3. The Digital Milieus of Decision-Makers

As we strive to understand decision-makers with respect to their attitude profiles and approaches to the Internet, we discover that socio-demographic characteristics are inadequate as an explanation. We will not succeed in gaining comprehensive understanding of complex attitudes and behavioural patterns unless we also look at the milieus in which decision-makers operate.

A model illustrating digital milieus in society was created within the framework of the „DIVSI Milieu Study on Trust and Security on the Internet“, an examination representative of the general population published at the beginning of 2012. It was based on the milieu model1 of the SINUS-Institut. The chart below illustrates the seven Internet milieus of the general population.

Internet milieus in terms of trust and security on the Net differ from one another depending on social class and fundamental socio-cultural values

Analogous to the SINUS milieu model, the Internet milieus can also be presented in a two-dimensional matrix which depicts the positioning of the various groups within the social structure of society. The social situation (Lower class/Lower middle class – Mid-level middle class – Upper middle class/Upper class) is plotted along the vertical axis. The higher a group is positioned in the chart, the higher the levels of education, income and professional prestige. The fundamental values in a socio- cultural sense are shown along the horizontal dimension and become more modern as the position moves farther to the right. In reality, digital milieus cannot be precisely differentiated from one another. This is also represented in the model by the overlapping of the milieus.

The seven Internet milieus can be grouped into three segments:

  • Digital Outsiders (39 per cent): They are either offline or are insecure when using the Internet. Assuming a population of 70 million people of the age 14 or older in Germany, the Internet is a digital barrier to a world from which 27 million people feel excluded.
  • Digital Immigrants (20 per cent): While they regularly move around on the Internet, they are highly selective in their use. They did not grow up in the digital world and are highly sceptical towards many developments, especially when the subjects of security and data protection on the Internet are involved.
  • Digital Natives (41 per cent): The digital world is a major element of life for the people in this group. They move around the Internet like a fish swims in water – their life motto is „I surf, therefore I am.” Their attitude towards the Internet is highly positive, and they regard the progress of digitalisation primarily as a personal opportunity.

Based on the previous study of the general population (DIVSI Milieu Study), an indicator instrument for classifying the decision-makers in the various Internet milieus was developed. Decision-makers were distributed among the seven Internet milieus on the basis of their answer profiles, and the results are shown, just as in the general population study, in the form of a map.2 While decision-makers are found in all seven Internet milieus, there are clear concentrations within the Internet milieu structure. The chart below illustrates the size and positioning of the Internet milieus in the German decision-maker landscape.

There are significantly different concentrations in the Internet milieu structure of the decision-makers compared to that of the general population

The milieu of the Digital Vanguard – the digital avant-garde with an individualistic fundamental attitude – at 22 per cent is represented most strongly among the decision-makers. This milieu has a share of barely 15 per cent among the general population. However, this difference is even more significant than is apparent at first glance because the Digital Vanguard in the general population is found primarily among young people: 42 per cent are below the age of 29. Yet hardly any people from this age group can be found among the decision-makers.

The fact that almost one out of three of the Digital Vanguard among the decision-makers comes from Generation 50+ is surprising and indicates that we need a broader understanding of the term
„Digital Natives“. Digital Natives are no longer the „wild young ones“; the digital milieu has become established in the executive suites.

The Digital Vanguard age 50 or older represents a significantly greater percentage among decision-makers than in the general population

The Digital Vanguard age 50 or older represents a significantly greater percentage among decision-makers than in the general population

Brief profiles of the seven Internet milieus for decision-makers

Brief profiles of the seven Internet milieus for decision-makers

  1. 2 The SINUS milieu model classifies people into groups according to their outlooks on life and life styles. So SINUS milieus® are target groups which actually exist. For more information go to www.sinus-institut.de/ loesungen/sinus-milieus.html [↩]
  2. Owing to the slight differences in attitude towards trust and security on the Internet, two milieus were renamed for the decision-makers: Post-Material Sceptics became Security-Minded Post-Material Users and Carefree Hedonists became Hedonists. [↩]