Compiled by Vicky Nolan
Looks Like Labels Don't Help
Dueling research studies disagree on how well labels slow down problem gambling, reported the Las Vegas Sun. A study by the University of Memphis suggests that warning labels have some value. "Brief messages result in a knowledge gain and an understanding of what they're doing (when they gamble)," said James Whelan, a University of Memphis psychology professor. "At least at first impact, people become educated."
Another study by Harvard University examined whether posting a lottery's true odds of winning on each ticket would deter play. Minnesota and Arizona printed the odds on their state lottery tickets, and their sales were compared to that of Wisconsin and New Mexico, which did not print the odds. (The states were considered to be similar enough for an effective comparison.)
"It looks like the warning label didn't have any effect on sales," said economist Richard McGowan, who conducted the Harvard study. Similar results have been seen from labels on alcohol and cigarettes, he added. The studies were presented during the recent 11th International Conference on Gambling &
Risk-Taking sponsored by the University of Nevada, Reno.
Online Users Around the World
NUA Internet Survey has released its most recent "educated guess" of how many users are online in the world as of March 2000:
World Total: 304.36 million
Africa: 2.58 million
Asia/Pacific: 68.9 million
Europe: 83.35 million
Middle East: 1.90 million
Canada & USA: 136.86 million
South America: 10.74 million
And you always wondered whether you counted!
Make It Simple, Stupid!
E-commerce sites need to make their sites quicker and easier to use so customers will finish transactions, according to a report by Creative Good, resulting in an extra $20 billion in revenues during 2000. Plus, visitor to buyer conversion rates could also be raised from today's average of 1.8
percent to 2.5 percent. The report criticizes these sites for having poor page layout, site search facilities, and unwieldy checkout process.
www.creativegood.com
Canadians Doubt Online Commerce
Canadian retailers are reluctant to establish an online presence fearing that e-commerce is still unproven. A study from Boston Consulting Group determined that high initial costs and the potential cannibalization of their existing offline customer base have hindered these companies trek online. Additionally, Canada's relatively small population makes it hard to achieve economies of scale.
"Canadians are primed and ready to purchase from Canadian sites, but with our supply-side deficit, they often end up purchasing from foreign sites, where the experience ends up being frustrating, costly and inconvenient," explained BCG's research director James Vogtle.
www.bcg.com
Australia Sees Digital Divide
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reports a digital divide exists in the Land Down Under, where older people, women, the unemployed and those in low-income groups are less likely to access the Web. This divide persists even though Internet access has grown, more than 6 million Australians accessed the Web last year.
According to the ABS, 3.5 million households - nearly half of all households in the nation - have PCs. Twenty-eight percent had Internet access in February 2000. These figures show a dramatic increase over the previous February -- 300,000 more homes now have PCs and while 600,000 more residents access the Web.
www.abs.gov.au
Latin America Prepared for IT Skill Shortage
Although IT experts are scarce, most Latin American companies are unconcerned about recruiting help, IDC reported. Hardest hit will be small companies, but these companies seem to be the least concerned.
IDC predicts that the supply of skilled IT staff could easily outstrip demand as e-commerce grows, following the experiences of more developed areas like North America, Western Europe and Australia.
The report said, "The bottom line: A significant shortage in IT labor can adversely impact an organization's technology adoption and therefore make it noncompetitive in an increasingly global and more efficient and information-driven economy."
www.idc.com