth Survey the average was 3.56.
Older users are more cautious of Web security than younger users.
For this question, users were asked to rate their preference for dealing with different third parties for the set-up of an account that would complete financial transactions with online vendors for purchases made online. The vendors would handle shipments. Higher numbers indicate a greater preference for a third party. Europeans tend to prefer credit card companies and banks. Major differences across age and gender were not observed.