People Want an On-Demand Offering

The consumer society in which we live brings the demands of instant gratification and this is reflected in the fact that people see the key benefit of downloading from the internet as being that it delivers a true on-demand offering. The people with internet access who download / would download were asked to rank in terms of importance the following benefits of downloading music, movies and other items off the internet: delivers a true on-demand offering - what I want when I want it; cuts out the middle man, making items cheaper; removes unnecessary packaging, making it more environmentally friendly; makes more content available than presently available from the high street and online retailers and traditional media sources.

34% of people saw the fact that the internet delivers an on-demand offering as most important, whilst another 22% of people saw this as second most important. The second most popular benefit that people saw from the internet was that it cuts out the middle man, thus making items cheaper.

The difference between the demands of men and women is highlighted strongly in this question. 34% of women thought that cutting out the middle man, thus making items cheaper, was the most important factor, thus making it the most popular benefit of downloading music and movies for women. Men were more keen on the fact that downloading offers a true on-demand offering (39% seeing this as the most important benefit). Only 27% of men saw cutting out the middle man as the most important benefit of downloading.

People were least interested in the environmental issue, with 56% of people ranking it least important or 2nd least important. Only the older generation felt that environmental concerns were important, with 53% of those between 55 and 64 ranking it either most important or second most important, as opposed to 38% of 18-24 year olds.