Industry overview
What is shaping internet services
Broadband providers, platforms and digital businesses depend on adoption, experience and trust. Usage patterns differ widely by city tier, age and language.
- New users are coming online in smaller towns and local languages
- Experience and reliability drive loyalty
- Trust and safety concerns shape usage
Client background
An internet safety organisation, working in Australia & New Zealand. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- An internet safety organisation
- Sector
- Internet services
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Consumer panel, Quantitative research, Content marketing
Client challenge
The organisation wanted to create practical guidance for parents on children’s online safety. Parents received conflicting advice from schools, media and apps, and many felt overwhelmed. Parents felt overwhelmed by advice about apps, screen time and online risks, much of it generic or out of date.
Research objectives
- Answer the core question: what parents worry about online.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of parents.
- Produce results that can be compared across groups and locations.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 6 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 2,000 parents.
- parents2,000
Audiences we typically reach in internet services
Broadband and app usersNew internet usersSmall businesses onlineContent creatorsParents and educators
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Australia & New Zealand. Markets: Australia and New Zealand.
- Australia
- New Zealand
Research methodology
A structured quantitative design, so results could be compared across groups, locations and time.
- 1Brief
- 2Parent survey
- 3Message testing
- 4Insight
We surveyed parents about concerns, current controls and preferred guidance formats, then tested resources. The survey covered parents of children from early primary to late secondary school, with quotas by age group and region, and draft guides were tested with parents for clarity and usefulness. Draft guides were tested with parents for clarity and usefulness before publication.
Consumer panelQuantitative researchContent marketing
Sampling strategy
- parents
- 2,000
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
Data collection
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
Data quality & validation
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
- Comparison of concepts, messages or products against each other
Key findings
- Parents wanted short, age-specific guides.
- Downloads of the new guides were strong, and schools began sharing them with parents at enrolment.
Practical, specific guidance was more useful than general warnings.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: practical, specific guidance was more useful than general warnings.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: parents wanted short, age-specific guides.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The organisation produced guides by age group.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how do users rate their broadband?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.