• by January 2, 2003

U.S. consumers are more trusting when conducting online transactions than they were a year ago, according to the Consumer Internet Barometer, a new quarterly measure of who's doing what on the Internet. Most dramatic is the surge in trust with conducting financial transactions online.

The Consumer Internet Barometer is produced jointly by NFO WorldGroup, Forrester Research and The Conference Board. It tracks consumers' evolving usage, trust and satisfaction with the Internet over time and identifies emerging trends.

Trust levels among Internet users for online transactions have improved from a year ago (fourth quarter 2001). Now, more than 33% express trust that their online financial transactions are safe, up from 27.5% a year ago. Consumers also expressed a greater degree of trust when purchasing products online. One-fourth trust that their personal information will be safe when purchasing products online, up from 21.9% a year ago.

Satisfaction levels for online financial transactions and purchases also improved over the past year.

"Lack of trust has long been a major barrier to engaging in online transactions," says Lynn Franco, Director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board. "Consumers' concern about privacy of their personal information has a significant influence on their willingness to engage in business exchanges online. But this trust barrier is beginning to erode."

Overall Internet usage increased in the fourth quarter. Now, nearly 61% of consumers go online at least once a month. This is up from 58.7% a year ago. The Consumer Internet Barometer also finds the primary reason for using the Internet is personal communication (37.9%), followed by work-related activities (17.8%) and research (17.3%).

* Only 33.6% of U.S. consumers have never been online, down from 34.7%.

* Currently, 37.4% of users go online daily, up from 33.7% a year ago.

* Of those who go online daily, 60.5% have made an online purchase in the last three months, down from 62.3% a year ago.

* Among Internet users over the age of 55, 40.2% of males play games online versus 51.7% of females. This is in sharp contrast to gamers younger than 35, who are predominantly male.