WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Sept. 11, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Today CyberTarget released results of a survey it recently conducted focused on public sentiment regarding the Federal Tax Refund passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush. CyberTarget, a division of NetZero, Inc. (Nasdaq:NZRO), a leading provider of Internet access services, focuses on conducting online market research by utilizing proven techniques such as real-time surveys in the Internet environment.
Key results of the survey included:
-- 49.6% plan to spend the refund on themselves, with their children
coming in second at 25.6%.
-- 35.6% of the people who had received their check plan to spend or
have spent the money paying bills with 24% putting the money into
savings.
-- 66.7% did not feel that the refund amount was enough to jump-start
the economy.
-- 65.9% plan to spend or have spent the money offline rather than
online, with 27% spending the money offline AND online.
-- 77.8% felt they spent the money in a well thought out, planned
manner.
-- 72.4% did not feel that the refund changed the way they feel about
the current U.S. President either positively or negatively.
-- 64.3% felt that the refund insignificantly impacted their
financial situation.
These statistics are the results of a CyberTarget survey based on a nationwide online sample of 1,012 NetZero users surveyed on August 28, 2001.
Table 1
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"Are you eligible to receive a Federal Tax Refund Check?"
Total%
Yes 80.7
No 13
Unsure 6.2
Table 2
---------------
"Have you received your Federal Tax Refund?"
Total%
Yes 47.1
No 52.9
Table 3
---------------
"When you do receive your check, what do you plan
to do with the refund?"
Total%
Pay my bills 29.9
Put it in savings 15.5
Undecided 15.3
Other 14.6
Spend it 13.1
Save some and spend some 11.6
Table 4
---------------
"Since receiving the check, what have you done with the refund?"
Total%
Paid bills 35.6
Put it into savings 24.7
Saved some and spent some 14
Spent it 13.8
Other 6.7
Undecided 5
Table 5
---------------
"What did you (or what do you plan to) spend the money
you received from your tax refund on?"
Total%
Other 28.3
None of the above 19.2
Electronics 16.5
Clothing/Shoes 14.9
Vacation 14.4
Re-modeling 11.5
Back to school supplies 8.3
Appliances 3.5
Table 6
---------------
"Did you (or do you plan to) spend the refund check
by shopping online or offline?"
Total%
Offline 65.9
Online 6.7
Both 27.5
Table 7
---------------
"Who did you (or do you plan to) spend the refund check on?"
Total%
Yourself 49.6
Your children 25.6
Spouse 17.9
Relative 3.7
Friend 3.2
Table 8
---------------
"Which of the following do you feel is the way you
spent (or plan to spend) your money?"
Total%
Well thought out/planned 77.8
Frivolous/spur of moment 5.6
Unsure 16.6
Table 9
---------------
"Do you believe that the refund amount you received
is really enough to jump-start the economy, as some experts expect?"
Total%
No 66.7
Yes 14.5
Unsure 18.8
Table 10
---------------
"Did this refund change the way you feel about the current
U.S. President (whether positive or negative)?
Total%
No 72.4
Yes 18.6
Unsure 9
Table 11
---------------
"How did this refund impact your personal financial situation?"
Total%
Insignificantly 64.3
Moderately 23.5
Unsure 8.2
Greatly 4
Methodology
The statistics are the results of a CyberTarget survey based on a nationwide online sample of 1,012 NetZero users surveyed on August 28. The sample represents a cross section of NetZero users.
About CyberTarget
CyberTarget is a division formed by NetZero to utilize its Internet targeting capabilities to improve online market research. CyberTarget gives the industry a much deeper understanding of how people are using the Internet than is currently available through traditional research companies. The goal of CyberTarget is to provide advertisers and marketers an opportunity to talk to their customers and their competitor's customers using accepted online research techniques, while giving NetZero users the opportunity to voice their opinions regarding products and services that are relevant to them.
About NetZero
NetZero, Inc. is a leading provider of Internet access services, offering a broad range of interactive marketing, research and measurement solutions. NetZero offers consumers high-quality Internet access, a choice of popular e-mail programs and convenient navigation tools that provide "speed dial" to key sites on the Internet. Through proprietary technologies, NetZero offers advertisers unique targeting capabilities through numerous online advertising and sponsorship channels. The company's CyberTarget division offers marketers and advertisers mass-scale, online market research and measurement services. NetZero offers its access services to approximately 8.8 million registered users in more than 4,500 cities across the United States and in Canada. For more information, please visit www.netzero.net. To obtain a CD, please call 1-800-DEFENDER.