More Canadians Have Changed Hair Colour (45%) than Hotmail Email Accounts (23%) in the Past 10 Years

Toronto, ON - As the popular internet email service celebrates its 10th anniversary, a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of MSN finds that more Canadians have changed the colour of their hair (45%) than Hotmail email addresses (23%) in the past ten years. Similarly, more Canadian Hotmail users have moved into a new home or apartment (70%), lived in more than one town, city or province (46%), or been in more than one relationship (43%) than changed Hotmail accounts.

Canadians are using their Hotmail accounts for more than just sending emails. In fact, three quarters (76%) of Canadians are creating virtual shoeboxes by archiving important messages, documents and photos. Similarly, Canadians are using Hotmail to send and receive family photos (80%), engagement announcements (12%), and even wedding invitations (10%).

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of MSN from May 1 to May 3, 2007. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1317 adults was interviewed online. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 2.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure that the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data.

More Canadians Have Changed Hair Colour (45%) than Hotmail Account (23%)...

It appears that Canadians are more willing to change most other things about their lives than to change their Hotmail email account. In fact, while almost half of Canadian Hotmail users have changed their hair colour in the past year (45%), less than one quarter (23%) have changed their Hotmail email addresses. This is interesting, considering some of the other findings outlined below:

• The difference between those who have changed hair colour and those who have changed Hotmail addresses is particularly marked among women, where three quarters (72%) of women have reportedly changed their hair colour, and only two in ten (21%) have changed their Hotmail addresses. This represents a 51 point difference.
• The least likely group to change are older Canadians, aged 55 and over, where only 16% of those individuals changed email addresses.
• The age group most likely to have changed their Hotmail address was young adults, aged 18-34; nevertheless, only one third (32%) indicated that they have done so.

Six in Ten (62%) Hotmail Users Plugged In for At Least Five Years...

While three quarters of Canadians (75%) have had an email account for five years or more, six in ten (62%) Hotmail users have had a Hotmail account for a similar duration. Nearly one third (31%) have had a Hotmail account for seven to ten years, which is more or less since the inception of the popular email service. One in ten (8%) users has signed up for a Hotmail account within the past year.

• British Columbians are the Canadians who have been plugged into email for the longest, with 36% of residents claiming to have had an email account for over ten years. This is compared to the national average of 28%, and a rate of 18% in Quebec.
• Young adults, aged 18 to 35, are the most likely of all demographic groupings surveyed to claim that they have a Hotmail account. At 84%, this group is 26 points ahead of middle-aged Canadians (58%), and 41 points ahead of older Canadians, aged 55 and over (43%).
• Residents of Quebec are the most likely of all regions within Canada to have this popular free email account, with nearly seven in ten (67%) claiming to have a Hotmail account.
• Individuals whose families earn less than $30,000 a year in income are one of the most likely demographic groups in Canada to have a Hotmail account, with three quarters (72%) saying that they have an account.
• Three quarters (75%) of British Columbian users have had a Hotmail account for five years or more, compared to just over half (53%) of residents of Atlantic Canada.
• Particularly popular among young adults, nearly three quarters (73%) those aged 18 to 35 say that they have a Hotmail account.

From Family Photos to Wedding Invitations, Canadians Use of Email is Diverse...

Canadians are varied in their uses of email. Emailing has evolved beyond sending letters to friends, family and colleagues. Interestingly, eight in ten Canadian Hotmail users (80%) have either sent or received family photos in an email. Other activities include sending vacation (66%) and pet (52%) photos, party invitations (48%), and even love letters (32%). Canadians are even using email as a means by which to communicate important messages and notices to family and friends. One in ten (12%) Hotmail users have sent engagement announcements over the internet; a similar margin (10%) has even sent wedding invitations over the internet.

Focusing specifically on wedding invitations, Canadians are not unified in their experiences of sending or receiving this piece of information via email. Of particular note is the geographical pattern that has emerged from the results of the survey. As one moves west across Canada, the reported incidence of sending or receiving wedding announcements among Hotmail users goes from 6% in Atlantic Canada to 14% in British Columbia, representing an 8 point difference.

Similarly, one third (33%) of British Columbians have sent or received baby announcements via an email account, whereas only 13% of Atlantic Canadians have done the same, representing a 20 point difference.

British Columbians are also the most likely Canadian Hotmail users to have felt the impact of cupid via email, with 42% saying that they have sent or received a love letter online, compared to the national average (32%).

Canadian Hotmail Users Prefer Email (78%) to Snailmail (28%) when Sending Personal Announcements, Invites and Photos.

When sending personal announcements, invites or photos, a solid majority (72%) of Canadian Hotmail users note that they `prefer email' because `it's easier'. Further, Canadians enjoy the ability to `access these memories on the internet from anywhere in the world, and it doesn't create clutter'. Conversely, nearly three in ten (28%) users agree that it is `bad etiquette' to send these items by email, and that they prefer to send these items by regular mail. Two thirds (63%) of Canadians are using email to stay in touch with family or friends, while two in ten (17%) use email for day-to-day business communications, and one in ten (9%) use email to sign up for contests and subscribing to newsletters.

• Quebecers are the most likely of all regions within Canada to prefer email for sending these items, with eight in ten (81%) agreeing that it is easier.
• Consistent with many of the rest of the findings of this survey, Atlantic Canadians are the most reserved Hotmail users when it comes to sending personal announcements, invites or photos via email, with only six in ten (62%) preferring to send these items by email.
• Residents of British Columbia are most likely to use email to stay in touch with family or friends, with three quarters (74%) claiming to do so. By contrast, only half (50%) of those is Saskatchewan and Manitoba claim to do the same., where over one quarter (27%) use email for day-to-day business communications.

Canadians Share their Views and Preferences...

With so many uses for email, Canadians are varied in their responses regarding their views and preferences. Below are some of the highlights of the survey:

These findings are notable for a number of reasons:

• First, it appears that Canadian Hotmail users do not consider there to be a huge difference between the formality of email versus other modes of communications, with half (49%) of Canadian Hotmail users agreeing that they use email for `formal' means of communications, and half (51%) disagreeing.
• Second, Canadian Hotmail users are continuing to use email for purposes other than just sending email. Canadian Hotmail users are also using their email accounts as a `personal information manager and organizer' (42%), and to `archive important messages, documents, and photos'.
• Third, almost all Canadian Hotmail users (84%) keep one web-based email account to provide consistency throughout job changes, or changes in internet service providers. This finding, along with the fact that only 23% of Canadian Hotmail users have changed Hotmail accounts over the past ten years, suggests that perhaps Canadians are specifically using their Hotmail accounts as a mean by which to maintain a consistent email address as they changes homes, jobs, and internet service providers.

For more Information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
416-324-2900
[email protected] For full tabular results, please visit our website www.ipsos.ca. News Releases are available at: http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/.

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