Group 1 Markets: Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States
Group 1 markets have a number of common characteristics that extend beyond high Internet usage and fixed broadband service subscribership. These markets are among the wealthier and more developed economies in the world, and the majority of these markets’ citizens benefit from access to competitive labor markets and employment circumstances that afford people the time and tools necessary to engage in a variety of discretionary activities, including purchase of non-essential goods and engagement in non-essential activities. Online samples collected within these markets are generally indicative of the attitudes, behaviors and opinions of a comfortable and established middle class, including lower-middle class and upper-middle class consumers.
The segments of the population more likely to be under-represented in online samples include the elderly, highly affluent, and lowest decile of of the socio-economic spectrum, as the lack of universal Internet usage in these markets, combined with the fact that participation in online surveys is not a high-value use of one’s time, are more likely to cause these segments of the population to lack the time or tools needed to participate in online surveys, or to lack the proclivity to take the time to participate.