French the Most Romantic and Talkative Nation on the Internet, Study finds

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Jun 13, 2012, 10:01 ET

MELBOURNE, Australia, June 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In the world's largest international study of online consumer behaviour involving over 36,000 users, remarkable differences between the cultures were found, including the secret to success which appears to be simplicity.

The Webreep online consumer survey analyzed consumer behavior on the internet between May 2011 and May 2012. Participants were distributed across 7 regions, including France, Germany, Spain, Australia, China, and Russia.

The study found the French are 36% more talkative online than the Germans, and 32% more than the Spanish.

Dr. Brent Coker, an online consumer psychologist who co-authored the report says that the French are much more willing to communicate with others online than any other country.

"There is a stereotypical assumption by some that the French are very reserved in their willingness to communicate with others. But this data suggests that the French are actually very communicative," said Dr. Coker.

The survey also found the French have an unusually high correlation between website attractiveness and satisfaction.

"Satisfaction from attractiveness is very similar to romanticism. When we derive satisfaction from beauty, it makes us sentimental and evokes similar thought patterns as Love. The data suggests this is how the French respond to beautiful websites. The French are very romantic online," said Dr. Coker.

Across all the countries included in the analysis, the study found that those websites that had the greatest loyalty and the greatest word-of-mouth were those that were the most simple to use.

"This finding is interesting for us, and could explain why phenomenally successful websites like Pinterest and Instagram have taken center stage. The Americans seem to have the edge when it comes to producing simple websites that perform complex functions. Old school social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn should probably focus on ease-of-use if they want to survive in the future," said Dr. Coker.

Also in the report: The Spanish have the greatest sense of style on the internet. The Germans have lowest tolerance for poor information quality and slow downloading websites. The Americans are the most trusting, but have the easiest to use websites. The Australians and Russian are the least satisfied with the internet.

The report can be downloaded at http://www.webreep.com/en-US/Home/WebreepReports. Webreep is the world's leading customer feedback tool.